I agree with Berni’s comments below about doing testing on the ground rather than in the air.

The NTSB reported recently that with experimental aircraft, nearly one in four accidents were blamed on a power-plant failures.

Here is the text from USA Today (links are embedded):

Pilots of small, homemade aircraft have twice as many accidents and three times the fatalities as the rest of the general-aviation community, the National Transportation Safety Board found Tuesday.

Based on those findings, the five-member board unanimously approved recommendations for the Federal Aviation Administration and the Experimental Aircraft Association to develop better flight-test plans, encourage more training for pilots and conduct fuel tests on the aircraft. Engine failures are a leading cause of the accidents.

"The recommendations that we have issued today are all intended to improve safety while maintaining the excitement and the adventure of this vibrant segment of aviation," says Deborah Hersman, the board chairman.

The board studied the experimental aircraft industry because of the larger number of accidents during the last decade and because of the growing popularity in aircraft that hobbyists build themselves. Over the last decade, there were an average of 213 accidents each year, including 55 fatalities, the board found.

Among 224,000 general-aviation aircraft across the USA, 33,000 are considered experimental, meaning they were built from a kit or from a unique design. The aircraft account for 20% of fatal crashes of general aviation, despite representing a small portion of the fleet.

From 2001 to 2010, the board found that accidents for every 100,000 hours flown averaged 21.2 for experimental aircraft and 9.5 for the rest of general aviation. Even more ominous, the average number of fatal crashes for every 100,000 hours flown averaged 5.3 for experimental aircraft and 1.6 for the rest of general aviation.

During that decade, the board found nearly one in four accidents were blamed on a power-plant failure and another one in four on loss of control in flight. Loss of control caused nearly half the fatal crashes.

Loren Groff, who researched the accidents, says experimental aircraft have lower accident rates in Canada and Britain. He says those countries have more inspections of the aircraft, including a fuel-flow check in Canada, that could prevent engine failures.

"It seems like we would want to be doing things they are doing in other countries," says Robert Sumwalt, a board member.

A significant share of the accidents occurred during the first flight of the aircraft, whether the pilot built the plane himself or bought it used. The board found 10 of 102 accidents in newly built aircraft were on the first flight, as were 14 of 125 on the first flight of used aircraft flown by the new owner.

With the help of the Experimental Aircraft Association, the NTSB surveyed nearly 5,000 pilots to learn more about the industry. The survey found that experimental pilots tend to be older and experienced, mostly describing themselves as retired and averaging more than 60 years old with 30 years of flying experience with a total of 1,300 hours.

Regards,

John Hafen

IVP N413AJ 400 hours