ORIGINAL: rbxbear44

David,
First of all, thank you for a very ''productive'' response...fresh wind for sure! My pleasure! Real problems need real answers and real action, I know of no other way to accomplish same. I guess my points are these...

I think they are listening...or they would not have posted a statement. I also saw them ask several people that have been ''pro-active'' and not antagonistic to review the issue and loss...they asked me too Would they have made the statement if it was another persons airframe? I guess most will not know that nor would they believe them if FEJ said they would have. If they are, in fact, now finally listening, that is a good thing for the hobby. Part of listening though, is the realization that they have a significant level of "fence mending" that needs to be done with members of this community for past behavior. Owning up to that would be a huge step forward! But with Ali flying the airframe instead of their regular pilot Ken, they were willing to entrust the airframe into someones hands that would push the throttle and surfaces harder...taking pilot error as far from the excuse picture as possible...in my opinion. Please remember that only two years ago, or maybe less, Ali would have nothing to do with their aircraft! Things change sometimes from top to bottom and Ali would certainly be on the top rung. The changes don't always happen as fast or, fast enough, for the little guys on the lower rungs that have taken the brunt of the FEJ mistakes. So you shouldn't be surprised that those pilots/customers are still stinging and somewhat resentful. It's human nature.

If I were them, I'd have a hard time trusting the hands of those whom have bought ''Shame on you FEJ'' t-shirts. Those folks that bought shirts bought them because they finally lost trust in FEJ! Who's fault is that? That's the ''step'' that took me over the fence on the whole thing.

As far as safety, I am just saying pilot error could yield equal catastrophe and happens many times more than two airframes in question...a step further on that...speed limit breaking is ''heroic'' in the same circles of the ones yelling foul on FEJ structure integrity. Rex, what's the speed limit posted by FEJ on any of their jets? None of them are capable of exceeding the 200mph AMA limit, so where is it, and how would a pilot know until he unfortunately breaks it at a speed so low he had no reasonable expectation he would have a structural failure at that point? I agree more testing needs to be happening...AGREED, but it should be done on their own dime, not that of unsuspecting pilot/owners who have paid good money for an aircraft not capable of surviving a flight performed by one of the best, most controlled pilots in the world! Hell, if Ali Machinchy couldn't complete the flight without it experiencing structural failure, what chance would the rest of us poor schmucks have?! a matter of fact, just as a scale airframe is ''never really completed'', so should be the generations of airframes as they move through mods over the years.

David, it just seems really biased to me, especially when someone starts picking on Lewis Patton! Lewis Patton is a dear friend, but as a FEJ sponsored pilot, his opinion, by rule, can no longer be considered purely objective. This is why RCU requires anyone sponsored to show that tag in their signature. I will defend his honor and integrity with my entire soul, but again as I mentioned before: when bombs drop, innocent people get hit. It's the nature of business. Many, many of my friends over here on the other coastline...they have absolutely given up on RCU Jet Forums. We all do, at some point or another. I still have Hate mail PM's from 4-5 years ago I received while I was defending FEJ's early models and missteps. I said to Hell with it myself, for a while. I have experienced both sides of this issue. And yet here we are again! I'm not sure if this makes me a masochist or just stupid! I just love the hobby!

This is just my opinion.

Thanks for your insight.

Rex