Hi all, new member (and pretty new to aviation in general). I'm a naturally curious person and I like getting my hands dirty, so experimental aircraft grabbed my attention right away once I started learning more about this community. I have some questions about EAB's that seem like obvious questions, but I haven't been able to find answers to.
Obviously when building an EAB the idea is to plan well and ensure that you hit the >51% mark. What happens if a builder falls short of that? Can the aircraft even be certified?
If I wanted to fly a specific kitplane but did not have the interest (or space, resources, time, etc) to build it myself, and none are available on the used market, can you have a commercial service build it for you and still get the aircraft certificated for flight? Before you burn me at the stake for this question, remember this is hypothetical. I know that for an EAB certificate, it must be amateur built for educational or recreational purposes, so this really relates to the first question about how the aircraft could feasibly be certified (potentially as other-than-EAB) if a commercial builder built the kit for you. It would seem obvious that as long as a plane is deemed airworthy, it should be certificated somehow, regardless of who built it.
Lastly, I'm located in the far northeastern U.S., a stone's-throw away from Canada. How do the TCCA regulations pertaining to home-built/kit planes compare to the FAA? Is there more leniency in this department? Is it stricter?
Thanks for educating me, hopefully with minimal teasing about my ridiculous questions.
Obviously when building an EAB the idea is to plan well and ensure that you hit the >51% mark. What happens if a builder falls short of that? Can the aircraft even be certified?
If I wanted to fly a specific kitplane but did not have the interest (or space, resources, time, etc) to build it myself, and none are available on the used market, can you have a commercial service build it for you and still get the aircraft certificated for flight? Before you burn me at the stake for this question, remember this is hypothetical. I know that for an EAB certificate, it must be amateur built for educational or recreational purposes, so this really relates to the first question about how the aircraft could feasibly be certified (potentially as other-than-EAB) if a commercial builder built the kit for you. It would seem obvious that as long as a plane is deemed airworthy, it should be certificated somehow, regardless of who built it.
Lastly, I'm located in the far northeastern U.S., a stone's-throw away from Canada. How do the TCCA regulations pertaining to home-built/kit planes compare to the FAA? Is there more leniency in this department? Is it stricter?
Thanks for educating me, hopefully with minimal teasing about my ridiculous questions.
