I was going to post this in the "HBA demeanor" thread, but I thought it deserved its own thread. I think you'll recognize most of the types (being charitable, I'm not naming names, but you know who you are).
I've probably missed a few...
Dana
- The engineer: Solid technical background, engineering degree, may or may not have much homebuilt experience. Likes to discuss esoteric technical details.
- The self made engineer: Similar to above but with no formal engineering education, but has made sufficient study on his own to discuss on a high technical level.
- The old time homebuilder: Has built or restored one or more planes, lots of practical experience, worth paying attention to.
- The airport bum: Like the above, never actually built a plane but has been around long enough to know what he's talking about.
- The newbie: Knows nothing, asks silly questions out of ignorance, but not his fault. Rarely sticks around. Be kind.
- The dreamer: Lots of grand plans, may start one or more projects but rarely finishes anything... it's about the journey.
- The mystical dreamer: Similar to above, but "new agey" and rarely even starts a project, just likes to talk. Usually no actual flying experience at all.
- The broken record: May or may not have homebuilding experience or solid technical experience, but always tends to steer conversations to his pet subject.
- The denier: Asks questions, gets reasonable answers, then argues that the answers are wrong when they don't agree with what he wants to hear.
- The self annointed genius: Is convinced that everybody from the Wrights to Rutan have been doing it completely wrong for the past hundred years, but his pet concept will revolutionize everything.
- The kid: Full of fire and enthusiasm, lots of impractical ideas, may or may not eventually come down to earth. Either gets offended and leaves, or grows up and stays to learn. Again, be kind. A subset is the simulator kid, who thinks his MS Flight Simulator experience has taught him all he needs to know about flying.
- The cabinetmaker: Usually introduces himself with photos of a partially completed wooden fuselage (from Home Depot), which is usually rather scary despite good (by cabinetmaker standards) workmanship. Not likely to ever get airborne (fortunately).
- The googler: Nothing original, just posts links and quotes about what others have done.
I've probably missed a few...
Dana
