From what I read a few days ago it seems like his dad was some big time aviator and Roy been around it his whole life. I can't remember what kind of credentials Roy had but it seemed like he very well could have known what he was doing.
I also read a few people have died in that same plane. Even the engineer who designed the the thing or some **** lol. But every death was pilot error apparently.
Im kind of under the impression the plane just gets people feeling some type of way to **** around in it.