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tigerrick(at)mindspring.c
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 Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 10:50 am Post subject: Q&A FAA Special Review Team Report - Zodiac 601XL/650 (W |
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Hi, Paul...
You just said:
"Maybe if we don't discuss the fatal design flaws the problems will all go
away . . ."
I can't tell you how disappointed I am that you're still fanning the flames of no confidence among the Zenith community, in spite of numerous public and private discussions on this matter. I understand your sarcasm and weak attempt at humor, but for those of us who just want the straight skinny without hyperbole, your claim of "fatal design flaw" does nothing to advance the issue to the point of intellectual resolution leading to renewed confidence in our airplanes.
What "flaw" are you referring to? Unless I'm completely brain dead, my recollection is that, with all of the exhaustive testing and investigation performed to date, no single "smoking gun" has been found with the 601XL design. What we do know is that a variety of factors can add up in flight to cause airframe failures in a very predictable way with very similar results.
Without a specific causal factor to address, Zenith has done the next best thing and provided a comprehensive upgrade kit that provides a shotgun approach to all the possible contributing factors to these failures, including steps to counteract sloppy maintenance (slack aileron cables) and even poor pilot technique (overstressing airframe by exceeding design limitations). And while we're in the neighborhood, we get to beef up the main spar and the aileron system as a hedge against them becoming a factor in the failure sequence.
A little late to the party, the FAA has weighed in with their assessment and recommendations recently, well after all the sturm and drang. But this is the way it should be with experimental aviation, where the freedoms are immense but the ultimate responsibility for airworthiness of any E-AB airplane rests with the individual builder. I really don't think we want the FAA taking drastic steps to impose certified standards in an experimental world.
Chris Heintz has maintained all along that the 601XL design is safe if flown and maintained properly. I think he's right. But the other side of the coin is that the 601XL is definitely not overbuilt, as most certified aircraft are, and is intolerant (in its original form) of airframe overstresses and a casual approach to maintenance.
So I have to ask, Paul. What possible good comes from tossing out phrases like "fatal design flaws" when no such thing has been found after all the investigation by multiple parties?
Rick Lindstrom
ZenVair 601XL N42KP
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dougsire
Joined: 10 Jan 2006
Posts: 37
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| Posted: Thu Feb 25, 2010 3:33 pm Post subject: Re: Q&A FAA Special Review Team Report - Zodiac 601XL/6 |
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Wull gee Rick. The FAA report indicated that they "identified several significant issues with the manufacturer's structural loads analysis." And (among other things) that "the loads used by the manufacturer to design the wing structure did not meet the ASTM standard for a 1,320 lb aircraft". Pretty easy to describe those as design flaws.
And people died because the aircraft broke up. I think that's what fatal means.
Put them together and you have "fatal design flaws".
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Doug Sire 601XL
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