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Fellow Lancair Pilots,
I hesitate to comment on why we are losing so may Lancair pilots, however...
I'm a former Mooney driver with 400 hours and an instrument rating. I rotate my ES and climb to altitude at 120 kts. I cruise to my destination and descend to pattern altitude, 100 kts on downwind, 90 kts on base with partial flaps, 80 on final with full flaps. I don't do low altitude sightseeing. I don't do low passes. I don't land at tiny airports. I find another airport if the wind is beyond my capabilities. I've bought full price airline tickets the day of a trip and flew in the back of an airliner instead of fighting my way across Northern Arizona during monsoon season. In other words, I'M A BIG CHICKEN PILOT!
Granted, I lose some utility, and maybe some fun, but I plan to be around a long time. Everybody "plans" to be around a long time, I just fly that way every time. I know that any time I "stretch" my capabilities, it could be my last flight.
I've been reading accident reports since I was working on my private ticket. I see the trends, and Lancair is similar to the GA fleet in that pilots kill pilots, instead of airplanes killing pilots.
I've lost 4 people I knew in the last 10 years, all were preventable by making a conservative decision. Chuck, and the other guys that I knew, all were good pilots, all better than me. I know that I could be the next guy you are talking about on here!
There is such a thing as too conservative, "never fly." That's not why we built and fly a beautiful aircraft like our Lancairs, we built them to fly! I just think the GA fleet in general and Lancair pilots specifically could benefit by leaning a little more towards the conservative.
I'm not being critical of the guys who do the low pass or launch out in tough weather, that's a choice we all make. I just choose to keep my flying conservative to minimize the risks.
To quote John King, "Really bright people can do some really dumb things, and in an airplane, that can be fatal."
Mike Easley
Colorado Springs
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