experimental; registration & restrictions?

[tienshanman]

Can anyone point me towards a good summary of the rules governing experimental registration of an imported, self launching glider? What is required to register and what you can and cannot do with it? Also, are there any regulatory or real world problems regarding flying one from a GA airport?

[Frank Whiteley]

On Mar 22, 2:44*am, tienshanman <tienshanman.
> wrote:
> Can anyone point me towards a good summary of the rules governing
> experimental registration of an imported, self launching glider? What
> is required to register and what you can and cannot do with it? Also,
> are there any regulatory or real world problems regarding flying one
> from a GA airport?
>
> --
> tienshanman

Download and read for comprehension the relevant parts (All and Group
I) of FAA Order 8130.2Fchg5 and the FAR parts it references, including
airspace classes. See FAA Order 5190.6B Chapter 14 to understand what
restrictions may be imposed at any particular airport and how those
restrictions may be imposed.

Talk with your FSDO or an appropriate DAR that's qualified for initial
foreign built glider certificates of airworthiness. You'll need a
condition inspection and may have to fly-off Phase I requirements
before entering Phase II operations.

Reserve an N-number.

Insure for value before shipping with a US underwriter. Shipping
insurance provided by the carrier is woefully inadequate.

My $.02,

Frank Whiteley

[Darryl Ramm]

On Mar 22, 7:23*am, Frank Whiteley > wrote:
> On Mar 22, 2:44*am, tienshanman <tienshanman.
>
> > wrote:
> > Can anyone point me towards a good summary of the rules governing
> > experimental registration of an imported, self launching glider? What
> > is required to register and what you can and cannot do with it? Also,
> > are there any regulatory or real world problems regarding flying one
> > from a GA airport?
>
> > --
> > tienshanman
>
> Download and read for comprehension the relevant parts (All and Group
> I) of FAA Order 8130.2Fchg5 and the FAR parts it references, including
> airspace classes. *See FAA Order 5190.6B Chapter 14 to understand what
> restrictions may be imposed at any particular airport and how those
> restrictions may be imposed.
>
> Talk with your FSDO or an appropriate DAR that's qualified for initial
> foreign built glider certificates of airworthiness. *You'll need a
> condition inspection and may have to fly-off Phase I requirements
> before entering Phase II operations.
>
> Reserve an N-number.
>
> Insure for value before shipping with a US underwriter. *Shipping
> insurance provided by the carrier is woefully inadequate.
>
> My $.02,
>
> Frank Whiteley

There may well be real world issues flying from a GA airport. You
don't say what motorglider you are considering or what GA airport, for
example some types (central main gear/low wing tip wheels) have
difficulty taxiing narrow taxiways, and there may be other practical
issues (I've been surprised at a GA airport by a large helicopter
hover-taxiing next to a row of gliders -- that could of gotten ugly).
Talk to local pilots where you are thinking of locating the glider, if
its a popular glider site I expect all these and more have been sorted
out. You will want to think about performance effects of density
altitude where you want to operate (motorgliders tend to be
underpowered). Some motorgliders are more affected by high ambient
temperatures and things like engine cooling issues, likely related to
their European origins and may require cautious handling and achieve
lower performance then the book states under these conditions.
Motorgliders tend to be relatively high maintenance and finicky so my
general advice is find active owners and a knowledgeable A&P in your
area or at least an active online-owners community to help with some
of this.

A good place to start thinking about some of this is to read Eric
Greenwell's Guide to Self Launch Sailplane Operation available at
http://sites.google.com/site/motorgliders/publications/download-the-guide-1

Darryl

[tienshanman]

On Mar 22, 2:44*am, tienshanman tienshanman.
wrote:
Can anyone point me towards a good summary of the rules governing
experimental registration of an imported, self launching glider? What
is required to register and what you can and cannot do with it? Also,
are there any regulatory or real world problems regarding flying one
from a GA airport?

--
tienshanman

Download and read for comprehension the relevant parts (All and Group
I) of FAA Order 8130.2Fchg5 and the FAR parts it references, including
airspace classes. See FAA Order 5190.6B Chapter 14 to understand what
restrictions may be imposed at any particular airport and how those
restrictions may be imposed.

Talk with your FSDO or an appropriate DAR that's qualified for initial
foreign built glider certificates of airworthiness. You'll need a
condition inspection and may have to fly-off Phase I requirements
before entering Phase II operations.

Reserve an N-number.

Insure for value before shipping with a US underwriter. Shipping
insurance provided by the carrier is woefully inadequate.

My $.02,

Frank Whiteley

Thanks Frank, exactly what I was looking for!