On Sun, 16 Nov 2003 17:29:40 -0900, "Ron Webb"
wrote:


So, let's put this in perspective - there were a little more than 58,000
deaths in Vietnam in seven years. There were a total of about 2.8 million
troops sent, mostly for 1 year tours, so an individual's odds were about
58,000/2,800,000=.02, or about 2%.that you'd be one of the lucky ones.

So, we are subjecting ourselves to an activity that is around one eighth as
dangerous as being a soldier in Vietnam. But WE don't get to rotate home- so
if we continue this for 8 years, our chances of death are the same as if we
had spent a year in 'Nam.

True...but there are some mitigating factors, here.

The 2% chance of being a casualty was an overall rate. But your odds of
survival in Vietnam depended on whether you were a boonie rat or a
straphanger. Yes, there was a risk being a clerk in Saigon, but you
probably never came near that 2%.

The similar odds are there in flying, as well. If you don't make a habit
of pressing your fuel or scud-running, you're going to beat those overall
odds.

As I've mentioned, I'm doing a more in-depth study on homebuilt accidents
for a KITPLANES article. I don't want to "ruin my thunder" before the
article comes out. But: If you *don't* buzz or do low-level acrobatics,
your chance of being killed in a homebuilt just dropped by about 20%.

Ron Wanttaja