licensing for homebuilts

Thanks Marc, I sit corrected.

Al


"Marc J. Zeitlin" wrote in message
...
Al wrote:

So could I, a single engine land pilot, get into my flying boat
homebuilt and proceed to do water landings?

Not legally. You would need a Single engine Sea rating.

This is not correct.

Per FAR 61.31 (k) (2) (iii) (B), the restrictions for Category, Class, and
Type ratings do NOT apply to experimental aircraft, as long as no
passengers are being carried. To carry passengers, you'd need the rating.

It might be stupid, but it's legal (when solo).

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2006

"Richard Lamb" wrote in message
k.net...

snip

What would prepare ANYBODY to fly a Moller Air car?!!?


Richard

Brain surgery? The question is moot anyway. First, a Moller Air car has to
fly! So far you couldn't get one high enough to even make the pilot
nervous. Of course, the pilot probably has a right to nervous about all of
that high speed rotating machinery surrounding the operators position! :-)

Highflyer
Highflight Aviation Services
Pinckneyville Airport ( PJY )

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

"Richard Lamb" wrote

While all of the above is true, there is one additional factor that
should
be
considered.

Do you have enough experience in a similar type if aircraft to be
competent in
the new one?

True.

It is my understanding that an experimental amateur built has no
subdivisions, such as seaplane, tailwheel, ect.

Certified aircraft do not have those subdivisions either. No difference.
Those subdivisions apply only to qualifications for the pilot.


So could I, a single engine land pilot, get into my flying boat homebuilt
and proceed to do water landings?

Yes. But you could not carry any passengers. The same with rotorcraft.

Technically, yes, if what I was told is correct. A FAA guy visiting at a
fly-in told us that he would not sign off a new plane, if the owner was
not
experienced in the "corresponding type" of certified plane.

Hmmm. They do it all the time around here. However, they DO require the
owner get the appropriate qualifications added to their pilot certificate
before they take anyone up in it and they prefer to see the qualifications
added before the owner attempts to fly it. I have known non-pilots who
have built airplanes and licensed them properly and legally as amateur
built. They just couldn't fly them themselves.


What do you all think of that? True or not? Within his powers, or not?


Most FAA guys are not too concerned with "limitations on their powers."
Remember, if they ever find anyone who understands an FAA regulation, it is
immediately rewritten to cure that problem. That allows FAA guys to pretty
much do their own interpretation of the regs unless and until a specific
interpretation is officially released by FAA Legal. Then it still only
applies in that specific situation or instance.

Highflyer
Highflight Aviation Services
Pinckneyville Airport ( PJY )

"Marc J. Zeitlin" wrote in message
...
Al wrote:

So could I, a single engine land pilot, get into my flying boat
homebuilt and proceed to do water landings?

Not legally. You would need a Single engine Sea rating.

This is not correct.

Per FAR 61.31 (k) (2) (iii) (B), the restrictions for Category, Class, and
Type ratings do NOT apply to experimental aircraft, as long as no
passengers are being carried. To carry passengers, you'd need the rating.

It might be stupid, but it's legal (when solo).

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2006


That particular exemption ONLY applies to aircraft in the Experimental
category and was written in to allow anyone to testfly a new aircraft that
required a type rating! Clearly no one can obtain a type rating in the
aircraft without flying it so the first time it is flown it must be flown by
a pilot without the proper rating. :-) Of course, when they placed "amateur
built" aircraft into the experimental category that exemption applied to
them also.

As a result you can fly solo in any homebuilt regardless of type, category,
or class ratings. However, you MUST have the appropriate rating to carry
passengers and they PREFER you have an appropriate rating for the solo
flights and test flights if it is feasible to do so.

In other words, you COULD build a four engine flying boat and fly it solo
with only a SEL rating on your ticket. But everyone from the FAA to the
insurance company would be much happier if it was test flown by a pilot with
a MES on his certificate somewhere! :-)

Highflyer
Highflight Aviation Services
Pinckneyville Airport ( PJY )

Not quite so. The Moller air car has flown, sort of, kinda...

I was looking at a picture of the tethered flights and thought I recognized
the pilot, so I called him at home. The first thing out of his mouth when I
asked
if that was anyone he knew was "yah its me but for Christ sakes don't tell
anyone
or I will never get any peace". This person was employed at Moller for
several
years and was the only one who "flew" it.

Few interesting tidbits of information. On several of the tethered pictures
the obvious
large firehose sized tether is slack, however the actual cable tether is
string tight. You
can only spot the cable in some pictures.

The highest "flight" is what you see in the tethered pics, most were well
under 18 inches
of altitude as it became more unstable in the rarefied heights.

He experienced a engine failure at about 12 inches altitude. This was one
engine out of 8.
He said it was the first time in 30 years of flying he thought he was going
to die.
It started hubcapping on him quite violently. He cut power and rode it out
but was
sure it was going to roll over or do something equally nasty.

When he was there the engines were right out of second hand Bombardier snow
mobiles.

I asked about fuel burn and he replied I don't know we never measured it. We
just
put enough in so we could see we had some. I thought this was a bit strange
and
asked him again and he said he didn't know. I asked him again how they
wouldn't
know that and yet Moller was able to make all these claims. He said that
Moller
was the best he had ever seen at raising money and this data was to keep the
investors
happy. He claimed all of the money invested so far was 100% private funding
and
no government funds at all. And the reason he didn't know something as basic
as
fuel burn accurately was that in the years he was employed as the test pilot
he had
managed to log a TOTAL of just 3 and 1/2 minutes of time.

He had a few other comments about the suitability of this as a viable flying
machine, none
being very enthusiastic.

Roger


Brain surgery? The question is moot anyway. First, a Moller Air car has
to fly! So far you couldn't get one high enough to even make the pilot
nervous. Of course, the pilot probably has a right to nervous about all
of that high speed rotating machinery surrounding the operators position!
:-)

Highflyer
Highflight Aviation Services
Pinckneyville Airport ( PJY )