The future of homebuilt aircraft in the US could be decided this month when the FAA publishes guidelines for interpretation of the existing ‘51% rule’.
The kits and homebuilders that made low-cost aviation have lately expanded beyond the humble sizes preferred by the FAA, and a year of work by the FAA-appointed Amateur-Built Aviation Rulemaking Committee has preceded the highly anticipated release of new guidelines.
Earl Lawrence, vice president of industry and regulatory affairs for the Experimental Aircraft Association co-chaired the committee along with the president of Van’s Aircraft, and is optimistic that the final wording will protect amateurs’ ability to perform more than half the assembly of aircraft of any size. “We do not want to lose any of the privileges we have earned over the past 50 years,” he says.
Source: Flight International
