|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Rutan on FAA certification
Found this tidbit via HobbySpace from a speech Rutan gave recently.
The interesting part is that he says "you got to have government certification that protects passengers", which might seem to put him at odds with many space activists (e.g. http://www.space-access.org/updates/sau105.html where it says "industry participants have to be able to take some risks in these early days in order to learn enough so that rockets can eventually be as safe as airplanes only got after generations of accumulated aviation experience"). Now, Rutan wasn't directly addressing HR 3752 in particular, so there might not be a disagreement, but his comment seems to go against what many activists have been advocating for the last decade or so. Why certification of suborbital vehicles is a good thing: You have to have certification, and its the cheapest thing you ever buy. First of all, it costs you between nine and sixteen percent more because the FAA is there. Forget these guys who say certification makes it ten times as expensive. I know what it takes. I asked Beechcraft when they were done certifying the structure on the Starship [aircraft], which is a tough thing to do. I asked them what if there was no FAA, what if you, Beechcraft, did your testing only for your ethics. Now your ethics mean that its not a good thing to kill our customers. What did certification really cost you? They said. Thats a really good question, and we think we have the data for a very good answer. They huddled and came back with a report for me about a week later. That report showed me every test, every test article, and every report that the FAA insisted that they do that they didnt think be done. They took everything that was in dispute in other words, I wouldnt have done that but the FAA made me do it and it came out to be nine percent. Certification is not expensive because of the FAA. And Ill tell you something, its the very best thing you can buy when you have an accident and somebody gets killed. The plaintiffs attorneys job is to convince that non-technical jury that you did a sloppy job, that you didnt do enough for his safety. The very best thing you can do is say that there are specific government certification requirements and I met every one of them, and you even get to bring the government in to certify to the jury that you passed all of the safety requirements. Without that you cant survive as an industry: you cant survive the first accident, and you cant insure. So you got to have government certification that protects passengers. http://www.thespacereview.com/article/255/2 |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Rutan: NASA Needs New Von Braun | [email protected] | Policy | 101 | November 18th 04 10:05 PM |
Rutan describes plans for orbital spacecraft | Neil Halelamien | Policy | 14 | October 11th 04 01:45 AM |
Burt Rutan "On Track" For Dec 17 Flight | Kevin Willoughby | Space Science Misc | 2 | October 8th 03 03:07 PM |
Space Flight Demonstrator Completes Design Certification | Ron Baalke | Technology | 0 | August 21st 03 09:25 PM |
News - Rutan Rocket Engine Engineer Killed in Small Plane Crash | Rusty Barton | History | 3 | July 23rd 03 08:20 PM |