And, what the FAA guys tell me is that the Airworthiness Certificate is not
in full force and effect if the operator is aware of a condition that
renders the plane unairworthy. Neither the certificate nor the inspections
are a blank check to fly the plane. Everyone in the chain of
responsibility, shop, owner, PIC, is required to verify that the aircraft
remains in compliance. Not having a brake on one side, since it is probably
included in the type certificate, seems like a biggie to me.

Of course, here I am shooting my mouth off when we have a lawyer farther up
the thread. I'd actually love to find out I'm wrong about this one.
--
Roger Long

Here is a quote from my insurance policy:

"This policy does not apply:
...
2) To any Insured while the aircraft is in flight
...
(c) if the Airworthiness Certificate of the aircraft is
not in full force and effect;
(d) If the aircraft has not been subjected to appropriate
airworthiness inspection(s) as required under current
applicable Federal Aviation Regulations for the operations
involved."

As Roger said, it's entirely possible (and maybe even likely) that, since
the aircraft was not airworthy, the insurance policy would not be in
force.

Pete