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  1. #1

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    Phase 1

    During the initial 40 hour fly off can I fly with a "safety pilot"?

  2. #2
    Anymouse's Avatar
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    No.
    Someday I'll come up with something profound to put here.

  3. #3

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    I thought the rules stated you could fly with the "essential crew" or something like that....just deem the safety pilot essential. Probably one of those grey areas

  4. #4

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    Quote Originally Posted by uavmx View Post
    I thought the rules stated you could fly with the "essential crew" or something like that....just deem the safety pilot essential. Probably one of those grey areas
    How do you "deem" a safety pilot "essential"? Assuming that this a design with a required crew of one (i.e., the pilot), you're saying the plane can't be flown unless the PIC is wearing a vision-limiting device? No, that's not going to cut it.
    Anxiety is nature's way of telling you that you've already goofed up.

  5. #5
    rwanttaja's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by uavmx View Post
    I thought the rules stated you could fly with the "essential crew" or something like that....just deem the safety pilot essential. Probably one of those grey areas
    Well...not THAT gray. Unless the operating limitations require a second pilot, I doubt the FAA would accept the explanation.

    That said, we used to have a Tech Counselor up here who would make first flights with the builder along. The builder's job was to monitor the engine while the pilot concentrated on airmanship.

    I'm not saying it was *legal*, just that he did it.

    In one case, the engine quit at altitude and the pilot quickly lowered the nose. He told the builder (the guy supposed to be monitoring the engine) that the engine quit, and the guy replied, "No it didn't." He was looking at the tachometer and oil pressure, which stayed high as the prop was windmilling.

    Ron Wanttaja

  6. #6

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    Well, I would say an absolute "no" is not the correct response to the question.

    ref: Sport Aviation, November 1983, a Jack Cox article about Fred Keller's Rutan Defiant (excerpt provided):

    He had the airframe completed to the extent thatit would be test flown in early July, so, as planned, BurtRutan came to Anchorage to do the honors. Since the twoof them planned to record a lot of data on the test flights,FAA permitted Fred to accompany Burt. The first flightwas made on July 16, lasting 1.3 hours and resulting in 3 pages of notes.

    So I guess it would be safe to say if you can convince the FAA you need a "safety pilot" it would not be out of the realm of possibility. I wouldn't think the FAA gets many such request so I'd guess their first reaction would be one of surprise.
    Last edited by martymayes; 08-27-2011 at 12:37 PM.

  7. #7

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    yeah, I think that is the way around it. If you have a flight test program, and that includes recording data, then the second person is a crew member for the purposes of tracking data

  8. #8
    Gary.Sobek's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Brmmd View Post
    During the initial 40 hour fly off can I fly with a "safety pilot"?
    Absolutely NOT.

    IF you can convince a DAR or the FAA that you need a 2nd person in the airplane, they may allow you BUT you will only be allowed to fly the airplane with a required CREW of two from here on out.

  9. #9
    steveinindy's Avatar
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    BUT you will only be allowed to fly the airplane with a required CREW of two from here on out.
    Unless you have the operating limitations revised.

  10. #10

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    Check AC 90-116, 9-23-14, Add'l Pilot Program for Phase I Flight Test. Apparently the FAA now believes there may be a legitimate reason to have a qualified pilot on board to help especially in case of LOC or engine out situations. The bulk of this AC appears to describe a formal vetting process to determine a second pilot's eligibility as either a QP (qualified pilot) or OP (observer pilot) then describes some possible scenarios in which having a 2nd pilot may be appropriate.

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