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Aviation History
1977
1977 - 0065.PDF
FLIGHT International, 8 January 1977 Three aircraft demonstrate the strength and versatility of the American homebuilt movement. Dennis Polen's sophisticated Temptress, opposite, cruises at 325 m.p.h. at 18,000ft. It is all-metal and powered by a 200 h.p. Lycoming. Ceoff Siers' Barracuda, below, received the Out standing New Design award at the 1976 Oshkosh meeting. It is an all- wooden two-seat design intended primarily for touring but capable of limited aerobatics. Engines ranging in power from 180 h.p. to 300 h.p. can be installed, and the prototype has a 220 h.p. Lycoming. Normal cruising speed is 200 m.p.h. over a range of 450 miles. The Woods-Low WTL-I, right, made its first flight in February 1976 after a ten-year gestation. Made of Dacron-covered wood, it is powered by a 135 h.p. engine giving a maximum speed of 165 m.p.h. > mm . i maamB0r • 3B^«i& .,••• •<•<•••,.,., money could be made available he would put it into still more education for the individual. The general-aviation accident rate in the UK is about 50 per cent higher than the American figure. As there is no absolute measure of safety, I tried to isolate those elements of the US and British systems which work to make aviation more safe. In Britain, fiscal and enforce ment constraints produce a publicly acceptable level of safety. The US model is more complex: the same result arises from law enforcement, plus insurance regulations, plus ground inspection by, or required by, the FAA, plus further education by the FAA, plus positive monitoring by the FAA. Contravention of, or failure to comply with, any of the US terms hits the pocket either directly or indirectly through large court and lawyers' costs; increased in surance premiums for products liability, error and omis sion (or other relevant insurance); and loss of FAA inspection approval by the mechanics designated to carry out C of A inspections. The latter is much sought after, and its withdrawal can mean a disastrous loss of liveli hood. Under the FAA's designated-inspector system, "designees" are approved by the FAA to make recom mendations to it. The designated-inspector test takes 6ij-7hr for a mechanic, who must have held an engineering certifi cate for five years and have been continuously engaged in his trade for the past two years. Should he fail the test at any point it is stopped immediately and he cannot retake it for 90 days. Once designated, the inspector must stay active, carrying out four inspections or eight major repairs per year. He must also attend FAA educational meetings and clinics designed to acquaint him with the latest regulations. The strength of the FAA lies in its "bite": it has sharp teeth and is hot on enforcement in a way unknown in the UK. It may be that American law bestows more power on the FAA than we are used to, probably because the FAA is a department of government. I have heard of cases in which licences were taken away summarily when the FAA dropped in on an operation unheralded. Although an appeal can be made to the courts, this can be costly and not worth the trouble if the licence has only been taken away for a few months or less. If you clobber the man hard enough and hurt his earning ability, then most of the time you can rely upon him to do a better job in future. On top of that, if he does not do a satisfactory job for his customer, he is open to the severest legal action. In personal injury cases, for example, American courts do not require proof of negligence to anything like the degree demanded by British courts. American attorneys can take speculative actions, unlike their British counterparts. A US lawyer can therefore gamble and demand high costs for damages, taking for himself that portion paid out for "pain and suffering". US aircraft are inspected for C of A renewal. Production aircraft are checked by designated inspectors, a service which costs the owner about the same as the British owner pays for a C of A. Homebuilt aircraft are not however The author suggests that the American private pilot is disciplined by these constraints. His penalty for misbehaviour may be regulatory or financial FAA enforcement of flight restrictions and limitations, with conditions for certain qualifications Expensive insurance against liability and cost of litigation, with regulations imposed by insurance companies Tough Federal and state law-enforcement, with high cost of appeals acting as a deterrent Costly life and medical-expenses insurance
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