Van's Air Force
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Inspection requirments for new aircraft
- Thread starter Robin8er
- Start date
Negative...
You will need to conduct a condition inspection on the aircraft before scheduling the airworthiness inspection. The transponder check and ELT inspection is required before flight (transponder, depending on you specific location) but not for the airworthiness inspection. These are operational requirements, not airworthiness requirements.
You will need to conduct a condition inspection on the aircraft before scheduling the airworthiness inspection. The transponder check and ELT inspection is required before flight (transponder, depending on you specific location) but not for the airworthiness inspection. These are operational requirements, not airworthiness requirements.
Correct, for the airworthiness inspection you'll either need a DAR to come to you, or have the local FSDO send a guy to you. Both have pros and cons. I would recommend the DAR route, specifically Mel
because he will do an actual INSPECTION of the airplane with hands and eyeballs rather than just a paper chase. If there is something wrong, he'll see it and bring it to your attention, which is what you really want to happen.For the initial condition inspection, the builder does it, no repairmans certificate needed for that first one.
Correct, for the airworthiness inspection you'll either need a DAR to come to you, or have the local FSDO send a guy to you. Both have pros and cons. I would recommend the DAR route, specifically Mel
For the initial condition inspection, the builder does it, no repairmans certificate needed for that first one.
I think the local FSDO option is probably hit-or-miss regarding an actual inspection. I had a FSDO guy come and he spent about 4 hours poking with a flashlight into every part of the airplane. I had a page worth of things I needed to fix (all minor stuff, but still). It was invasive. But he did leave me with some confidence that the airplane was in good shape. I was actually relieved that it wasn't just a paperwork inspection.
Sam Buchanan
been here awhile
Hey Mel...what's your fee for doing an inspection in Hawaii? Airfare and three nights in a nice hotel on the beach??
Hey Mel...what's your fee for doing an inspection in Hawaii? Airfare and three nights in a nice hotel on the beach??
That would probably work. Of course that would have to be for 2!
Like "AIRGUY" says, the builder does the initial inspection. You don't need the repairman certificate to do the initial inspection because it is not yet an "Airplane"!
Both myself and my DAR agreed with Mel: transponder check before flight (I'm in mode C required airspace) but after inspection was okay. But the DAR said he would check with the FSDO "just to be sure", and those guys said I needed the transponder checked first! Rather than argue with them, I just had it done. As others have noted, the builder must sign off the condition inspection prior to the AW inspection, including an ELT check.
And if you're building and flying from a private strip that is not at an actual airport, like me, getting someone to come to you with a test rig can be an expensive and frustrating exercise. For me it was worth it, I'm 30 miles from the nearest airport and transporting the airplane was simply not worth the hassle.
If you're not based at an airport requiring a transponder, or can fly without encroaching on airspace that requires a transponder, do you even have to have one installed during your initial inspection? You could leave it out of the panel until you're flying, and then install it later once the plane is airworthy.
This is quite variable. My FSDO inspection was 20 minutes. About 5 minute of airplane inspection and 15 minutes of paperwork review. He really only checked that the ailerons and elevator moved in the proper direction with stick travel. This is was OK for me, as I had someone experienced with RVs do a 3 hour inspection, looking for problems and common faults/errors.
Larry
JardCrocker
I'm New Here
Hi...i am a new user here. As per my knowledge transponder check and ELT inspection is required before flight but not for the airworthiness inspection. These are operational requirements, not airworthiness requirements.
turnkey pcb
turnkey pcb
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