Guys, this whole thing is getting out of hand, IMHO. I thought Roger's post, as
overly dramatic and format-challenged as it was, still made some good points.
It was most likely written with tongue firmly planted in cheek, and I took it
with a grain of salt or two.
I am really surprised at the venomous response from some here. The FAA and the
NTSB still have not found a single "smoking gun" that's the primary cause for
the in-flight break ups. And yet, it's also not normal for 7 601 series airplanes
to suffer catastrophic airframe failures in a very similar fashion. All we
know is that when overstressed (for whatever the reason), a chain of events starts
that causes the airframe to fail in a predictable fashion. The one thing
that we do know is that the airframe is not fault-tolerant of being overstressed.
We also know that the 601 design has racked up thousands of flight hours
without failure, but this is of little comfort to the 11 lost souls (and their
families), who are forever marred by these crashes.
So, after all of the dust settles, we'll finally have an airframe that is more
tolerant of airborne stresses and less susceptable to any single event resulting
in catastrophic failure. It won't be irrecoverable anymore if the controls
get mishandled, the aileron cables go slack, someone accidently steps on a flap,
someone overstresses the aileron control system, the airplane goes a bit too
fast or pulls a bit more G's than the design specifically allows. We'll now
have an airplane that will at least allow us to safely return to earth under control.
I went back and reread the SAIB from the FAA, which claims the 601 was marginal
in meeting the intent of the ASTM standard. However, the designer has claimed
all along that the 601 is safe provided it's properly flown and maintained. Between
the two schools of thought is a wide area that has been the subject of
hot debate, and we won't get anywhere with one side demonizing the other.
So let's quit kicking Roger for his thoughts, order and install the upgrades, and
get on with enjoying flying our little beasties as Chris and sons intended.
(opinion mode off)
Rick Lindstrom
ZenVair 601XL N42KP
-----Original Message-----
>From: Karl Polifka <jfowler120@verizon.net>
>Sent: Nov 16, 2009 3:20 PM
>To: zenith601-list@matronics.com
>Subject: Re: Re: In a galaxy far, far away
>
>
>Doug,
>
>You are well over the edge...
