Cirrus in Sport Aviation

[Bill Berson]

Tom,
The EAA Director of publication has never written an article about homebuilts, as far as I know. He did write about a commercial turboprop. So it remains hard for me to believe, (looking at the current SportAviaton) that EAA puts home building before commercial interest while lobbying.
I can cite examples of this conflict from the past, if anyone cares.

[Hal Bryan]

Tom,
The EAA Director of publication has never written an article about homebuilts, as far as I know. He did write about a commercial turboprop. So it remains hard for me to believe, (looking at the current SportAviaton) that EAA puts home building before commercial interest while lobbying.

Bill, the Director of Publications doesn't write all the articles in the magazine, not by a long shot. And, if everyone will look again at the current issue, you'll see that the cover story is actually about one of our Chapters, #1 in Flabob. The other stories featured are the Cirrus, a piece about equipping a homebuilt for IFR, and an update on our staff build project, the CH 750. That's 2 stories about building, one about Tom Wathen and Flabob, and one about the Cirrus, including a sidebar that outlines the company's roots as homebuilders.

I can cite examples of this conflict from the past, if anyone cares.

There are plenty of posts on this topic already...

We love the feedback on the magazine - I'd much rather see members actually looking at it and telling us what they love and hate about it then posts like the one where someone said they just throw it in the trash the instant it shows up. Some of you don't think the Cirrus article belongs, some of you do - that's great, if inconclusive feedback, but keep it coming.

I realize that most of you haven't seen the full effects of the changes that have been taking place since Jack stepped in last fall, but I'm betting that you'll like them when and as you do.

[WLIU]

I will offer some feedback on the magazine and a suggestion for the other readers.

I read most of the articles, some don't interest me at all, but as a aeronautical gear-head, I find a lot of great stuff to read. For instance, even if Mike Busch never writes about home built airplanes, he writes a lot of good info.

I see some articles on topics that I have no interest in. But they are a minority. For example, I've burned kerosene but when I pick up Sport Aviation I would rather read Ed Kolano and flight testing or about building engine baffles for a Lyco rather than a new kerosene burner. I can read Business & Commercial Aviation or other magazines to find out about the latest business exec chariot.

That said, I do NOT throw the magazine in the recycle bin when I have read it. I pass it on to my mechanic who reads what he is interested in. He then passes it on to a friend of his who owns a Luscombe, who may not be able to afford to be a member and get the magazine, and he reads what interests him. Don't know if it gets passed on again, but you get the point. You can help the cause by getting the magazine and passing it on, even if you don't read any of it. There are dreamers out there that will get something out of it. And neighbors who previously only thought of aviation in terms of American Airlines might be a little friendlier about your airplane noise if one of their kids "found" your copy of the magazine.

Best of luck,

Wes
N78PS

[Joe LaMantia]

Hal,
Thanks for the boost on this months' Sport Avaition, but you forgot Brady's article on his RV-14 demo ride. Brady speaks to the newbies who have dreams of building and flying any homebuilt design. He didn't focus on all the specs and performance stuff, but on what the average guy should look for when deciding whether his "dream" aircraft is actually something he'd be comfortable flying. I would add that taking the Sport Air "Introduction to Homebuilding" course would be another "must do" before writing up an order form and sending in a check. AOPA and EAA work together to promote AVIATION, many of us are members of both organizations. Inside the beltway you can't have too many friends!

Joe

[Hal Bryan]

I'd never forget Brady, Joe - he knows where I live! In all seriousness, I was just specifically talking about the articles on the cover in this case. I have what I consider to be the great privilege of being one of Brady's early "sounding boards" on his columns, so I often get to read them quite a ways ahead of time...

As for your mention of taking the introductory SportAir workshop, I'm admittedly biased, but, having taken a few of those course now myself, I couldn't agree more. I think the workshops are among the most valuable programs we offer, and recommend them to anyone starting or a build or restoration.

[steveinindy]

Not sure you can say the parachute was a good thing, Bill. Some argue that it's existence pushes pilots beyond their normal competence, which the aircraft's fatal accident rate would support.

The lack of substantial cockpit structure is another big reason for the fatal accident rate (about 50% of non-ground incidents result in one or more deaths versus about 25% for the Mooneys or 15% for Cessna light singles). Regardless of the parachute or not but if you market a high performance aircraft to low hour or no hour pilots as being as forgiving and easy to fly as a Cessna 172, you'll wind up with a high fatality rate. Add in the "super-Type A" personalities (docs, lawyers, engineers) that Cirrus targets and you get a better explanation than "Oh the parachute causes people to push their luck".

I realize that most of you haven't seen the full effects of the changes that have been taking place since Jack stepped in last fall, but I'm betting that you'll like them when and as you do.

No offense Hal but the only change in the publications I have seen is that the "Safety Wire" column in the Experimenter is being done away with because it's "redundant" to quote the e-mail I received. Granted, I have to admit that I was a major contributor to that so I have some bias towards it but I think moving away from discussions of things that can be done by homebuilders to make their aircraft safer is always a good thing whether it is on the "prevent the crash" or the "survive the crash" end of things. If nothing else, it should be shifted out of the magazine and into a niche on the website where those interested can access the information.