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If this group is to be successful, it needs to be a full fledged type
club: 1) Member education 2) Advocacy 3) Insurance Industry Liason 4)
Technical Advisors 5) Accident Investigation 6) First Flight support
and prep.
Much of our "tribal knowledge" is out there, in this listserv, as well
as on the ACRE site, and the "best practices" page. Some of the
material out there is proprietary, such as Tracy's manuals for stuff he
has, as well as his conversion manual. Many of us already own copies of
it anyways. Ensuring that knowledge (and experience developed by our
members) is eaasily available to other members would be a prime goal.
Preflight and Phase One support would be an important safety tool.
There are "cheap" water brake "dynos" out there that can be used to
vary loads on the engine to break it in (AND program its ECU) properly
from the safety of the ground. Price is in the small thousands, and
"leases" are available for around $100/month. Without inferring
speculation against the recent accident, can you fathom the benefit of
using such a device to determine IF and WHEN your engine will
vaporlock? Or to determine EXACTLY how much HP you are making, so you
can size the prop for it? Or so you can adequately determine your BSFC
and efficiency? Or to know how much heat you really are generating, so
you know how much you have to dissipate? Such a device could be
loaned/rented to members (or even NON-members for a premium... still
cheaper than Dyno time in a race shop)
Such a program would undoubtedly give us a better chance at obtaining
insurance during testing, and normal ops, by being able to document
engine performance PRIOR to the first flight. Not to mention the
"Piece of Mind" (TM) of knowing your engine has already been shaken
down long before you take to the sky.
I see no reason why such a program could not be incorporated into an
existing chapter of the EAA if the membership chose to do so, if such
would ease the hassles of incorporating a new organization. There
likewise is no requirement for chapter members to have to live near
each other.. Hell, we could even FORM a chapter of the EAA and provide
the technical and flight advisor support through it, and conduct
business by internet video conference. I do not expect EAA National to
actually DO anything FOR us.. but they would be a good resource for us
to help ourselves.
Dave Staten
Todd Bartrim wrote:
Hi David;
I think you've got a heck of a good idea
there, I just hope that the organization never has anything to do.
While the FAA or Transport Canada may not want outsiders doing their
investigations, it is clear that they have little interest in fully
investigating an accident cause and are satisfied with filling in the
blanks. While I don't feel I may be fully qualified for this task, I
realize that at least in this part of Canada, I may be a contender for
the job, which I hope to be never called upon to do. So
how would we go about setting up an organization with official status
that would be taken seriously by the bureaucrats?
Another thought that I'd like to add; If this
ever happened to me, I'd like to have some legal statement in place
instructing Transport Canada to allow one of our community to
participate in the investigation or at the very least (if nobody is
able to travel this far north:-), release any data from the
long-hoped-for and much-begged-for, EM2 datalogger if it ever becomes a
reality. That would probably carry more weight than any quasi-official
organization and is something that we can each take care of now. We
don't want to think of it happening to us, but it's much the same as
the organ donor card, can't deal with it when were dead. I'd like to
think that if my number was up, at least some good could come from it.
I believe there was a lawyer in the group?
Any opinion on the legal aspect of this. Would this simply be ignored
by the feds until the investigation had concluded? In any case, I'm
going down to tell the wife right now what my wishes are, so at least
there is a verbal statement from me that I'd want you guys involved.
Not that I'm planning on giving you something to do :-)
Todd Bartrim
RV9Endurance
13B Turbo Rotary
C-FSTB
"The world will always
have a place for those that bring hard work and determination to the
things they do."
My suggestion is that WE.. the rotary community.. need to incorporate
and establish ourselves.. just like any other type-club. We need to
establish ourselves as a bonafide entity, with qualified individuals
who are 1) intelligent 2) educated 3) detail oriented 4) OBJECTIVE and
5) able to drop what they are doing for 3 or 4 days and travel on their
own nickel to perform a role similar to what Paul did. Hell.. even
INCLUDE him.. but make sure the "go team" aspect of this organization
is able to focus on the FACTS of the situation and not draw premature
conclusions. We would need to petition the NTSB and FAA to make them
acutely aware at the regional level in EACH region that we have
representatives on hand to assist with investigations of rotary powered
aircraft. WE would be the experts on wether something was acceptable or
not (oil premix, for instance) in the rotary community, and would be
able to render input to the board reps/investigators but we would have
to be able to BACK IT UP WITH FACTS in any case.
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