New Special Airworthiness Cert -- what goes into it?

On Mar 22, 10:00*am, Tuno wrote:
From the Designated Airworthiness Representative's perspective, just
what goes into getting a new Special Airworthiness Certificate,
Experimental Exhibition/Racing, for a glider?

These are insane stories.

A friend wanted to get a Danish registered K-8 re-registered in the
US. A DAR told him it would cost $1800, which is more than the glider
cost, imported!

He got a friend of a friend who worked at the FAA in Reno to do the
job (less the airworthiness inspection and W&B) for just the paperwork
costs.

When I brought in a French registered LS-1, I had the same guy do the
job and it cost me just the paperwork costs (not including the
inspection).

All we needed was to get our ducks in a row first, do the paperwork,
have an AI do an airworthiness inspect & do a W&B, take the gliders to
Reno from Tehachapi, and Bob's your uncle.

It is not brain surgery. A trained monkey can do the job.

DARs are a racket. They are retired FAA inspectors. You are not a
retired FAA inspector? You can't be a DAR. It is a license for
retired FAA inspectors to print money.


I spoke with a DAR in Phoenix yesterday and explained to him that I
have a brand new glider, now registered with the FAA, it has a factory
flight test and Export C of A from Germany, and I need the C of A
described above. He told me that because it was *experimental*, there
was a whole lot more work for him to do, a lot of information
gathering and paperwork, and it would cost $650, instead of the $200
he first quoted for a standard C of A.

I thought this would be a simple inspection and a little paperwork,
not more than 1 or 2 hours of their time. What am I missing? (Or, what
are they missing?)

~ted/2NO