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Yes, I always keep the ZIP files that I download. I'm in Oshkosh right now, away from the computer I do the work on, but will be back this weekend and will put the file on my web page for download. Ron Wanttaja

I'm away from home and don't have my accident database, but one was a Petrel amphibian in, I think, 1992. Tail boom separated, it was missing several laminations. Situation hadn't been helped, the previous day, when the plane sank in the lake, and they hauled it out with a log chain around the...

My Fly Baby has a Continental engine, burns autogas, and typical yearly maintenance runs about $200, with annuals (e.g. Condition inspection) costs $300. Transponder check, too. It is dead-nuts simple, with fewer systems TO break. My biggest outlay has been for federally-required systems like a...

Well...I like to believe I'm pretty well versed in the homebuilt vs. production safety statistics. By my methods, homebuilts have a fleet accident rate about 45% higher. And just about all of that is related to mechanical issues. To a large degree due to non-traditional engines, but there is an...

Yup. When I do my analysis of a year's homebuilt accidents, I do an initial search based on the "Amateur-Built" flag. Typically, about five percent of a year's accidents so flagged are NOT homebuilts...Production airplanes, warbirds, Light Sports, ultralights, etc. Works the other way, too...

DCA13WA007 features a Boeing 737 listed as amateur-built, in the NTSB records. Do a CAROL search for "Boeing" with the "Amateur-Built" flag turned on. Also: http://www.wanttaja.com/avlinks/diy747.htm Ron Wanttaja

The advantage of a canopy is two-fold. First, it's the easiest way to implement a closed cockpit. Fitting a door is more difficult, as the canopy merely sits atop the fuselage and adjustment is less fiddly. Second, it's structurally stronger. You don't have to accommodate a great big hole (or...

N220JD, ERA21LA396, Probable Cause, "The pilot’s failure to maintain a proper glidepath during landing. Contributing to the accident was his failure to ensure the canopy locks were properly configured prior to flight." Also N224P, but that was a SubSonex (e.g., jet, different airframe)...

Yeah, it's kind of messed up. Just last year, they did some subtle change that messed up a bunch of my standard queries. Had to basically rebuild them. Also, they did SOMETHING in 2008. Through 2019, the downloadable database included accidents back to the dawn 'o time. But starting in...

I do combine several categories under the header "Enroute," etc. Here's the raw numbers: Occurrence_Description Cases _ _ _ _ _ _ Approach Midair collision 10 _ _ _ _ _ _ Approach-VFR pattern base Midair collision 2 _ _ _ _ _ _ Approach-VFR pattern downwind Midair collision 4 _ _ _ _ _...

Ha! Spoke too soon. In 2010, CEN10FA115 involved a Cirrus hitting a tow plane that was pulling a glider. Looking past the era my analysis ran, I see that the year 2023 also had an odd number of aircraft involved in midairs. That one was a suspected drone strike; no NTSB entry on the drone...

There were 25 cases (2008-2021) where the NTSB description said either "landing" or "final." This is all accidents, not just homebuilts. Four of the cases involved aircraft taking off in front of landing traffic. Again, I use "cases" to refer to the overall accident; not the count of aircraft...

Something rang a bell here; I remembered that several years ago, I did a study on midairs. From 2008 through 2021, there were 144 midairs. That's about 0.60% of the total accidents. Keep in mind that 15 of those midairs were aircraft flying in formation. (144 cases, which means at least 288...

Personally, I'm good with that. Basically, anything that puts you in the vicinity of the airport for a period of time helps you spot other traffic, and helps other traffic spot you. With the upwind approach, your most-likely conflicts will be aircraft climbing out after takeoff, and this...

No reason you can't fly the pattern a bit wider, turn final a mile or a mile and a half out. I'm at about 70 knots crossing the numbers. Mind you, my plane sheds excess airspeed a lot faster than yours. As for "simply try and coordinate a straight in that will mesh with existing traffic"...

My airplane cruises about 80 knots, and my usual pleasure flight brings me back to the airport on a perfect setup for a straight-in. Yet I swing out to the side, attain the 45 point, and enter from there. As I'm approaching the airport from outside the pattern, I can scan the pattern to put...

Actually, I'd rather get a "minutes" callout than one based on distances. One can look at slant range, trying to figure out where "five miles" is, or get an actual estimate of the time when a conflict may occur. Had a guy give a "XXX miles out on straight-in" call a few years back. That was...

I highly respect such a pilot, and am happy to accommodate high-performance aircraft as long as the pilots give us plenty of warning about what they need. A couple of months back, there was a guy on downwind, about a mile past the end of the runway, that announced he was going to do a 360 for...

Ron Wanttaja

ATR-72. Absolutely amazing video. Ron Wanttaja