The Last Critical Deadline - Get Your Plane Legal

G. Watson - 2/18/2007

    Our next critical deadline of January 31^st, 2008 is nearly upon us.  I’m sure that statement raised a few eyebrows as you are not sure what year I believe that I am living in!  Yet, in the relative world of FAA timelines, documentation preparedness, DAR inspections – yes, it is but a short distance from us.  If you haven’t started the process of getting your aircraft legal as an ELSA then the time is now to start doing so.  

    Last year it was taking the FAA, at times, several months to issue an N number for an aircraft.  If for some reason the paperwork was not filled out correctly or they had an issue with any part of it, it drastically increased the time it took to receive the registration.  They normally send the application back along with a letter describing the problem.  Trust me, this can cause the process to drag out for what seems forever. 

    This year the FAA is going to need to deal with the added load of all of the procrastinators who have waited until the last moment to get their aircraft legal.  I myself am one of them.  Although I do have an N number, I have as yet not had the airworthiness inspection done by a Designated Airworthiness Representative (DAR).  I need to finish getting the plane prepared to the point that it will pass this inspection.  I will then need to schedule an appointment with a DAR and there are relatively few of them available in the nation. 

    For those who have not yet begun the process of preparing your aircraft for inspection, including the acquisition of an N number, time will be quickly running out.  As I stated earlier, the FAA will now be dealing with several thousand procrastinators which could cause a severe delay in issuing registrations as well as the processing of airworthiness certification requests.  If every one of these several thousand requests came into the FAA now, February of 2007, then there will still be delays.  However, if the majority waits until later on in the year, the FAA will not have the resources by which to accommodate that many requests.   

The FAA knows quite well that this is a problem and is issuing the following alert: 

“ELSA ALERT:  The FAA’s Aircraft Registration office and the Light-Sport Aircraft Branch would like to remind all individuals converting aircraft into an Experimental Light-Sport Aircraft (ELSA) per FAR 21.191(i)(1) that there is a January 31, 2008 deadline to complete the ELSA aircraft registration, the ELSA airworthiness inspection, and the ELSA certification process. 

The FAA will guarantee that your registration and certification packet will be reviewed and your ELSA aircraft inspected in sufficient time to meet the January 31, 2008 deadline if: 

1.     By August 15, 2007, you submit your aircraft registration (N-number) request to the Aircraft Registration office, and

2.     By October 1, 2007, you call your local ELSA DAR to schedule your ELSA airworthiness inspection, and

3.     By November 30, 2007, you submit your aircraft airworthiness certification request packet to either a FAA Flight Standards District Office (FSDO), a FAA Manufacturing Inspection District Office (MIDO), or your local ELSA DAR.” 

    Start early and don’t wait until the last moment.  Finding DAR’s this fall maybe quite difficult.  The further delay that would happen if for some reason your aircraft doesn’t pass the inspection could be devastating.  REMEMBER, no one can afford to miss the January 31^st, 2008 deadline.  After that point, an ELSA eligible aircraft will be useless.  It cannot, in most circumstances, ever be made legal to fly again.  If you own a $35,000 aircraft, it will now be worth $0.  It cannot be sold and made legal by a new owner – therefore it will probably never be sold, except for scrap or used parts.  Taking it apart and rebuilding it will probably not work as you will not have proof of purchasing the kit from any manufacturer.  (This does not apply to the Experimental Homebuilts which will be addressed in a later article.)  

    Pilots may make the choice to delay in getting their Sport Pilot licenses but owners cannot delay in getting their airplanes legal.  This would be far too costly of a mistake to make.