I was part of the EAA for years, and my baby brother used to write technical
articles for them. To get an amateur built aircraft into the air requires a
serious inspection by the FAA and flight testing in an out of the way area. To
get an aircraft design "type certified" is a much long and expensive process,
and must be completed before an aircraft can be manufactured for sale.

No such thing is needed to produce a boat for sale. Anyone -- in most states
-- can call themselves a naval architect. Even an 8 year old girl in pigtails.

(JAXAshby) wrote:

Badly designed airplanes never get on the runway, let alone airborne.

You haven't seen some of the "planes" of the EAA ;-) I saw one lifting
body shaped like a flying saucer that even actually flew once, but no
sane pilot would take it up for a second flight.

Truth be told, the Quickie has some bad design flaws, but it sure proved
the power of canards. (12 hp, 100 mph and 60+ mpg, but I believe every
one of them was ground looped at least once.)


I have seen people who claim
to be highly qualified naval architects claim that the "slot" between an
overlapping jib and the main _increases_ lift, something no aero eng on the
planet would say of a biwing aircraft.

You don't win many races in multi-sail boats, do you?

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/