Don

Don

Well Known Member
I'm looking at buying the kit that Katie Bosman has advertised. My 9A should be flying this year and the combination of XC machine and a 3 seems to be the best of both worlds - and they are two different worlds/missions. I think I have a pretty good handle on what's in the kit and what isn't and what I'd need to do to build the 3. Most of the decisions are pretty simple, except one.

I called Van's and learned about the pitfalls of buying someone else's kit. When I asked about the builder number Katie posted they said it had been purged from their system and that they could not give me a bill of sale and that that would make licensing the plane problematic - I think they're referring to registering it, not getting the AW certificate.

Logically this makes no sense. I thought I could build an RV from the plans (which I will have to buy and plan to) without buying the parts from Van's. I'm not suggesting there's any wisdom in doing this but only that it's possible. Now I realize that we're talking about FAA rules here and we're talking what's legally possible, not what's logically possible.

The last thing I want to do is buy a bunch of parts, sort through the work of making a plane out it, and then find out that I have an aerobatic lawn ornament. It might be the coolest lawn ornament in 8 states but that isn't what I'm looking at building it for.

So, what's the real deal?
 
If you build a plans built RV3, you do not need a Bill of Sale from Van's at all and it is not a big deal. You do not even need to call the aircraft an RV3... call it what you want. Van's has the info on the plans number. The license form and proof of purchase in Bill of Sale series from the original owner would be my only concern. If you have this documentation, mail a change/transfer of plans number ownership to Van's with a COPY of this documentation and build on.
 
Not a problem

You don't absolutely need a bill of sale from Van's.

You can register and get an AW certificate for it without one.

You might ask a local Tech Counselor for some help on the process or send a PM for more info.

Dan
 
According to what Mel (DAR Extraordinaire) told me a few months ago, Reilly and Dan have it exactly right - you can call it a scratch or plans built airplane, and don't need the BOS at all. And with an early RV-3 kit, you won't be that far off the truth..... ;)
 
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