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Although we would all love to divorce ourselves from the FAA, we must
remember that the DAR's work for and report to an FAA official and must
justify any variance from their desires (right Charlie??).  So we can not
just get someone else to authorize another body in the airplane unless they
can be justified (legally).  Yes it makes sense to get checked out properly
in ones airplane before continuing the test flight program, this can be
considered as receiving "dual" and as Charlie has pointed out in the past,
it's illegal.  Additionally it will probably make your insurance policy
worthless in case of an incident/accident.
I too flew production aircraft unpainted, or painted whichever flavor
production gave me, but in a production environment all these things are
tested long before we got them, and everything is predictable.  The early EZE
wings and particularily the canard exibited unstable conditions with leading
edge stripes on them that were not completely faired into the rest of the
paint.  I would guess that the FAA examiner that insisted on Ron's being
painted prior to certification was privy to this little bit of history, and
perhaps was not trying to be a black-hatter but trying to promote "safety".  
I for one am not willing to forfeit my pilots license for the sake of
"begging forgiveness".  Some things should be left alone and don't go poking
the bear with a stick.  The wrath of the FAA was brought down upon the
"Builder Assist shops" many years ago by the BD-Jet idiots that used them as
an example in their attempt to build their customer's aircraft 100%.  They
poked the bear and he raised his ugly head, said no, and proceeded to write
more definitive restrictions for us to follow. I have been known to
"transition" the owner into their aircraft so they may continue the test
flight program in the interest of safety, and all the FAA inspectors I've
talked to have turned a blind eye toward this minor deviation, but will not
and can not put it in writing.  I understand that Dave Morss no longer gives
any transition flight time to the owner, possibly for this reason.
No, I don't like the restrictions either, but I certainly will not advocate
anyone putting their lives or license on the line to buck the system.

Mike DeHate
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Please send your photos and drawings to marvkaye@olsusa.com.
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