A big "mahalo" (thank you) to Jim Frantz for expertly summarizing.

Others still don't seem to get it. The issue is not "whether" to explore
these things, it is WHO should explore them and WHAT the owner/pilot of
an Experimental should do with that information. If you think you're
qualified, go for it. If you're not, pay for it and fly accordingly.

There is perhaps some carryover logic that the builder of an airplane is
somehow uniquely qualified (even required) to test it. There may be some
history behind that assumption, but it certainly doesn't hold for
Lancairs today, and becomes more dangerous as Experimentals head toward
ever higher performance.

A parachuting analogy: You learn what to do with various potential
malfunctions, but no one would purposely make a jump and induce one just
to practice recovery. Once the negative parameters and characteristics
of a piece of gear are defined, train to recognize and avoid them.

Brian Barbata