Last week I was rummaging around my desk and ran across the application and letter of recommendation for the Repairman Certificate for our RV-3, licensed last December. I was in no rush to get it taken care of , since I really didn’t need it until it was time for the first Condition Inspection at the end of this year. But now I had a little extra time, so I threw it in my briefcase, hoping I’d remember to make an appointment with the Houston FSDO to get “Junior” added to my certificate (I already have a Repairman’s card listing my RV-8).
So last week I gave them a call, and was transferred to the chief maintenance inspector (“Bobbie” – never did get his last name). He took down my name, certificate number, the N-number of the airplane we were adding – and asked when next week I’d like to come in to the office. We settled on Monday afternoon at 1500, and he said that while he wouldn’t be there, he’d put it one of his guy’s calendars, and I was all set.
Interestingly enough, about two hours later, I got a phone call from “Bobbie, at the FAA” asking if we had an ELT on the RV-3. No, I told him, as a matter of fact, we didn’t, since it was a single seater. Well, he told me, I had better sit down with a copy of FAR 91.207, and not fly the airplane until I did, because, he said, all registered aircraft had to have an ELT to be airworthy, and there were no exceptions! Hmmm, I thought quickly, best to be polite, say “Yes Sir!”, and ask if I could call him back if I had any rather questions. (It was easy enough to temporarily “ground” the airplane – it’s taken apart at the paint shop! Well, it didn’t take long to bring up the whole FAR on my screen from the FAA web site, and even less to find the part that exempts airplanes equipped carry no more than one person.) I called him back, and politely questioned him about where I was reading it wrong – and sure enough, once I pointed out the right paragraph that he had missed, he apologized and said “well, you learn something every day!”
Odd phone call I thought – I couldn’t figure out what research he was doing that would pick on that one point – or was he testing my commitment to reading and understanding the regs? I had no idea, but was on my guard when I drove to the FSDO today. As it turned out, I had little to worry about. Armed with my application and DAR Mel’s letter of recommendation, along with some pictures showing me in the shop with bits and pieces of the -3, I met an older gentleman who was to be my examiner. It turned out that he’d only been at the FAA for a short time, and was still learning the ropes. My “examination" took about two minutes – he saw that I already had a repairman license, and the right paperwork, and got to work figuring out how he would add on my new airplane. This involved a number of trips to a back room to consult with some folks, because apparently this is not often done in the Houston FSDO.
Fortunately, another fine gentleman appeared, an Operations Inspector with tons of flying experience who apparently was happy to chat about airplanes (he is a homebuilder with a Hyperbipe, and had flown all the models of RV’s in his time – all expect the RV-1 of course…) instead of dealing with phone messages. It was a fun hour talking flying experiences while the mainenance inspector popped in and out, tried different things on the computer, and finally determined that he had to issue me a whole new Repairman’s certificate for the new airplane – he couldn't list more than one on a card – so I’ll actually have two cards with two different numbers (seems wasteful to me, but hey…I work for the guv’mint too, and understand Byzantine….). More typing and printing, more talking airplanes, a couple of handshakes, and we were done. A nice, relaxed and friendly hour spent at the FSDO, and a new temporary certificate in my pocket.
Before I left, I told them that I just had to ask about “Bobbie” and his question about ELT’s. They both kind of chuckled and said, well….sometimes, he just does things like that…..I guess it takes all types.
Paul
So last week I gave them a call, and was transferred to the chief maintenance inspector (“Bobbie” – never did get his last name). He took down my name, certificate number, the N-number of the airplane we were adding – and asked when next week I’d like to come in to the office. We settled on Monday afternoon at 1500, and he said that while he wouldn’t be there, he’d put it one of his guy’s calendars, and I was all set.
Interestingly enough, about two hours later, I got a phone call from “Bobbie, at the FAA” asking if we had an ELT on the RV-3. No, I told him, as a matter of fact, we didn’t, since it was a single seater. Well, he told me, I had better sit down with a copy of FAR 91.207, and not fly the airplane until I did, because, he said, all registered aircraft had to have an ELT to be airworthy, and there were no exceptions! Hmmm, I thought quickly, best to be polite, say “Yes Sir!”, and ask if I could call him back if I had any rather questions. (It was easy enough to temporarily “ground” the airplane – it’s taken apart at the paint shop! Well, it didn’t take long to bring up the whole FAR on my screen from the FAA web site, and even less to find the part that exempts airplanes equipped carry no more than one person.) I called him back, and politely questioned him about where I was reading it wrong – and sure enough, once I pointed out the right paragraph that he had missed, he apologized and said “well, you learn something every day!”
Odd phone call I thought – I couldn’t figure out what research he was doing that would pick on that one point – or was he testing my commitment to reading and understanding the regs? I had no idea, but was on my guard when I drove to the FSDO today. As it turned out, I had little to worry about. Armed with my application and DAR Mel’s letter of recommendation, along with some pictures showing me in the shop with bits and pieces of the -3, I met an older gentleman who was to be my examiner. It turned out that he’d only been at the FAA for a short time, and was still learning the ropes. My “examination" took about two minutes – he saw that I already had a repairman license, and the right paperwork, and got to work figuring out how he would add on my new airplane. This involved a number of trips to a back room to consult with some folks, because apparently this is not often done in the Houston FSDO.
Fortunately, another fine gentleman appeared, an Operations Inspector with tons of flying experience who apparently was happy to chat about airplanes (he is a homebuilder with a Hyperbipe, and had flown all the models of RV’s in his time – all expect the RV-1 of course…) instead of dealing with phone messages. It was a fun hour talking flying experiences while the mainenance inspector popped in and out, tried different things on the computer, and finally determined that he had to issue me a whole new Repairman’s certificate for the new airplane – he couldn't list more than one on a card – so I’ll actually have two cards with two different numbers (seems wasteful to me, but hey…I work for the guv’mint too, and understand Byzantine….). More typing and printing, more talking airplanes, a couple of handshakes, and we were done. A nice, relaxed and friendly hour spent at the FSDO, and a new temporary certificate in my pocket.
Before I left, I told them that I just had to ask about “Bobbie” and his question about ELT’s. They both kind of chuckled and said, well….sometimes, he just does things like that…..I guess it takes all types.
Paul
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