Have you flown an RV or Experimental? "Oh, God No!"

[JonathanCook]

I talked to a career pilot that worked for and sold singles and twins for one of the US manufactures for almost 40 years. Before that he flew in Vietnam and received the Distinguished Flying Cross. When I asked him if he had ever flown an RV or Experimental his answer was a concerned/frightened, "Oh, God No!" What needs to happed for RV's to be embraced by all of the flying community. No one would ever respond this way to a 172.

[N941WR]

Originally Posted by JonathanCook

... No one would ever respond this way to a 172.

Sure they would, if they flew an RV!

[Bob Axsom]

The numbers show that RV's are well liked by those who have an interest in small, fast and reliable homebuilt aircraft.

Bob Axsom

[JDRhodes]

Without fail I find that some number of career factory built airplane pilots view experimental aircraft builders / pilots they same way one might view motercycle drag racers, skydivers, fire eaters, etc. Crazy and dangerous.

Don't know why - uninformed, I guess. I actually had a skydiver tell me one time that my dad's Long EZ was a deathtrap. They he took off in a 40 year old striped down King Air and jumped out at 14,000 feet. Perceptions, I guess.

Truth is, the risk associated with fire eating and experimental airplane flying depends largely on the person participating in the activity - not the activity itself.

Just shows that we need to always be aware of perceptions and doour best to present our best side to the public. Fly carefully and professionally and welcome curiosity whenever possible.

[RV8N]

Originally Posted by JonathanCook

... No one would ever respond this way to a 172.

I would!

[Frank Smidler]

If the gentleman flew in Vietnam it put him in his late 50's, early 60's. For all of his flying, I doubt that he has had much contact with the world of high performance kit planes and is still relying on the perceptions prevalent in the 60's and 70's, that homebuilt airplanes were dangerous. I agree with others on this web who have described such soles as misinformed. I would imagine there are a lot of experienced pilots on this web site who thought the same thing at one time until a gracious RV builder/pilot showed them what they were missing. If we all continue to do so eventually the number of such misinformed pilots will be few and far between.

For the record, as a skydiver (D, I, JM, FB) I can attest that I have jumped from many a plane I was glad to be out of at altitude. My RV is on whole a much better built and maintained than a jump plane (i.e. no duct tape). I have jumped out of 2 planes that a week later crashed. Timing is everything.

[John Clark]

...we have to remember that there are plenty of "aviation professionals" that are not aviation (or experimental aviation) enthusiasts. Nothing wrong with that, just different motivations. To some, it is just a job. I have flown with plenty of airline pilots that would ask me to identify a GA airplane that taxied by. "Um, it is a 182." In the worst case you would then get a diatribe about not wanting to fly "little" airplanes. As long as they did their job, I ignored it. Sure was more fun to fly with an enthusiast though.

John Clark ATP, CFI
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

[JDRhodes]

Originally Posted by Frank Smidler

I have jumped out of 2 planes that a week later crashed. Timing is everything.

Really takes timing to jump from 2 airplanes

[frankh]

Originally Posted by RV8N

I would!

And I do frequently..

[Flyfalcons]

Originally Posted by JDRhodes

Without fail I find that some number of career factory built airplane pilots view experimental aircraft builders / pilots they same way one might view motercycle drag racers, skydivers, fire eaters, etc. Crazy and dangerous.

Don't know why - uninformed, I guess.

He could also have witnessed a pilot in an experimental plane doing something very stupid. We can't just sit back and pretend that doesn't happen, especially with higher performance homebuilts.