Paul Tackabury, LIV in primer
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Paul,
I confess to having written that message
in language that was harsher than I would prefer.
Also, keep in mind that I begged the owner
of the plane that I fixed NOT to get me involved with that project.
I said I didn’t have time.
He said, “There are lots of L IVP’s
out there that need fixing.”
I said, yes, but they are all homebuilt
aircraft, and with only a few exceptions, the owners will simply
copy anything I try to do or build, and so there is no point in getting
distracted from my other certified activities that pay the bills.
He said, “ how long will it
take.” I said I don’t know, but if I tried to do
it, it would take at least a month or two to work it in with everything
else.
He said, “… how much.”
I said I don’t know. The owner then basically said, “…
here are the keys and I will write you a blank check. Please proceed, and let
me know when you get it finished.”
After it was done,
successfully, somebody on the forum posted up a message and said,
in effect, “heck, I can buy six new cylinders to replace the red
hot cylinders that I am running with now, for what that cost.”
He had a point, if you want to treat the machinery that way from now on.
I can’t tell you what to do,
because I don’t know what you have already done and what your existing
configuration is.
We are not the “smartest bunch in
the world.” I appreciate the sentiment if it was
sincere and if it was meant to be sarcastic, that’s OK, because I
probably deserved it for the blunt manner in which I posted up the message.
OTOH, I have spent the better part
of the last eight years and a whole lot of money studying this particular
subject.
What I do know is that there is absolutely
NO REASON why all of these planes should not perform as well as the plane that
we modified two years ago.
The point to my message was to try to
impress upon the owners of these wonderful airplanes that there is a world
of unrealized performance in these airplanes, and they should not accept
the status quo for the indefinite future.
Regards, George