That is correct. Paying him makes him a professional.
To the OP's question, though, you are right. Once he airworthiness is issued the education/recreation requirement goes away. You can pay someone to install an interior, paint, upgrade your panel, maintain, insect, repair, etc.
As others have stated, you can hire some work done during the build, but have to do a major portion yourself. However, the way the checklist reads, you get as much credit for building an aileron as for building a wing, so there are ways to hire big portions done while doing smaller portions with the same credit yourself.
Here's a question related to 'assistance'... I'm pretty slow in the head, and don't really understand how that all works when it's time to register the plane and apply for the EAB airworthiness certificate so maybe someone can sort me out.
I see Jesse, Jay Pratt, Synergy, and others.... have 'completion centers', builders assistance, etc., whatever you want to call it. In my opinion this is a good thing. Presumably (I don't personally know because I haven't used them), their good reputations are based on their experience and superior workmanship (at least compared to the average builder). Certainly it's better than mine. They can also answer questions/provide guidance on how to complete a part right then and there, rather than calling back to the Vans office during work hours or to post on this website. One could argue there is a safety benefit that's gained by using these services. But can you use them and still meet the 51%? Seems like the FAA rules have nothing to do with safety but more with compliance. Of course, this is the government so logic has nothing to do with regulation. In other words, how is using the professional help "bad"? More than 1 RV has had inflight structural failure. I'm not saying that workmanship had anything to do with that; but if given the choice of a rudder built under the supervision of a professional, or my non-assisted version which would you choose? What is the FAA trying to accomplish with this rule.
As I see it, there are varying levels of help:
- build completely solo, no help
- purchase a quickbuild, but complete the rest solo
- get some assistance to help you finish a part (you do the work but they walk you through how)
- hire someone to build everything and you do nothing
There are various degrees on this list, but you can see the range.
So, my question has to do with the 51% rule and using this type of services. Say you get a quickbuild kit, and want help with the tip up canopy that you can't seem to get right, or the cowling, or whatever. Does the rule say you'd have to count any professional help as "commercial assistance" and then go to that spreadsheet to still make sure you meet the 51%? I doubt you just ship them a trim tab and say, ok fedex it back when it's done... I still feel like you're the one actually building it.
On that note, I've also heard rumors that programs like the 2 weeks to taxi are not actually commercial assistance. They hand you the correct tool when you need it, give you on the spot guidance, but you actually perform the work. Again, that seems fair to me and I don't know what that would be 'wrong' or unsafe with this approach. If you can afford to get the help, I don't see why that is regulated - it certainly doesn't appear to be a safety issue.
There was a thread a couple days ago about the quickbuild classes at Synergy air, but after reading this thread I'm all confused. Sorry for the long diatribe.