VTAILJEFF@aol.com wrote:

What part of the regulations in Part 91.3, 91.7, 91.213 does everyone not understand? 

Just to add to what Jeff said:  

Even if you feel that you are exempt from the laws of the FAA because of being experimental, you are not exempt from the laws of physics.  

You may be able to get away with meeting the letter but not the spirit of the laws of FAA, you can not get way with violating any aspects of the laws of physics.  

And most importantly, if you think that in a situation you can get away with cutting a few corners around the laws of the FAA because no one will find out, Newton and other dead physicists are omnipresent and all knowing and will smite you to the ground if you ever transgress against their laws.

Whenever you take off in an airplane, you are inviting the NTSB to write your eulogy if you do not complete the flight successfully.  I can guarantee you that they are not going to be as kind to your memory as most posters here are.  We tend to hold our tongues and not speak ill of the recently departed comrade.  Any criticism is toned down, carefully couched, diplomatically stated and sugar coated.  The NTSB does not give such considerations and will lambaste any dead pilot for bad judgment.  Based on publicly available information, you can bet that Shannon's eulogy will begin with: The pilot decided to depart with a known deficiency.....  

The next time you are planning to take off with "just a minor problem" put your name in that eulogy and see if that is how you would like the pilot community to remember you.

Regards,

Hamid