On Sun, 15 Apr 2007 17:12:57 -0400, "Morgans" wrote:


"Ron Wanttaja" wrote

Regulations state that no one but required crew be aboard. Some people
put a second person aboard to "monitor the engine and other systems
to allow the pilot to concentrate on controlling the aircraft" and
thus claim the second person is "required crew." I personally don't
agree with it, and IIRC, the FAA has specifically come out denying it,
but it does happen.

But how does it happen? I'll bet if they told the FAA that they were going
to have a two person required crew, the FAA would say, "The hell you are!"

Simple: They just don't tell the FAA. There's no requirement for an FAA
representative to be there for the first flight. What they don't know, they
can't stop.

I looked at my accident database for the years 1998-2004. During that time
period, there were about 75 accidents on the first flight of a homebuilt. Four
of them had multiple persons aboard. About one in ten accidents that occurred
during the first 40 flight hours had more than one person aboard (although some
aircraft do have shorter test periods).

Ron Wanttaja