I agree with Mark that Lancair's decision to apply the $300 transfer fee to
a credit for parts purchases is a good move. I thank the new owner for
that! However, in my opinion the $300 was never an issue. The
following is a quote from their resale agreement:
Further, the new purchaser of a flying Lancair aircraft
or an uncompleted kit, and prior to the aircraft being transferred, must
agree to have either flying Lancair aircraft or upon first flight of
an uncompleted kit inspected by our insurance inspection team. The new
purchaser must also agree to participate in any Lancair endorsed training
program.
These two requirements are, it seems to me, potentially very
expensive. An inspection by Lancair's "insurance inspection team" could be
thousands of dollars. The paragraph is awkwardly worded. It says the
buyer must agree to have the inspection, but it doesn't say the inspection has
to be completed and it doesn't say the airplane has to pass the
inspection.
One of the benefits of building my own experimental airplane is the
privilege of using materials and techniques of my own choosing, with nobody
(except the FAA, sort of) looking over my shoulder. Although I'm
confident my relatively small modifications from the official plans would
be acceptable to Lancair, there's always the possibility that some future
Lancair owner (we're now on the third since I've been building) could decide any
changes from the plans, no matter how insignificant, must be "corrected" before
allowing the new purchaser to register the airplane. I'm not comfortable
giving up that much power to Lancair. It's my airplane, not
theirs.
The resale agreement also says that the purchaser "must also agree to
participate in any Lancair endorsed training program." Holy moly, that's a
requirement limited only by the imagination of Lancair. A new owner could
also decide, for some insurance purpose perhaps, that the "Lancair
endorsed training program" would require who knows how many hours in a
Lancair, completed at Redmond.
The inspection requirement, particularly if it includes a requirement
that the inspection must be "passed," and the unbounded training
requirement, could cost a seller thousands of dollars, and possibly tens of
thousands. And I think the cost will fall on the seller, even if the
purchaser is the one who writes the check.
Dennis
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