BUYING A HOMEBUILT . . .PART 3

BUYING A HOMEBUILT airplaneis akin to figuring out how to huga porcupine: You have to look

carefully to find the best way to approachit so no painful mistakes are made.

Depleting the checkbook by adding ahorse of the homebuilt variety to thestable is a lot different than wanderingdown to the local spam can store andwalking out with a Cessnapiperbeech.When buying an airplane of the store-bought variety, regardless of its age,certain things can be taken for granted.For one thing, it can be assumed eachof a given type was nearly identicalwhen it left the factory, so anything thatmakes one better than the next has todo with what has happened to it sinceit left the nest. In other words, the pri-mary questions to be answered have todo with how much of the "new" haseither been rubbed off or replaced.

Factory airplanes also have a same-ness courtesy of the U. S. Government.They were all certified to some sort ofregulations that brought the flightcharacteristics and structure into a spe-cific pattern/envelope. Nothing truly outof the ordinary was going to get the "U.S. Approved" stamp on its hind quar-ters. Then it is guaranteed the airplanesstay that way by mandating checkupsduring the manufacturing stages andperiodically thereafter to make sure ev-erything on the airplane matches theoriginal blueprints exactly, unlessexhaustive (and exhausting) documen-tation proves changes haven't de-tracted from the original design's perfor-mance or safety.

How is the homebuilt airplane differ-ent from the foregoing? In every waypossible!

In the first place, the actual FAA lan-guage concerning homebuilts doesn'tcall them that. They are called "amateurbuilt", which, even though the sportmovement has become incredibly pro-fessional in recent years, is still an aptdescription. The home, or amateur, builtairplane is just that: It didn't come outof a factory, and it wasn't conceived andits gestation period regulated by tons ofFAA regulations. It was conceived incommon sense with a bow towards thelaws of physics and aerodynamics andit was built by hands that may delivermail or type letters during the day and

by Budd Davisson66 Scudders Rd.Sparta, NJ 07871

build airplanes at night. It is an airplanebuilt at home by an individual, for anindividual. And that makes every one ofthem individual in character.

Yes, most of the new kits are veryprofessionally designed and, yes, thesekits have removed much of the variationcaused by individual builder charac-teristics. And it has to be agreed thatthere are an increasing number of pro-fessional shops specializing in some ofthese airplanes. Also, it seems the aver-age quality of homebuilt is beginning toleave the spam cans in the dust. How-ever, none of the foregoing removes thefact that the vast majority of homebuiltairplanes are built as sideline projectsby well meaning, but non-professional,people who don't have the supportluxuries which are part of even thesmallest aircraft manufacturing plant.They don't have a huge stock room, ora machine shop on-site. They aren'tworking with jigs that cost three timesthe price of the finished airplane and aquality inspector isn't constantly stick-ing his nose over the builder's shoulderto make sure every procedure is doneright. Also, many more non-kit airplanesare for sale than kit airplanes and thosebuilt from scratch contain even more ofthe builder's personality and craftsman-ship.

As it happens, almost none of thismakes any difference. A quality designbuilt by a quality homebuilder can be assafe (or safer) than anything coming outof any factory and its performance willusually blow a similarly powered spamcan's doors off. The trick, then, in buy-ing a homebuilt after the fact, when theopportunity to quantify the actual build-ing process no longer exists, is to lookfor those clues that separate the wheatfrom the chaff, the quality from the also-rans, and the safe from the unsafe.

The Evaluation Process

Everything mentioned in earlier in-stallments of the series concerning buy-ing an airplane applies to homebuilts,so they won't be gone into in great detailhere, but they include:

1. Learn as much as possible aboutthe given airplane type.

2. Subscribe to newsletters and findtype clubs.

3. Locate several builders/owners ofthe type and talk to them about what tolook for.

4. Enlist the aid of someone veryfamiliar with the type.

The homebuilt is still an airplane, soeverything that would be looked at on astore-bought machine applies here aswell. Therefore, if you missed the lastinstallment, go back and read it. Addi-tional areas of concern and examinationare unique to the homebuilt breed andresult from the homebuilder's ability toavoid many of the restrictions which arepart of FAA certification.

In actually looking at a homebuiltairplane as a potential purchase, theprocedures that must overlay the nor-mal "used" airplane evaluation breakdown into neat little categories andquestions:

1. Examine the design itself.2. How close does this example

match the original design?3. How well built is this airplane?4. What is its history?5. What is its condition?6. Examine the engine.

Quantifying the Design

If looking at what is now consideredto be a "mainstream" homebuilt design(such as a Lancair, Glasair, etc.), thisstep can be ignored because the veryfactors that have made those kinds ofdesigns mainstream are the desirableones to have. Like all products, anairplane becomes popular and enjoys along lasting friendship with the marketonly if it is a good design in all possibleareas. It must fly well, build relativelyeasily, offer the utility asked of it and bepart of a supplier/support network. Ifany of these are missing, the airplane'spopularity suffers.

A short course in evaluating a designis to walk down the flight line at Osh-kosh and count the numbers represent-ing individual types. When you runacross 20 or 30 Thorps, or a sea ofLong-EZs, there should be little doubtthe design is doing just about every-thing right.

The real questions concerning de-signs pop-up when an airplane that is

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on the fringes of popularity or is one ofthe older breed of homebuilt comes upfor sale. These airplanes represent anumber of design questions for theprospective buyer.

The first question should have to dowith the number of the design whichhave been built and flown as well as thenumber still flying. Just because therearen't many at Oshkosh doesn't neces-sarily mean the airplane isn't, or wasn't,successful. All that indicates is it iseither the victim of the popularity con-test which the quick-to-build and sexykits have won, or it is simply an olderdesign that represents either a materialor concept that is losing favor.

A case in point would be the Pieten-pol or the Heath Parasol. Both of theairplanes probably outnumber all the kitplanes in terms of pure numbers built,but they hail from a different era and flyfor a different purpose. A design doesn'thang around for 50 or 60 years and nothave a few good points. The same thingapplies to Tailwinds, Baby Aces, Mini-planes, Fly Babies, the Stits series, etc.They are all excellent designs but timeshave changed.

The bottom line is, if there were evera sizeable number of a design built,then it can probably be judged a gooddesign and worth owning. If, however,only a very few were built or it is a one-off, get leery. Something isn't right.

Often the airplane's popularity willsuffer because of its flight history. Forexample, the Knight Twister (surely oneof the most beautiful bipes ever de-signed) was never built in large num-bers, even though over 50 years old,because of a number of accidents usu-ally attributed to its "hot" handlingcharacteristics. Whether that is true ornot is irrelevant, but the flying publicsaw the airplane in a too-hot-to-handlelight and never built very many of them.When buying a homebuilt, always gowith the majority, unless you are an ad-venturous soul who likes the challengeof a fringe design.

Adherence to Design

One of the largest problems in home-builts is the difficulty many buildershave in sticking to the design. Home-builders are homebuilders becausethey have a severe streak of indi-vidualism running through them. Thisalso means they can't leave anythingalone, which makes one wonder whyanybody ever designs an airplane forthe homebuilt market. Designers spendthousands of hours figuring out whysomething should be a particular way,and then a homebuilder changes it sim-ply to give it his own flavor.

In evaluating a homebuilt to pur-chase, it is important to know how the32 AUGUST 1989

airplane was supposed to be built soquality can be judged and modificationsspotted. This is extremely difficult to dowithout having a set of plans to review.However, since the assumption here isthe purchaser has already decidedwhich design he is going to buy and heis beating the bushes looking for thoseone or two designs, then it would beworth the money to purchase a set ofplans. This may be difficult for someairplanes because they are no longeravailable. An ad placed in the back ofSPORT AVIATION will generally curethat problem.

There are two types of modifications,one of which is probably accepted andthe other isn't. The cosmetic modifica-tions are generally harmless so long asthey are done properly. The addition ofa canopy to a Pitts, for instance, is nobig deal. The reshaping of the tail sur-faces of a Tailwind, however, should belooked at to make sure they include theright amount of area.

Also, putting gigantic turtledecks toaccommodate canopies on Volks-planes and Space Walkers raises thequestion of the effect of the additionalside area. Still, these mods are gener-ally benign in nature.

Beware of the homebuilder whobrags about finding a better way tohinge the ailerons or simplified the wingfittings, etc. The designer had a reasonfor doing things a particular way, andeven though the builder may not agreewith it, he should do it that way. Chang-ing anything effects every other pieceof structure in the airplane and nobodyknows the interrelationships better thanthe designer. However, it's not unusualto find an airplane with a modificationthat actually was blessed by the originaldesigner, in which case, the sellershould be able to show written proof ofthe approval. Too often we hear, "Yeah,I talked to old Irving the designer aboutit and he said go ahead." Get some val-idation! Call old Irving, if necessary, andsee what he thinks about a particularairplane. Designers don't know everyairplane built from their plans or kits,but they know a surprisingly largenumber of them and, if the airplane hasbeen modified, they'll know it for sure.

A super critical number, and one thatis easy to check, is the airplane's weightas compared to the original designweight. The biggest single problemmost homebuilts have is obesity. Theyneed to go on a diet. Builders can't re-sist putting in leather interiors and in-stalling fiberglass fairings that are per-fectly smooth, but a 1/4 inch thick. Afew pounds here and there can add 50to 100 pounds in nothing flat, and whereit wouldn't be noticed on a spam can, itmakes a noticeable difference in ahomebuilt. With less than 100 square

feet of wing, any weight increasechanges the wing loading (and stallspeed, glide ratio, climb, etc.) drasti-cally. A lighter airplane may not have allthe bells and whistles or mirror-likefinish, but it will fly better.

While checking the weight, look at theairplane's most recent weight and bal-ance. The CG must be well within limitsor the airplane should be passed on. Ifthat documentation is missing or looksquestionable, make it a condition ofsale.

Craftsmanship: Doing it Right

As has often been said, craftsman-ship is an attitude, not a skill level, andin examining an airplane, it doesn't takelong to determine that attitude. It alsoshould be noted that it is very commonto find a builder that is a real craftsmanon the structure, but lacks a little finessewhen it comes to finishing. It is evenmore common to find a homebuilt withan excellent paint job and a mediocrestructure because the builder farmedout the paint to a pro. So, for thatreason, the real inspection starts at theinside and ignores the outside. Newpaint jobs can always be applied. Ques-tionable craftsmanship, on the otherhand, is impossible to correct withoutcompletely rebuilding the entireairplane.

In evaluating the craftsmanship ofairplanes, it should be kept in mind thatdifferent materials have different toler-ances for builder foul-ups. For instance,a tubing structure, assuming the weld-ing is at least adequate, is pretty hardto build so poorly it will eventually fail.Aluminum, however, is much less toler-ant and the result of mistakes may notshow up for hundreds of hours. If, forinstance, the builder doesn't deburr allhis holes, eventually they could lead tofatigue cracking. If he drags a sheetacross the bench and puts a series ofscratches in it, each is a stress riserand a place for fatique cracks to start.On the other hand, learning to drive asafe rivet is a little easier than learningto weld, but to drive a good looking rivetin thin skin is a challenge.

Composites, because of the way theairplanes are usually designed, aremuch harder to screw up. However,once the airplane is finished, thosescrew ups are much harder to spot un-less they are really gross in nature.Wood is similar in that most glues usedsince WW-II give a reasonable amountof latitude to the builder and the materialitself isn't as critical to scratches, sharpedges, etc. But there, too, it is impossi-ble to know whether the builder waitedtoo long to use the glue or it was toocold or he had too much gap for thatadhesive.

The saving grace in inspecting anymaterial comes back to the "attitude"aspect of craftsmanship. If the part thatcan be inspected shows the right at-titude, then it can be assumed the por-tion that can't be inspected was donethe same way. This is even more trueof bad craftsmanship that shows. Al-most everybody takes a little more carewith things that will show, so, if the areathat is able to be inspected shows someglitches, it can be assumed the rest ofthe airframe is in even worse condition.

Looking at the Important Stuff

Although each material demands aslightly different type of inspection,there are certain areas that should al-ways be inspected:

1. Pull the wing and tail fairings andinspect all attach points. Look for goodsurface finish on the fittings with noscratches or sharp edges. The boltheads shouldn't be marred from pound-ing or slipped ratchets. Look for safetywiring or nylok nuts, where applicable.These areas should look as close tofactory built as possible.

2. Track the control system, checkingthe cable runs to be sure they are clearof all structure. All pulleys should havecable guards and all control surfacehinging should be as per design specs.Beware of piano hinges substituted forcenterline hinges.

3. Open the cowling and check themotor mount welding and general en-gine installation. Track the propeller bysetting a chair or tool box under thenose and inline with one propellerblade. Then turn the prop to see if theother blade arrives in the same place.

4. Inspect the propeller. If wood, lookfor cracks, delaminating, compressedwood under the bolt flange, loose sheath-ing, signs of moisture. If composite,delaminating is the primary concern andwill be indicated by spiderweb cracking.If metal, check the logs to see if it wasclipped by an approved shop, then in-spect for nicks, etc.

5. When inspecting the cockpit, usea mirror to look up under the instrumentpanel and see how much care wastaken in installing all equipment. If pos-sible, get under the floorboards to seethe control system installation, as wellas the brake and control cable runs.Look at the upholstery and see if it iscontributing more weight than comfortand check the edges for fit. Pull the seatforward, if possible, to get a look at theaft fuselage structure, since this is pos-sibly the only way to see it. Look for thedetail which is appropriate to the mate-rial.

6. If a canopy is installed, make sureit isn't cracked or crazed and try thelatching mechanism several times since

this is an area in which Rube Goldbergoften shows his hand.

Each Material is Different

In doing the above inspections, theunique characteristics of each materialand type of construction should be rec-ognized.

In a rag and tube airplane, there area multitude of materials that the buildermust master: steel, wood and fabric inthat order of importance. In inspectinga tube structure, naturally, the first thingto examine is the welding. Unfortu-nately, only the welder knows for surethat he is getting penetration, since it ispossible to paint on a beautiful lookingweld and have it holding next to nothing.That, however, is almost never thecase. If each and every weld has nicelyformed ringlets in the bead and thebead meets the surface in a smooth,slight angle, the weld is probably asgood as it looks. The danger signs in aweld include lumpy, irregular beads oredges of the bead that undercut the sur-face leaving a tiny concave area adja-cent to it. Beware welding that shows apockmarked or frosty look through thepaint; it has been oxidized and is asbrittle as glass. A few less than prettywelds can be tolerated, but not in thecritical areas, so motor mounts, landinggear attach points, wing attach pointsand tail mounts should show really goodwelds. "Good" does not mean pretty, al-though that is preferable. Good meansthat even though the bead isn't perfectlyeven, it appears to flow into the surfaceat the edges and exhibits a surface thatis smooth.

Incidentally, there are practically norecorded incidences of a weld breakingin flight, although plenty have comeapart in hard landings or crashes (whichmight be the same thing). And this isdespite the fact that there have beenlots of airplanes flown with welds thatlook like bubble gum has been globbedin place.

Fitting inspection on any airplane isthe same .. . there should be no sharpedges, scratches or nicks.

The wood wings of a rag and tubemachine and a wooden airplane sharethe same inspection requirements.Look for smallish (1/32 or less) gluelines which indicate tight joints, but keepan eye for non-existent glue lines thatmight indicate a dry joint from too muchclamping pressure. Conversely, severecases of "gaposis" should be avoided.Look carefully at a few joints to see ifthe glue line is even, indicating a squarejoint, or tapered, indicating surfaces thatdon't quite meet. Ask the builder whatglue was used. Indications of a lack ofcraftsmanship and attitude will probablybe obvious and would include things

like marks left from using clamps withno pads and rough edged pieces any-where. Wood is the easiest material todress up and make look good, so any-thing that looks shoddy probably is.

Aluminum airplanes give indicationsof builder attitude and craftsmanship al-most everywhere you look. If a peekcan be gotten of the inside of any partof the machine, a lot can be learned.The edges of everything should be filedand sanded smooth. The butts of therivets should be centered (not clinched)of uniform height and diameter andspaced nearly two diameters from theedge of sheets. Cut outs and notches,like where a stringer passes through abulkhead or where an inspection panelattaches, should have heatly radiusedends/corners and dressed edges. Thesurface of the interior should be scratchfree and present a neat, clean appear-ance. When viewed from the inside, analuminum airplane doesn't give thebuilder any place to hide.

Climb into the airplane and havesomeone hold the elevator and rudderwhile the control stick and pedals arepushed and pulled firmly. There shouldbe no give in the system. Push on bothrudder pedals at one time and see ifthey give. Any movement is indicativeof inadequate mountings or flexingstructure.

Composite builder attitude can bestbe evaluated by looking at the surfaceof the airplane at an angle in low light.Waves, ripples, weave showingthrough, unfilled voids all show a lackof skill and/or caring. If the outside lookslike that, the interior will generally beworse. Look at the interior fuselagesides at corners, like where the seatback structure joins the fuselage andsee if it is a neat joint or just puttied upwith micro. Use a mirror and flashlightto peek into holes and around cornerswhere the lay-ups won't be sanded orpainted. This will give an indication ofproblems, since a dry lay-up will showin that situation. The nice thing aboutinspecting most composites is that somany of them are kit-built, a prospectivebuyer can call the kit factory and askthem for specifics concerning the rightway to inspect that type of airplane.Generally, they will be very open aboutit.

A nice feature of the newer kits ismost of the major components are pop-ped out of molds so most builder-in-duced problems have to do with joiningthe pieces together. This is both goodand bad. It is good because the bigpieces aren't likely to be less than near-perfect. The bad news is it is very dif-ficult to inspect some of the joints, likewhere the ribs glue to the inside of theskin. Because of this problem, most ofthe current generation of kit planes in-

SPORT AVIATION 33

corporate gross over-design in areaswhich are hard to inspect, making iteasier for the builder to get a safe joint.

When poking around the innards ofany homebuilt, keep an eye or two openfor non-standard hardware and parts. Ifhardware store bolts are found, even innon-critical areas, it says somethingabout the builder's attitude. Granted,the bolts won't cause a problem, butmost builders are so airplane oriented,they can't bring themselves to use any-thing but AN hardware, even thoughthere is no doubt the automotive equi-valent will do the job. It is a mind setthat will follow itself throughout the en-tire airplane. If the thought pattern is"any old bolt will do", that will showthrough as well.

The Airplane's History

A homebuilt that has changed handsfour times in the last ten years and onlyflew 38 hours during that time is a goodcandidate for a wind-tee becausesomething about it has kept a lot of own-ers on the ground. Since every home-built is different, even within type, it isimportant to see what past owners havedone with the airplane. One that hasbeen flown 50-100 hours a year is anairplane that must fly fine, since that isabout as much time as most pilots cansqueeze into their schedules. The onethat is passed around like a hot potatobetween owners is trying to tell theworld something.

The problems can be either in themachine's flight characteristics or in itsmechanical personna. An airplane thatcauses the pilot's mouth to dry outevery single time he flies it is an airplanethat eventually sits around a lot. This isnot necessarily a function of airplanedesign, but is often the result of the dif-ferences built into it by the owner. Forinstance, it isn't unusual to find a nor-mally benign airplane like a Baby Acethat is a lunch eater on the ground be-cause the gear is set up wrong. Con-versely, an airplane like a Pitts canoften be surprisingly docile because thegear is right on the money.

Lots of airplanes come out of the nestslightly bent, which is another reasonthey don't fly much. If the machineseems to have a mind of its own in theair because of some built in riggingproblem, it sits around a lot.

Other airplanes never seem to gettheir mechanics worked out. Check thelogs and see if there appears to besome sort of pattern. Is there an un-natural number of mentions of the fuelsystem, or something that indicates anagging engine problem. Unfortunately,most often those problems aren't in thelogs, since until recently the require-ments for maintenance paperwork onhomebuilts was much more relaxed.34 AUGUST 1989

When trying to get a finger on theairplane's history, talk to the guysstanding around the terminal. If theairplane has been on the field for anylength of time, there will always be acouple of folks who have some familiar-ity with it. They might be able to en-lighten you about the time the ownerground looped through two runwaylights, went over on his back in the saltwater marsh which put out the fire thatwas raging down the aft fuselage as theresult of the fuel tank rupturing whenthe welds on the landing gear let go.The logs might mention it as,". . . dam-aged wingtip on landing . . ."

Another source of info on a givenairplane is the type club it belongs toand the members closest to where theairplane is located. While they are sel-dom willing to bad mouth someoneelse's airplane, it's not hard to tell fromtheir demeanor when something isn'tright. Problem airplanes have a way ofgaining a reputation among those closeto the type and most owners of thesame type will know the airplane, if onlyby its reputation. Also, since they'veprobably flown side-by-side with theairplane going somewhere, they cancomment on its relative performance.

either built or is familiar with the typewould be worth his weight in six-packs.He'll know which unique cranny to pokeinto.

Condition Is Important

On a factory-built, condition is every-thing and the same is true of a home-built, assuming all the craftsmanshipand history stack-up. As a general rule,homebuilts fair better than spam cansover the years because they are almostnever tied down outside and they flyless. In fact, homebuilts, with the possi-ble exception of the new breed of crosscountry runners, suffer more from agethan from over use.

On the question of storage, a home-built that has been stored outsideshould be more closely inspected forenvironmental deterioration than aspam can in a similar situation. This isbecause there is no guarantee thebuilder observed the weatherproofingprocedures that are standard to factorybuilts. Most of the time, the builders domore than the factories in this area, butnot always. For that reason, all normalchecks for corrosion, rot and rust shouldbe carried out. Also, if the airplane hasbeen allowed to sit outside for anylength of time, which is usually obviousfrom its grungy appearance, this isanother way of judging the builder's at-titudes towards airplanes. Most builderswould rather lose a hand than let theirairplane sit out in the rain. So, if this onehas seen a number of winters tieddown, start thinking in terms of ques-tionable builder attitude.

Everything that applies to inspectingspam cans applies at this point, al-though having an individual who has

Engines

Today it's not unusual to see a factorynew engine in a homebuilt, but that isnot the norm among airplanes that havebeen around for a while. In fact, theywill range from engines jerked out ofwind damaged colts that have weedsgrowing up through the ribs, to ownerrebuilt freebies rescued from fire dam-aged Apaches and converted groundpower units.

The homebuilt engine requires a littlecloser examination, if only because itdoesn't have to be a certified engine togo into an experimental categoryairplane. There is nothing saying it mustbe within certain specs, can't be rebuiltby your grandmother, or should have acertain AD accomplished. So, it may ormay not be a worthwhile rubber bandand should be given a thorough look-see.

Fortunately, homebuilders aren'tstupid, so very, very few will takechances with the engine, especiallysince it is pulling around something thattook them years to build. There is a realtendency with most of them to considerthe engine black magic to be done byanother set of hands. The buyer's jobis to evaluate that set of hands whichshould be able to be accomplishedthrough the log books. Even though in-stalled in an experimental airplane, aquality conscious builder will still havethe engine done by the best shop hecan afford. Here, as with the spamcans, the question is whether the en-gine was simply "overhauled" to servicespecs, in which case it must be deter-mined which parts were changed andwhere they fall in the tolerance range.If the engine was "rebuilt" to factory newspecs, then the only question is thequality of the shop that did it.

Quite often the engine will not havebeen rebuilt, but will be a fugitive fromanother airplane, installed exactly as re-moved. In this case, it is a simple matterof checking the logs for time. However,it is extremely important to find out whythe engine was removed in the firstplace. What happened to the rest of theairplane? Was it in an accident? Did itsit around for a long time? How was itpreserved? The engine history is as im-portant as the airplane's.

Paperwork

The two pieces of paper that abso-lutely must be examined before lettingany shekels change hands are theSpecial Airworthiness Certificate andthe Operations and Limitations. Begin-

ning September 10,1979, the Airworthi-ness Certificate issued when theairplane was originally flown for the firsttime is good indefinitely. However, priorto that date, the FAA looked at theairplane every 12 months and issued anew Special Airworthiness Certificate.If the airplane being examined waslicensed during that earlier period andthen allowed to go out of license, theAirworthiness Certificate will have anexpiration date stamped on it, whichmeans a new one must be obtained.What that means is the FAA must becalled back in to examine the airplaneand approve it for flight exactly as if ithad just been built and was gettingready for its first flight. This is not a dif-ficult procedure but, as with anything in-volving the government, it can take timeand prove aggravating.

The Operations Limitations are anentirely different matter. For one thing,all of them will bear a statement havingto do with the airplane not being usedfor hire. Most will also have a statementabout not flying over densely populatedareas or on congested airways exceptwhen taking off or landing. The hookeris ... for the past several years, theFARs have left off the part about "...when taking off or landing . . ." andsome operations and limitations don'thave it either. That means an airplanebased in an urban area is going to bein violation everytime it takes off andlands. Normally, the FAA is willing to

amend that language, but again, it takestime.

The Operations Limitations are is-sued based upon what the originalbuilder requested, so, if he built a Pittsbut didn't plan on any aerobatics anddidn't ask for it, it is likely to say ". . . noaerobatics . . ." on the ops/limitations.Same thing with night and IFR use. Ithas to say it is approved for such useson the paperwork or the pilot is in viola-tion. Any contemplated use must bespelled out or the new owner will haveto go back through part of the proce-dures leading to a new set of operationsand limitations. In some cases, since itis up to local inspectors, they may bereluctant to change what another in-spector has already approved or disap-proved and that can lead to real has-sles.

12 months before having it inspected,at which time, the A&P, if he sochooses, can turn down the coveringjob.

The new owner cannot perform anymodifications that will result in in-creased performance without going fora new Special Airworthiness Certificate.The mods that are spelled out includereplacing the engine with a more power-ful one, changing the muffler systemand installing a propeller that results inincreased performance. So, beforedoing anything that might even remotelybe interpreted as being a major mod,the FAA should be contacted to get aninterpretation as to whether a new Air-worthiness Certificate will have to beapplied for.

Maintenance

Under a so-called gentleman's ag-reement with the FAA, a new owner ofa homebuilt can still perform mainte-nance and work on his airplane, butonce a year either an A&P or the origi-nal builder (assuming he held on to hisrepairman's certificate for that airplane)must check the work done and sign itoff. That doesn't mean the work has tobe signed off as done. The new ownercan, for instance, recover his Pitts rightafter getting it relicensed and fly it for

Summary

"Caveat Emptor" is an ugly phraseand not one anyone likes to see itapplied to sport aviation. Unfortunately,since the homebuilt airplane exists out-side the restrictions of FAA certificationit is very incumbent upon the buyer tolook deeply and go far past the paint jobin his examination because there areso many possible unknowns. Since thehomebuilt airplane is an expression ofan individual's tastes and attitudes,nothing can be taken for granted . . .because no two homebuilts are thesame.

EAA Membership Honor RollThis month we continue our recognition of persons who have qualified for the EAA Membership Honor Roll. When you receive your newor renewal EAA Membership Card, the reverse side of the attached form will contain an application with which you can sign up a newmember. Fill in your new member's name, enclose a check or money order and return to EAA Headquarters and you will be recognizedon this page in SPORT AVIATION - and there is no limit to how many times you may be so honored here.

Introduce your friends to the wonderful world of EAA . . . and be recognized for your effort. The following list contains names receivedthrough June 10.

ROBERT I. ANDERSONMequon, WlROBERT E. BARROWSFincastle, VAJAMES BEAVERCrestwood, ILJOHN BENNETTArcata, CADONALD BRZYCKIMilwaukee, WlGARY BYMERSMadison, WlKENNY COBBBoaz, ALRICHARD H. COMERExcelsior, MNNOEL CZYGANBirmingham, MlEUGENE DARSTBeaumont, TXBERNARD L. DELONGDayton, OHGEOFFREY G. DOWNEYLowell, Wl

WARREN EDINGSan Diego, CARICHARD ENSMINGERKent, WADONALD FEIGHTManchaca, TXWALTER FOSTERInverall, NSW, AustraliaNEIL GIGGINSKalamunda, Western AustraliaWALTER GORDONLinthicum, MORAY HANNAYSalem, OHDONALD HENESFairport Harbor, OHBRIAN HOFFMANNBoise, IDRONALD HOUSEMesa, AZJIMMIE HUNTMemphis, TNDENNIS IRWINNaughton, Ont., Canada

CHARLES KAGELOconomowoc, WlDANIEL KRAMERGreenfield, WlJOHN KRATZERTYorkville, NYLEROY LAMARHawesville, KYMURRAY LEONARDAnola, Mani., CanadaJEAN LEULLIERRots, FranceBILLY MAUGHANValley View, TXJUSTIN MCANALLYSaratoga, CAANTHONY MIKUSCarbondale, COROBERT MILLERFillmore, INWILLIAM MISTELEHollins, VAFRIEDRICH MOORESheffield, MA

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SPORT AVIATION 35