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I heartily second what David
Jones has said by way of advice to the new owner of Lancair. Having built
two ES's, my frustration quotient has about reached its max. The manuals I
got with the second were essentially the same as for the first one, i.e.,
manuals hastily written for a standard (non fast-build) kit that isn't even sold
any more! The ES has definitely gotten the ugly stepchild treatment, what
with all the new hot rods coming off the drawing boards. Too bad, since
the ES offers performance you can't touch for anything like the cost to build
one. It has comfy seating for four real people, carries a good load,
cruises over 200 mph -- in short, does everything one would want in four-place
airplane. The fixed gear and benign handling qualities mean that anyone
with a couple of hundred hours in a spammer can make an easy transition.
The insurance costs are reasonable in part because of the reduced complexity and
also because it has an exemplary safety record, which unfortunately cannot be
said for some other designs not to be named.
During construction of my first
ES, I wrote reams of stuff to the factory about shortcomings in the manual,
problems in construction, suggestions for improving here and there. When I
built my second, I didn't bother, because nothing I contributed during the first
ever saw the light of day. I think it was during the push for development
of the Legacy, so basically no one had time to think about the ES.
So, keep the customers happy,
right? That means have another look at the ES, re-write the manual, taking
into account all of the accumulated builders' knowledge and experience, think
about improvements. At present, builders are turning out beautiful ES's (
and others) more or less in spite of the factory, so there's lots of room for
improvement.
Jim Cameron
N143ES
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