Risk Management and Legal Aspects

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RISK MANAGEMENT AND LEGAL ASPECTS
The simple fact that the Dragon may be used as a "street legal" automobile reduces the cost and risk as contrasted to the cost of ownership of two distinct vehicles in their respective environments and control systems. The risk management, whether by using partially or wholly self-insured methods, is also reduced. The Dragon was and is intended to improve safety, reducing insurance costs, and improving overall operation, as contrasted to standard lightplanes, with features such as:

1. the enclosed fan for less risk of contact injuries and reduced blade tip losses;
2. the ducted fan provides increased thrust for shorter take-off and climb;
3. the ducted fan naturally governs speed to eliminate the need for a propeller pitch control and associated actions;
4. ducted fan eliminates slipstream torque for simplified control due to reduced "slipstream torque effect";
5. quieter muffled engine and propeller noise levels for less fatigue and social/ environmental impact;
6. COTS mechanical road drive to eliminate the need for manual or mechanical towing and to shorten the take-off roll;
7. simplified pitch and speed flight controls with flaps integrated with elevator trim (a la Culver Vee)
eliminates the need for separate controls and associated actions;
8. the Warp Action Spoiler Plate, WASP, ailerons eliminate the need for rudder control and associated actions;
9. the four-wheel braking provides shorter stopping distance so the balanced field length may be reduced and the risk of over-running is reduced, particularly with anti-skid brakes;
10. the slotted wing provides less risk of loss of control and/or stalling;
11. the lifting fuselage lessens the effects of wing stalling;
12. the low center of mass for less risk of turnover in winds or forced landings;
13. redundant four-wheel landing gear and braking system for less risk of loss of control and reduced landing roll-out;
14. redundant wide-stance front wheel steering via conventional automobile steering wheel control for less risk of groundlooping or flipping over;
15. balanced weight on front and rear wheels for better steering control;
16. ground-level cabin doors, without steps, for less risk of injury;
17. seating width that is comparable to airliner first-class for less fatigue and better control (31" elbow width);
18. safety windshield and wipers and washers for better visibility and crashworthiness;
19. angle of attack sensor and display;
20. wide lifting fuselage with a flat bottom for air-cushioned, more controllable landings
(including forced landings due to power failure or bad weather);
21. in bad flying weather, Dragon provides an alternative to getting to destinations by landing and driving;
22. Dragoneers can store them in their hangarage at home, rather than tieing them down
in the weather, particularly during storms, or storing them in hangars, subject to "hangar rash";
23. easy entrance and egress from the roomy cabin; and
24. fuel flow is measured via totalizer to reduce hazards of unintentional exhaustion.

Several optional accessories may enhance safety, such as run-flat tires, lightning detector display, weather radar, traffic avoidance and terrain avoidance systems, synthetic vision displays, GPS navigation systems, and fan anti-icing systems.
When compared to road operations, the flight mode may reduce the risk as contrasted to road operations, considering collisions, slippery roads, and drunk drivers.
The Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association's Air Safety Foundation publishes reports that summarize accidents at:
*AOPA ASF .
The FAA provides guidance at:
*FAA and * AC and *AC 25.1309-1A .
DOT also provides *Motor Vehicle Safty Standards
These and other features are intended to reduce the safety risk of the system and so minimize the problems of accident litigation, while increasing the overall system utility. The White House has set a goal of reducing aviation accidents by 50% in the next ten years, as of a few years ago. When this was discussed at a recent conference, this writer criticized the policy of setting arbitrary goals as being contrary to the Deming philosophy of Total Quality Management. In particular, to apply a quote from Time Magazine's "Man of the Century", Albert Einstein: If you keep doing things the same way, then why do you expect different results?.
It would be much better to conduct a system safety program to achieve the optimum level of safety through specific actions, such as those listed above. The inventor has extensive experience in safety analysis; however, a rigorous analysis of the Dragon does not appear to be practical, due to a lack of usable data on comparable systems. Ideally, one would want to have a COSMIC flowchart that showed all of the significant hazards and their solutions that matched the current published accident rate. However, since most of the accidents are attributed to pilot error, analysis of why the pilots made the errors is highly questionable. As an example, the inventor, at one time, was a Link Flight Simulator Instructor and noted a recurring problem. Sometimes, when students were descending and turning simultaneously, they mis-read the three-pointer altimeter and levelled off 1,000 feet below the desired altitude. The inventor studied the process and concluded that the cause was confusion linked to the way that the pointer appears relative to the numbers. (You can read about the same kind of problem when reading clock dials at *Dyna-Zone. There's no way to find out what was going on in the students' minds when they erred. Instead, experienced judgment and common sense logic is used. The altimeter face may be modified with the Dyna-Zone design to reduca the hazard. Several forum attendees raised the question of mid-air collisions. An AOPA spokesman cited accident statistics that showed about one collision per month for all of the general aviation aircraft flying in the U.S..
The U.S. government has granted some relief as regards liability limits for older aircraft. However, the use of newer aircraft, such as Dragons, seems to be better managed by simply making and operating them more safely. Eventually, insurance rates may be granted for Dragons that are significantly less than for conventional aircraft, just as tricycle gear, centerline thrust and stallproof aircraft have lower rates than traditional aircraft. Dragoneers in other less litigation-sensitive nations may participate. Concern on the part of potential manufacturers for potential litigation has discouraged venture capital, so mass construction is unlikely in the near future, unless government policies change.
In the mid-seventies, a conference about the StrongMobile was sponsored by Roger Windblade of the NASA and held with various agencies, NASA, FAA, DOT, etc.; however, the results were inconclusive. There was an expression of interest in using freeways as a basis for landing strips; some favor making airstrips adjacent to rest stops. The *StrongMobile Development Report contains in-depth background information, including a sketch of a proposed *STOL Airport.
Issues such as air pollution in certain overcrowded cities and gas bag crash protection will be addressed with consideration for the advantages of the flight mode relative to the ground mode. A desirable compromise would be to exempt aircars from EPA regulation. Another desirable exemption would be for front-mounted license plates that are required by some states.
There are some conflicts in regulations, such as the design of safety belt buckles. The maintenance of an aircar with many COTS components, particular the road components, may be accomplished by automotive technicians; however, FAA regulations appear to require the services of a licensed mechanic. For those home-builders who make their own, the Repairman Certificate may resolve the issue. Questions have been raised about cases where damage or wear to the skin surface or brakes or similar items have occurred.
*Synergy contains an interesting discussion of liability and safety.
Some of the frequently asked questions about aircars in general allude to the operation by poor automobile drivers. Obviously, those who ask the question are unfamiliar with the rigorous training of pilots and aviation safety practices. Still, the vast majority of General Aviation, GA, accidents are classified as "Pilot Error". Even when the many StrongMobile safety improvements are considered, there will still be some driver and pilot error accidents. Even when rigorous system safety management is applied, there will no doubt be some freak accidents. As an example, the inventor was asked by his teen-age daughter about going out with her friends after a football game. The inventor explained that most accidents occur when several factors converge and cited a combination of Friday night revelry, young male drivers, alcohol consumption, sportscars (in particular, red cars), and boys showing off to girls. She was greatly saddened when two of her girlfriends were killed that evening by a boyfriend driving a red sportscar while DUI. Reports indicated that only about a half dozen GA accidents per year that involved alcohol. So, while there is no rigorous system safety analysis available, the inventor is confident that the overall safety of StrongMobiles will exceed traditional aircraft and automobiles. Anyone may expect that StrongMobile operations may meet and exceed the White House goals.
Overall system development of the Dragon will use the StrongWare PC Template System, with emphasis on the use of Hazard Analyses, WorkPlans, Total Quality Problem-solving, Computerized Operational System Modeling for Integrated Control, Training, and Organizational Budget templates.
Here is an example of a system safety hazard report for a StrongMobile.
Example of a Hazard Report per MIL-STD 882 1. SYST/SUBSYST/UNIT: Operations in fan mode with debris objects or creatures. 2. COMPNT. FAIL MODE: Pilot fails to see objects in time to avoid them. 3. SUBSYST.FAIL MODE: Objects are ingested into fan and cause damage. 4. SYST./COMP./PHASE: Airport operations in fan mode. 5. SYSTEM EVENT/PHAS: Taxi, take-off, and landing plus birds during cruise flight. 6. SYST.OPER.DESCRPN: StrongMobile taxi, take-off, and landing and cruise flight. 7. HAZARD DESCRIPTN.: Fan ingests objects into duct. 8. HAZARD INDICATION: Objects may be seen in time for avoidance. 9. EFFECT OF HAZARD : Impact damage to aircraft, various damages. 10. RISK ASSESSMENT : Potential for dents or various component failures, loss of control. 11. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Pilot scans ahead of path and avoids objects, flies high. 12. ACTION EFFECTS : Eliminates hazard. 13. REMARKS/DOCS/DIRS: Fixed Base Operator keeps surfaces clear. 14. ACTION STATUS : TBD 15. NOTE/CAUTION/WARN: Include a WARNING in Pilot Operating Handbook. RISK WITH HAZARD = 2-B RISK WITH ACTION = 2-D

Read an interesting discussion at * Questions and Answers
Intellectual Properties may be an item of interest to some potential investors or builders. In a letter to Stephen Cook of C.F.C. L.L.C., the StrongMobile inventor summarized his policy as follows:
"One last comment, about patents and intellectual property. Although it may seem questionable, I look at it this way. I've published most of the changes to my last patent on the web and in professional publications such as an SAE paper to make sure that the changes cannot be patented by anyone else and so block progress. I realize that investors would prefer to have exclusivity; however, I feel that it's more important for many to compete on the basis of merit, rather than assuring one party large profits. So, feel free to use any of the features that I've published on the web."