"Danny Dot" wrote in message
...
Ferry permits are for planes that are not currently certified, e.g. not
been inspected with a year. At least this is my understanding.

Not correct, it has nothing to do with the annual. A plane that is out
of annual can get a ferry permit but being out of annual is not a
prerequisite.

Thanks for the information. I gather if the plane is in annual, but
"damaged" the rules state the pilot in command makes a decision if the
plane is air worthy????

The PIC is responsible for ensuring that the airplane is airworthy.
However, anything with respect to the airplane that does not meet the
standards under which the airplane was granted an airworthiness certificate
is automatically not airworthy. Whether the PIC determines this is the case
or not doesn't matter with respect to whether the aircraft is or is not
airworthy.

Note that technically speaking, the annual inspection is not a question of
airworthiness. That is, as far as I can recall, the airworthiness
certificate doesn't require annual inspections. Part 91 does (FAR 91.409,
specifically). An airplane without a current annual inspection is not legal
to fly, but it may technically still be "airworthy" (assuming it still meets
the criteria attached to the airworthiness certificate).

Basically, a ferry permit is a method that can be used to legally obtain a
waiver to allow the operation of an airplane outside of the normal
regulations. This applies to a wide variety of situations including (but
not limited to) lack of a current annual inspection, failure to meet the
airworthiness certificate criteria, or even simply to operate the aircraft
outside of the regulations (for example, exceeding the design maximum gross
weight).

Pete