Message-ID: <002501c18a18$16b2f680$78cafea9@library>
From: "Doug and Susan Pohl" <dpohl@cdh.net>
To: "Lancair List" <Lancair.list@olsusa.com>
Subject: Rick Schrameck's questions
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2001 07:07:40 -0500
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To Rick Schrameck,

Well Rick, for a guy with no axe to grind,  you sure have a lot of
questions, so here are the honest answers.  By the way, your questions
indicate that you also have things to hide.  For example, you didn't mention
Jerry Hanson (the "nice guy") who sued Jim Rahm and that even after Jim
offered to take his engine and propeller back and return all his money that
he filed suit against Jim just to make his life miserable.  Sometimes rich
people like to do that.  You also didn't mention that you know Tom Zedaker,
Ron Vinci and/or Marcus Wilson (the obvious source of some of your
information) who would like nothing more than to see the company disappear.
I don't want to get into an e-mail war but honesty works both ways.

First, concerning whether I am a customer or employee of Engine Power
Systems LLC, I am a customer but not an employee of the company.  I am
however an investor in the company, so if you want to make a big deal of
that, yes this could be perceived as a conflict of interest and "influence"
my thoughts.  However, if you take the time to talk to my friends, you'll
find that I'm honest and do speak the truth.  Also, I have been one of the
investors of the company that has taken the lead on safety issues.  After my
accident, I take it very seriously and don't want to see anyone else in the
same situation.

As for our "noted consultant," I never used the term "noted," you did.  Our
consultant, Ron Anderson, has worked for many years in the aerospace engine
field.  Talk to him yourself about his impressions of the company.  He'll
tell you how impressive the design is and how much attention we have given
safety.

As for selling beta engines, of course the first engines out the door were
"beta" engines.  A beta engine is a new design that has yet to develop many
hours thereby revealing its problems.  All of the customers who purchased
the the EngineAir engine went into it with their eyes open.  All customers
knew this was a new design.  Tom Zedaker, in borrowing the one and only
gearbox that existed at that time, agreed to do the flight testing on the
beta engine for Jim Rahm.  And guess what Rick, he found a number of
problems and those problems were rectified.  This gearbox, and Tom and Jim's
engines, were the only "beta" units that ever flew.  So your assertion that
we customers were given beta units and placed at risk is just pure BS.  When
Tom accumulated a number of hours on the gearbox, the new company sent him a
certified letter requesting a teardown and inspection for obvious reasons.
This overture was refused.  To me, this sounds like safety conscious
behavior on the part of a company.

As for selling "known defective gearboxes to a customer," Tom Zedaker is not
a customer of EPS and did not buy the gearbox from Jim Rahm or his company,
he borrowed it and never returned it under an agreement to do flight testing
for Jim.  As an aside, Jim violated his agreement with EPI, the designer and
builder of the gearbox by loaning the gearbox to Tom.  EPI realized the
gearbox was a beta unit and DID NOT want that gearbox on any other party's
plane.  All parties (Tom, Jim, EPI) understood this was truly a beta gearbox
with uncertain characteristics.  The new gearboxes being shipped to
customers are quite a different animal, incorporating lessons learned from
flying.  These are not "beta" gearboxes.

As far as replacing beta engines or gearboxes with production units, we have
offered to replace Tom Zedaker's gearbox with a production unit if only
he'll pay for it (he never paid his last engine payment to Jim Rahm).  Tom
wants one for free.  All of the engines currently delivered to customers are
production engines, not beta engines.  Many of the engines originally
shipped (for example Gary Wolf's, George Knapples and others) were returned
to Aiken and upgraded with the new enhancements.  They are not beta engines.

As for my engine failure, it had nothing to do with the engine, it had to do
with paper toweling that made its way into the induction system.  As an
aside, I am still not sure that this was the cause of the failure since
further investigation has revealed a faulty fuel selector switch provided by
Lancair with the kit.  Just prior to going down, I had switched fuel tanks.

You are correct that Jim is the only person flying TODAY.  Tom Hakes has
completed his taxi tests and is waiting for the FAA to give him his sign off
at which time he will begin flying.  The other customers that I listed are
due to receive their engines within the next two weeks and as I stated in my
e-mail, will be flying in January.  I'm not sure why TODAY is such a big
deal to you versus two weeks from now, but there it is.

As for how many hours were on my plane, I had 43 hours at the time of my
accident.  Up until that time, there wasn't a single hiccup in the engine.
As I stated above, the accident had nothing to do with the engine design.
And my performance figures gathered during that 43 hours stand.  What are
you getting out of your turbine?

As for doing everything we can to get the engines up to current standards,
that has already been answered.  The engines are either returned to Aiken or
fixed in the field.  All engines are "up to standards" before any customer
flies.

Rick, I have only scratched the surface of your questions but it is clear in
the type and nature of your questions that you have been talking to the guys
in Nevada who, for their own reasons, hate the company.  You too should
divulge such information up front and you too should be honest in what you
are trying to accomplish here.  You are clearly a guy who no matter what I
say have your mind made up.  Al's offer was a generous one and those with a
more open mind are encouraged to seek the truth, look at what is happening
in Aiken, and draw their own conclusions.

Doug


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