It seems to me that the perception of Experimentals to the rest of the world is that they may be sub standard in some way,
poorly maintained, and unproven designs.

Generally, nothing can be further from the truth as homebuilders typically take much greater care and processing when doing builds
and many designs have been around for a very long time with hundreds of flying builds to proving the qualities and design.

Granted there are always those aircraft that are attempted by folks with no aptitude for home building and I think those mostly either:
1) don't get finished when the builder realizes its beyond his capabilities,
2) get finished /rebuilt by another experienced home builder,
3) don't survive the test flight program, or are shelved due to simply deemed too questionable to take the risk to fly.

There are many advantages to Experimentals and few short comings in my opinion.

Plus, by their very nature, some designs contribute significantly to advance the technology of flight, engine, control and avoinics systems.

In a developed society with freedoms, allowing experimentation contributes more to the society overall versus the risks.

I am to this day still puzzled why there is not an experimental category for vehicles, as I believe the potential for innovation and advances
in those areas are tremendous.

I see experimentation on the whole in the US as being excessively regulated to the detriment of our society. Instead the misguided do gooders would rather prohibit every sort of activity with any risk at all. It will delegate the US to the 3rd world country soon if that trend is not reversed.

Already we are seeing the exodus of our greatest talented folks departing the US for foreign countries where their innovative spirit is fostered and those societies benefit from the advances instead.

Anyway, I digress, experimentation is GOOD and should be fostered in any and all areas of aviation.

Ray