Should you maiden someone else's plane?

[iandhunt]

My friend bought a J3 cub from banana back in November. After numerous failed takeoffs we opted to put larger tires on it to help with the Alaskan "paved roads". Anyways, he tries taking off with ailerons & ROG. Shortest flight, breaks prop shaft after stall. Flash forward 1 month, new motor, taxis, crashes after 8 ft.....breaks propeller only. Replaces propeller and waits til after Xmas. We go out to the Officers club to fly, he pulls his J3 and asks me to maiden it. Lot of snow, so I hand launch, flys fine, lands ok since it was a snowy wonderland. My question is this. Is it wrong to maiden someone else's plane? Even if they ask you too? That is like, in my eyes, taking someone's wife to bed with you after they get married.....just to "test it out...." Gosh, what would a buddy box be equivalent to?

Meh, I feel dirty now.....it should have been his enjoyment, but it was mine....going to go take a shower now....feel free to comment or just roll your eyes.

[renard80]

I reckon he was being very sensible, getting a more experienced flyer to test his plane.

No shame in that, on either side.

Like most of us, I have had my share of disastrous crashes. If I thought they were due to a fault with the plane, I often ask the wiser guys to maiden it after repair - to make sure the plane is OK. Anything goes wrong after that, it's my fault!

Can't speak about taking friend's wife to bed. I've never had the chance.

[flydiver]

Not only no shame, if you can't fly worth a darn it's sensible.
How much fun do most people have taking a new or newly repaired plane out and breaking it in seconds. You don't know if it was your lack of skill, or inability to setup, or lousy repair. Some of our more timid guys won't maiden ANY new plane that's worth some $$ until they are sure it can fly and it's set up properly. Of course those guys generally have poor setup and repair skills also.

There are women in this sport?

[xv1100mc]

I have only been flying since Oct. I know my limits (and always testing them). I have been building a GWS Zero kit for the past month. There is no why I am maidening that plane. The first ten seconds of flight are the most important for any planes life. I want an experienced pilot flying it for those first ten seconds. I trust my nephews skill so completely that if he can't fly it then something is seriously wrong with the airplane. Once he has checked the airworthness of my Zero then I'm going for it. Either way I know a crash is my fault. If my nephew crashes it, my fault for building a crappy plane. If I crash it, my fault for lack of skill. No matter what, I'm going to enjoy seeing my plane fly.

[iandhunt]

Jan 20, 2013 16:59:53 GMT 1 flydiver said:

There are women in this sport?

Yes, they stay at home when you head out to the field to go fly....at least mine does.