Hiring A builder?

[HighWing]

This thread has brought back some really good memories. One thing in particular might merit mention. When helping with the Lancair, I was lurking on a builders forum similar to ours here as I was looking for tips and hints in the building process. One really striking post was from a guy who, I guess, Liked to research the web. Going to the NTSB Aviation Accident Database and searching for accidents related to the Lancair IV, he found that the airiplane had an "Attrition Rate" of over 20% with the majority involving fatalities. As soon as I read that, I determined that I would not accept the inevitably offered ride until Brad had at least 500 hours. Wisely, Brad hired a pilot from the factory to fly the first five hours and then check him out in the airplane before he continued the Phase 1 testing. And here to the gist of the story. The test / check pilot gave Brad some words to "Live" by. As I recall, it was something like this. "At Cameron Park the pattern altitude is 1000 ft. Yours will be 1500 ft. At mid runway, on downwind, if you are not stabilized at 1500 ft. and at exactly your downwind speed - the number escapes me but short final was flown at 90 kts. - you must do a go-around". This Brad did wherever he was for not quite ten years before selling the airplane which is now in Mississippi. With his discipline in mind, I flew with Brad at about 150 hours with no reservations. This reminds me of Paul's verbally spoken checklist when flying with his Model IV on the amphibious floats. Simple things? Yes, but....

[tracstarr]

I just meet with my local EAA chapter here today. It was great to meet a few members and just talk to some people in person who have built or are building. The will be a great resource I'm sure.

I have a few contacts now that might be able to help me out in this venture. The one thing I'm still missing is a testflight in a fox before making my final decision.

Thanks for the stories and comments.