...And there's something about that kit he assembled that's causing a
yellow alert in the back of my brain. Wasn't the reason the company
went under due to a lawsuit over those very same kits falling apart on
takeoff?


OM

Not a kit. It wasn't just "assembled". It was manufactured by the
builder from plans. That is, one starts with a set of drawings and bulk
materials. The particular model was derived (by another designer) from a
previous model designed by Rutan. A fair number of this particular model
and it's precedent design are flying. Many first flight crashes in kit
or plans built aircraft are due to weight and balance miscalculations,
not structural failures. In fact, structural failures are very rare in
factory or homebuilt aircraft when they are flown within the intended
flight envelope. Another reason for accidents is that many, if not most,
of the composite homebuilt aircraft are specialized for speed and aren't
as forgiving of inexperienced pilots as the garden variety Cessna or
Piper trainer.