AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011 - 25

Experimental versus Standard I just wanted to give two thumbs up to Tom Horne and Dave Hirschman on the recent “Dogfight: Experimental versus Standard” (September 2011 AOPA Pilot). My experiences as a young lineman pumping avgas out of Cobb CountyMcCollum Airfield exposed me to a wide variety of airframes, both Standard and Experimental, and opened my eyes to the many possibilities of the Experimental category. As the years have passed, I have been fostering a dream to build a composite aircraft. I have never, ever, worked fiberglass or composites, but I did recently completely disassemble my old 1997 Honda Accord and successfully pieced it back together—and it is still road-worthy, thank you very much. For my personal record, guys, I’ve got Dave up two-to-one against Tom. But that could change, I have to go back and scan through the previous issues that I may have missed! Please keep the Dogfights coming gents, they are a great addition to the magazine! Mike Yaneza, AOPA 3531242 Gretna, Louisiana Live in a house built of sticks that somebody built at home? No way. It might collapse. Drive an AC Cobra down the road that somebody built in their garage? No way. The wheels might fall off. Take a boat out on the water that someone put together piece by piece in their garage using just screws and epoxy? No way. It might sink. Climb up into the far reaches of a tree, swaying in the breeze, and sit in a tree house made of scrap two-by-fours and plywood? No way. It might fall. Ski down a hill with just a board on each foot and a sharp pointed stick in each hand? No way. You might hit a tree. Unless you’ve spent time with a homebuilder—who in many cases is building an airplane that is far safer than one of the commercial Spam cans—don’t knock it if you haven’t tried it. Just because it’s built in a factory doesn’t make it safe. I’d rather fly an airplane that was built very carefully over a period of years than always depend on one that was assembled in 30 days by people for whom it was just a job. Neal Hornung, AOPA 1235432 Lima, Ohio One angle that neither mentioned was owner maintenance versus “certified” maintenance. Tom, do you know a mechanic that you trust, who is always there, who understands your airplane,
AOPA PILOT • 25 • NOVEMBER 2011

and has it very high on his priority list whenever it breaks, and charges you reasonable fees for maintenance? After years of dealing with negligence, incompetence, and high cost I felt the investment was worth the return—particularly when coupled with the stellar performance that’s unavailable at any price in the certified world. I just flew a Lancair Legacy that I built, my first kit airplane. It’s had several bugs, all of which I addressed immediately and the only cash outlay was for parts. And I have the confidence of seeing that the work was done right.

I’ve seen lots of bugs in the homebuilt world, but they’ve been no worse than I encountered at the hands of A&Ps and avionics techs in the certified world. Charley Brown, AOPA 1358665 Coppell, Texas We welcome your comments. Address letters to: Editor, AOPA Pilot, 421 Aviation Way, Frederick, Maryland 21701. Send email to pilot@aopa.org. Please include your full name, address, and AOPA number. Letters to the Editor may be edited for length and style before publication.

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AOPA Pilot Magazine - November 2011

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