Misinformation!

[Sam Buchanan]

Originally Posted by YellowJacket RV9

I'd love to hear from those of have successfully gone this route, and received any credit for homebuilding.

Chris

I suspect Ironflight (Paul Dye) will jump into this discussion at some point.

He can tell you firsthand how much effort is required for a custom aircraft builder to acquire the A&P rating (Kitplanes magazine, Editor's Log, May 2017).

[YellowJacket RV9]

Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan

I suspect Ironflight (Paul Dye) will jump into this discussion at some point.

He can tell you firsthand how much effort is required for a custom aircraft builder to acquire the A&P rating (Kitplanes magazine, Editor's Log, May 2017).

Yep I remember that article, will have to pull it up again.(found it http://www.kitplanes.com/issues/34_5...7_21819-1.html) It sounds like the key is building a relationship with an A&P, and also keeping excellent records. It also sounds like a good excuse to go to the Lycoming school and build up the resume!

Chris

[RVbySDI]

I will not speak for him but if you contact Caveman on this forum you may ask him these questions. He just completed his certification this spring doing exactly what you are discussing. I am sure he can give you a lot of insight.

[rmartingt]

Originally Posted by YellowJacket RV9

Yep I remember that article, will have to pull it up again.(found it http://www.kitplanes.com/issues/34_5...7_21819-1.html) It sounds like the key is building a relationship with an A&P, and also keeping excellent records. It also sounds like a good excuse to go to the Lycoming school and build up the resume!

Chris

Well there's my downfall... if one needs a super-detailed build log by the hour, I'm hosed.

[Ironflight]

Originally Posted by Sam Buchanan

I suspect Ironflight (Paul Dye) will jump into this discussion at some point.

He can tell you firsthand how much effort is required for a custom aircraft builder to acquire the A&P rating (Kitplanes magazine, Editor's Log, May 2017).

I actually think that editorial pretty well sums it up Sam. After getting approved, I still had to spend three weeks studying for and taking the three writtens, then ten days doing a prep class for the Oral and Practical - and taking the exam.

Simply building an airplane (or two, or three...) is not the equivalent of decades of working on a variety of airplanes, spending pretty much your whole professional life in airplanes, and having airplanes on the brain pretty much all the time.

Finally, what I think is most relevant to the discussion, is an old scene from the TV show MASH. Colonel Potter has just helped another surgeon in the OR with a suggestion that saved a patient's life. Someone says something like "Wow Colonel, you're a genius!" His response was "If I'm such a genius, how come I just stitched my glove to this young man's intestine?"

The point being that no matter how good we think we are, or someone else thinks we are, we still miss things. Inspecting airplanes is not the same as building them, or maintaining them - and it requires the humility to know that we can still let things go by without notice. I like to have others inspect my work, and while it can bruise the ego, the goal is to have safer airplanes - not pats on the back.

Training in good inspection techniques is different than building or maintaining - and perhaps that is where we should concentrate if we want a more universal inspection authority - how to do a good inspection!

[RVbySDI]

Originally Posted by Ironflight

. . . Training in good inspection techniques is different than building or maintaining - and perhaps that is where we should concentrate if we want a more universal inspection authority - how to do a good inspection!

Well Paul, outside of experience, self-education and perpetual conscientious self-improvement, who teaches that course? If that course exists let me know, I'll sign up!

[rvbuilder2002]

Originally Posted by RVbySDI

Well Paul, outside of experience, self-education and perpetual conscientious self-improvement, who teaches that course? If that course exists let me know, I'll sign up!

That is the 30 months of on the job experience that the FAA requires if a formal training course has not been completed.

I agree with Paul.
The experience developed building an airplane does not develop all of the skills required to inspect an airplane. That is why in my condition inspection forum I encourage people to get assistance from an experienced A&P for at least the first year or two, even if the hold the Repairmans Certificate for their airplane.

[YellowJacket RV9]

Agree 100% that building a plane is nowhere near the type of experience needed to be an A&P. It's just unfortunate that there isn't a path to being licensed to work on only small, piston powered planes without going through some of the other, unrelated requirements.

Chris

[MED]

I don't want to muddle this, but one poster said his A&P said he was not "authorized" to replace cylinders on his engine. Isn't that true if the engine is a certificated engine? I always heard to work on the engine the data plate had to be removed or in some other way the engine declared to be non-certificated - like an experimental engine for an experimental aircraft or an air boat.

[tspear]

Originally Posted by MED

I don't want to muddle this, but one poster said his A&P said he was not "authorized" to replace cylinders on his engine. Isn't that true if the engine is a certificated engine? I always heard to work on the engine the data plate had to be removed or in some other way the engine declared to be non-certificated - like an experimental engine for an experimental aircraft or an air boat.

No. It is BS.
Now, from a legal perspective, if you put a certified motor on an experimental; then want to reinstall it on a certified aircraft. It is legal; but the requirements any A/P or I/A would make you go through is impractical. So do not bother trying.

Tim