Will start this thread with a brief disclaimer. I'm a newbie to aviation. I have never flown a plane and am in the process of decided if this is for me, and if so, which plane. I am extremely teachable, value and respect the insight on this forum immensely, but am also an astute observer and not easily swayed by fluffy talk that isn't backed up by facts and experience.
I recently read an article on the EAA website where the author was sort of making a case that anyone can build and fly a plane. At first I took great encouragement from it, but the aftertaste wasn't as pleasant and I didn't know why.
Several days ago I had a patient in the office who is a retired military pilot. A very friendly guy, so I engaged him with the statement, "I'm thinking about learning to fly with the goal of building my own plane". I obviously hit a nerve and he replied that despite his many years of experience, he would never climb into a home built plane. I questioned him further and told him of this forum, which contains numerous builders who have military and commercial flight experience. He then clarified by saying that it's not so much the home built plane he doesn't trust, but the average home builder he has a problem with, stating that building a plane takes a person with better than average attention to detail and better than average attention to upkeep, etc. I agreed with him and he challenged me to check out the NTSB.gov website and browse the section that documents aircraft accidents. I took his advise and after several days of reading reports, I am sobered to say the least. I started compiling some stats on accidents and this is what I have come up with so far. Since the beginning of 2004, there have been 201 RV accidents, 61 of which involved fatalities, for a 30% fatality rate. I also ran a check on Kitfox, because that is one I'm also considering. In the same time frame, there have been 53 accidents, 5 of which involved fatalities, for a 9.5% fatality rate. I assume this is lower than RVs because of the high wing configuration. I have never believed that home builts are less safe than factory built planes and a quick search on Cirrus showed 117 accidents, 48 of which involved fatalities for a whooping 41% fatality rate. I read many reports, and quite possibly some of them involved people who frequent this forum. It seems many involved engine failure just after takeoff, which puts a pilot in a vulnerable position. I understand that. Other reports though detailed poor decision making as principle reasons for the accident.
So why do I bring all this up? Am I dwelling on the negative, as some might accuse? I'd rather thinking I'm dwelling on reality instead. I'm still enthusiastic about the prospects of learning to fly and building my own plane, but I'm glad my military pilot friend helped me see the other side of the "anyone can build and fly" coin, because I now feel that just because anyone "can" doesn't necessarily mean than anyone "should". Do I have the right mentality, attention to detail, discipline, and ability to maintain a plane? I am searching that question in myself and hope the answer will be "yes". Thanks for hanging with me. I'm in "learn" mode here folks and not afraid to be told I'm wrong.
I recently read an article on the EAA website where the author was sort of making a case that anyone can build and fly a plane. At first I took great encouragement from it, but the aftertaste wasn't as pleasant and I didn't know why.
Several days ago I had a patient in the office who is a retired military pilot. A very friendly guy, so I engaged him with the statement, "I'm thinking about learning to fly with the goal of building my own plane". I obviously hit a nerve and he replied that despite his many years of experience, he would never climb into a home built plane. I questioned him further and told him of this forum, which contains numerous builders who have military and commercial flight experience. He then clarified by saying that it's not so much the home built plane he doesn't trust, but the average home builder he has a problem with, stating that building a plane takes a person with better than average attention to detail and better than average attention to upkeep, etc. I agreed with him and he challenged me to check out the NTSB.gov website and browse the section that documents aircraft accidents. I took his advise and after several days of reading reports, I am sobered to say the least. I started compiling some stats on accidents and this is what I have come up with so far. Since the beginning of 2004, there have been 201 RV accidents, 61 of which involved fatalities, for a 30% fatality rate. I also ran a check on Kitfox, because that is one I'm also considering. In the same time frame, there have been 53 accidents, 5 of which involved fatalities, for a 9.5% fatality rate. I assume this is lower than RVs because of the high wing configuration. I have never believed that home builts are less safe than factory built planes and a quick search on Cirrus showed 117 accidents, 48 of which involved fatalities for a whooping 41% fatality rate. I read many reports, and quite possibly some of them involved people who frequent this forum. It seems many involved engine failure just after takeoff, which puts a pilot in a vulnerable position. I understand that. Other reports though detailed poor decision making as principle reasons for the accident.
So why do I bring all this up? Am I dwelling on the negative, as some might accuse? I'd rather thinking I'm dwelling on reality instead. I'm still enthusiastic about the prospects of learning to fly and building my own plane, but I'm glad my military pilot friend helped me see the other side of the "anyone can build and fly" coin, because I now feel that just because anyone "can" doesn't necessarily mean than anyone "should". Do I have the right mentality, attention to detail, discipline, and ability to maintain a plane? I am searching that question in myself and hope the answer will be "yes". Thanks for hanging with me. I'm in "learn" mode here folks and not afraid to be told I'm wrong.