"Ron Wanttaja" wrote in message
news
On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 18:33:37 -0400, "Peter Dohm"
wrote:

No matter what he builds from Home Depot lumber it isn't ever going to
be
an ELSA.

Perhaps, and perhaps not.

At the moment, they appear to still be pretty busy working on kit
certification. However, it appeared (by reading between the lines in an
interview with Marion Blakely) that plans built ELSA is in the future.
It
would then be "out of character" for custom built aircraft and/or small
designers of plans to be specifically excluded.

I think the basic problem would lie in the certification process.
Ignoring the
grandfathered aircraft, ELSA certification requires two things: That an
example
of the aircraft be built and certified as an SLSA, and that the ELSA
builder
strictly conform to the materials, processes, and design of that example
SLSA.
You can't change the engine, you can't change the radio, you can't make a
single
deviation from the manufacturer's construction manual UNTIL your plane
receives
its ELSA certification.

Thus, the plans must specify the materials to be used. The structural
wood
elements will have to be spelled out. Conceivably, the designer could
just
specify "Hemlock with XXX rings per inch, with the grain slope no more
than
X:Y," etc, which means you *will* be able to go to Home Depot Aerospace
and hunt
and pick for conforming wood.

However...remember, the designer has to certify the aircraft as a
production-type LSA. It's going to be a lot easier for him to specify
"Spruce
conforming to XXXX standard."

Either way, there can be problems afoot for the plans builders. In both
cases,
a hard-nosed FAA inspector could demand proof that the wood on the
aircraft
meets the standard specified by the designer. If the designer specifies a
particular grade of spruce, you can probably show the appropriate
receipts. But
if the designer merely states the qualification criteria for wood
selection,
this might be a bit more difficult to provide sufficient proof.

ELSA is NOT Experimental-Amateur Built. There are some significant
differences.
If you're building, the only advantage you get with an ELSA certification
is
that a later owner can receive an LS-I certificate that lets them do their
own
annuals. Otherwise, you're much better off as Exp-Am.

Ron Wanttaja

I am not sure how much is set in stone so far, but will stay tuned. My
understanding was that LSA was to be complete (ready to fly), SLSA was to be
kits, and ELSA was not yet final. Of course, that is now old info and may
have changed...

Peter