Del Rawlins wrote:

.....but if you will read the whole thing you will see
that I was using that to question James' assertion that the airplane
has to look safe and conform to safety standards, when neither is
required for an experimental amateur built C of A.

Here's an excerpt from a post (by someone else, not me) on this exact
subject on a canard forum:

I have a personal saying, "You can't change peoples' opinions, only the
facts on which they're based." So I'll leave you with the following I
received from Darren Brown, Aviation Safety Inspector with the Richmond
FSDO. I'll leave it up to you to determine fact from fiction.

1. The congressional laws for authority a 49 USC 44701 and 44702.

2. The regulations to look at a 14 CFR 21.191(g), 21.193, 39, 45, 47,
91.7(b), 91.319, and 183.33. For more information go to:
http://av-info.faa.gov/ click on "Amateur Built Aircraft".

3. The certification process that the inspector or DAR would follow, go
to: http://av-info.faa.gov/ click on "Regulatory Guidance Library" then
click on "Orders/Notices" then click "Current Orders" scroll down to
8130.2E change 2 incorporated. Go to chapter 4, sections 6 and 7 for
general experimental airworthiness certifications and experimental
amateur-built airworthiness certifications.

4. The extent of the application, records review and aircraft inspection
is to determine that the eligibility requirements referred to above have
been met and the physical inspection of the aircraft does not reveal
item(s) that would make the aircraft unsafe for flight. If an FAA
Inspector or DAR finds an item that is unsafe for flight, then the
Special Airworthiness Certificate would not be issued until the item(s)
are corrected. This may be an opinion on part of the designee or
inspector but would be based on industry standards like the aircraft
plans/build instructions, AC 43.13-1B or the scope of Appendix D of 14
CFR Part 43 and justifiable.

5. If an application or certificate is denied and the applicant does not
agree with the findings of the inspector or designee, they may request
to contact the next level of supervision at the FSDO as part of the
FAA's Customer Service Initiative. The individual may take the issue as
high up the managerial chain as necessary to attain resolution.

6. When the applicable requirements have been met, the FAA Inspector or
DAR concurs with the owner's certification statement made in the
application and records that "the aircraft is safe for flight," and
makes a similar statement in the aircraft records and issues the
certificate with its' associated operating limitations.


So, while people may like to THINK that the DAR or FAA inspector HAS to
issue the certificate, that's not so. They may respond to pressure from
above, but that's not the same as being REQUIRED to issue the
certificate just because the paper is in order.

--
Marc J. Zeitlin
http://marc.zeitlin.home.comcast.net/
http://www.cozybuilders.org/
Copyright (c) 2004