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The whole builder assist idea has made me grimace a bit.  Seems on the
surface to be a way around the regs.  The experimental class relaxes the
certification rules in exchange for an educational experience on the part of
the builder/flyer.  Seems like a more than fair deal for us.  It seems
inevitable to me that the builder assist business that violates the 51% rule
of contribution by the OWNER is going to end badly.  I, for one, take my
flying and maintenance responsibilities very seriously because I know there
is no-one else I can fall back on to save my skin.  I take nothing on faith
as far as the airworthiness of the airplane goes.  When I was flying
certified airplanes as a low time pilot, I took just about everything on
faith regarding the airworthiness of the airplane.  Having someone else
build your experimental airplane is a potentially dangerous middle ground
where you don't know what's inside (or understand the systems) and yet
there's little maintenance and factory support to cover for you.

I know the FAA and EAA looked at all this several years ago and I guess they
decided the current practice would be allowed to continue.  I don't know
what the protections in place are such as which name goes down as the
manufacturer and who the FAA hands an airworthiness certificate to.  Who
does the Annuals?  Even considering this, there's little substitute for
intensity and care given to building when you know it's your butt in the
seat if it goes down.  And for us first time builders that may not have
fully appreciated the care required or lacked knowledge, we paid the price
getting it ready for the test pilot and the subsequent modifications, tweaks
and adjustments needed during the first year or so of flying.

The beauty of the INTENT of the regs it seems to me is that if you have the
gumption to build an airplane, then you can probably look after all aspects
of ownership responsibly, including flight training and caution.  If you
don't have the time for building, then you can buy certified airplanes where
most aspects of ownership are 'backed up' so that you need invest only a
minimum of time and effort to operate safely.  Seems to me the middle ground
is going to be unsafe for some unsuspecting people.

Ed de Chazal
361DC

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