Flight Review: Vanâs RV-14A
More power, more better.
Itâs said that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. In the world of homebuilt aircraft, usually more power is better than less, but itâs also true that power without control is just heat and noise. (And there ends your monthly ration of overused aphorisms.) Power is speed and climb performance, but it can also be destabilizing and, past a certain point, starts making the machine worseâwith higher fuel consumption comes the need to carry more fuel, which adds weight and puts demands on structure, in turn further increasing weight. All until you have a machine thatâs taken so far beyond its design point that you might as well have started with a clean sheet.