[bcsaltchucker]

'Plotting the percentage of accidents versus the aircraft total time (Figure 3) produces some interesting results. About 6.2% of all homebuilt accidents occur on the first flight. About 19% of the total accidents occur before completion of the nominal 40-hour test period (which can be less for some aircraft)'

'the overall accident rate for U.S.-registered aircraft is about 0.61% per year, while the homebuilt rate is 0.87%. In other words, the homebuilt accident rate is about 44% higher.'

'But the most arresting result: Almost one quarter of first-flight accidents are due to builder error! Finally, see how close the four categories are in the Pilot Error–Failure to Control category. Yes, it’s a bit higher early on, but it stays surprisingly close to the percentage of the overall fleet.'

http://www.kitplanes.com/magazine/mi...us/8485-1.html

[davf]

Originally Posted by cicopo

I know they called it a homebuilt but I strongly suspect it's a kit plane & things like that would have been properly engineered & manufactured to do their job. As either a kit plane or scratch built plane it should have gone through some rigorous inspections before being allowed to do it's first test flight.

It was indeed. I'm pretty darn sure it was a Murphy Moose with an Allison 250 in it. They are highly regarded and well engineered. IIRC, the chief designer for Murphy was an ex-deHavilland engineer.

http://www.murphyair.com/Kit-Planes-Chilliwack-BC.html
http://www.pattersonaerosales.com/Ai...ose/Moose.html