Dan Heath wrote: >Tell him to SHOVE it. That is BUNK.
He could do that, but he certainly wouldn't by flying behind a Jabiru 3300 if he did! When I lived in England for 7 months back in 2009 I learned a lot about how the LAA (Light Aircraft Association), formerly the PFA (Popular Flying Association) works...and doesn't work. What seems like insanity for us is "just the way it is" over there. What they say goes, and there's no higher authority to appeal to. My understanding is that the LAA is not directly government affiliated, but is instead acting in a way as the EAA...a filter between the experimental flying public and the government equivalent to the US FAA, the CAA (Civil Aviation Authority). The LAA folks walk a thin line in an effort to keep the CAA at bay, that often treads into the "over-protective" realm, such as "prove it won't overtorque the fuselage", or "show a full analysis of how your new wing is engineered, and then build a test fixture, bring it down to headquarters, and test it to destruction in front of us". I'm sure some of the UK guys could tell some stories, but it's a small country, and word gets around, so I'll leave it at that. I heard quite a few tales that would amaze your typical US homebuilder though. Suffice it to say, we Americans don't know how good we have it... Mark Langford ML at N56ML.com website at http://www.N56ML.com --------------------------------------------------------
