Posted for "Bill Hooker" <bhook@iswest.com>:

For those of us who built their airplanes without any Fastbuild or Factory
 Assist options, this simply seems to be an application of the long standing
 principal that our airplanes are homebuilt and licensed in the Experimental
 Catagory.  With the ever increasing complexity of our very high performance
 kit planes, all but a handfull of people are unable to build them alone
 anymore.  The kit plane manufacturers have had to go into the fastbuild and
 factory assist programs to keep and increase their growth.
 
 In effect, they have circumvented the true spirit of amateur built aircraft
 to provide an airplane that is more complex than most certified planes by
 using the Experimental catagory as it was never intended. Maybe we should
 have a new catagory for factory built, very high performance planes that
 cannot get certified as we know the safety requirements of the FAA.  Why not
 allow anyone to go into the business of building airplanes for resale.  I
 have no problem with that, but don't say it is 51% or more built by the
 original owner, when it is not!
 
 I wonder if this whole subject has anything to do with our unsatisfactory
 safety record and very high insurance rates?
 
 Bill Hooker
 Lancair IV-P 700 Hrs.
 Repairman Certificate # 2563704
 
 p.s.  I certainly hope we never loose the Experimental catagory for amatuer
 built aircraft. What a great privelege.