On 2/5/2013 10:01 AM, Bradley K. Sherman wrote:
Boeing, not the FAA,
| largely vouched for the airplane's safety.

Actually, Boeing likely hired engineers that had been
pre-designated/approved by the FAA to do the job. They did this at
great expense! Otherwise, they could have waited for the proper FAA
official to show up, subject to the FAA whims and budget.

I once worked for a company that decided to take that second route.
After all, we all pay taxes right? Compared to a job like certifying a
brand new airliner, what that company wanted to do was simple; They had
purchased the type certificate for an established, certified, glider
which they wished to produce.

They built the factory, they installed all the tooling. From there,
things dragged on for years. Each step of the torturous bureaucratic
process to obtain a production certificate took months. The FAA kept
demanding new paperwork, because that was easier and cheaper than
sending the proper official to inspect the facility.

Small businesses don't have the resources to wait out months and years
of bureaucratic inaction. In the end, the business closed down before
the first airframe was even started.

So that's why the FAA itself did only a minority part of the 787's
certification work. If Boeing waited for them, airlines would still be
flying DC-3's and there would be no Boeing.

In fact, an amazing amount of FAA business is done through privately
hired FAA designees. All four of my check flights have been with FAA
designees rather than FAA inspectors, which means that I had to $$$ pay
them myself. Even though my taxes are supposed to be supporting the FAA.

Just today, I sent off $50.00 to a person who has some sort of magic
authorization to hand my CFI revalidation paperwork to the FAA. I can
do it myself, but only if I make an appointment with an FAA inspector
and travel to the FAA FSDO office to do it in person. (No explanation
why I can't just mail it to them.)

When the FAA moves to the new picture pilot certificates, there will be
a whole new class of FAA designees for us to pay. They will be
authorized to verify our ID, take our pictures, and certify the whole
process. It will be done at the pilot's expense, and it won't be cheap!

Vaughn

(Trollish non-related crossposts removed)