Quote Originally Posted by Aaron Novak View Post
Well this certainly got weird fast. The thing is I get where nixrox is coming from, as I work in NDT and materials as well, however there has to be a dose of reality there as I also work in prototyping where you don't have the advantage of making 100 identical parts to study and fine tune a process and procedure. We get one shot to do it. This is why I have preached using the most conservative approach to constructing any one of part. Is there shoddy welding in some homebuilts....honestly yes. Are there failed welds both OEM and homebuilt.....yes. Luckily most are caught and the designs robust enough to survive to repair so nobody hears about them. Should we rely on this robustness alone....absolutely not. There is room for education and improvement in the homebuilt area and the EAA is in an excellent position to do so, if they should ever choose.
Aaron - do you have any x-ray film to prove that your welds are defect free? How about Ultrasonic weld inspection reports by a certified UT Tech? How many CGSB or ASNT level 2 or 3 certifications do you hold?

You cannot weld on certified aircraft without a license.
You cannot fly an aircraft without a license.
You cannot perform maintenance on a certified aircraft without a license.
You cannot perform NDT inspections on aircraft without a license.
You cannot weld anything in the oil or construction industry without a license and a successful welder test at the site.
What makes you think anyone should be allowed to weld on an aircraft without a license or any recognized training or testing?

Did you notice that not one of the sarcastic responding trolls or naysayers mentioned the EIGHTEEN (18) destroyed aircraft due specifically to weld problems since 1996.

I rest my case and will let Darwin's theory root out those individuals who like to tempt fate.
As a person with some NDT knowledge, I would have expected you to have a better handle on defect propagation and structural analysis.
Good luck by the way.