"john smith" wrote in message
...
He is going to have to get the aircraft IFR certified either by the FAA or
a DER. There was a fellow in southeast Ohio that had a Pitts S-2B IFR
certified by a company in New England. This was 15-20 years ago.

I don't think so. If you look at the op lims for the airplane, it should say
something like "Unless appropriately equipped for night and/or instrument
flight in accordance with FAR 91.205, this aircraft is to be operated under
VFR, day only".

FAR 91.205 is available for viewing at Landings.com. The link is quite long,
but is:
http://www.landings.com/evird.acgi$pass*66674742!mtd*41!var*20!cgi*/cgi-bin/get_file!buf*66!src*_landings/pages/regulations.html!ref*FAR/part_91/toc.html

As far as I can see, there is nothing in 205 which refers to certification
by the FAA or a DER. Of course, there may be other FAA regulations of which
I am unaware.

Rich S.