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Changing an Experimental Minimum Equipment List

cdeerinck

Well Known Member
My questions below are not RV specific, but I am pretty sure would be of interest to RV owners.

In doing forum searches here, it seems that many (maybe most or nearly all) RV's do not have a Minimum Equipment List (MEL).

My glider is not certified in the US as there are only two in the US. It is certified in any many other countries.

In the Flight Manual, it specifies the Minimum Equipment List, and refers to the Maintenance Manual. Specifically it reads:
"As minimum equipment only the instruments and equipment specified in the equipment list (see maintenance manual sec. 6) are admissible. Note: The actual equipment list is filed in the enclosures of the maintenance manual."

In the Maintenance Manual, it lists specific Manufacturers, Model, and Certificate # for the equipment. Under some items such as the Altimeter, is has a caveat of
"Or any other TSO C 10b specified and approved altimeter with fine range pointer 1 turn max. 1000 m, 3000 ft."
Many other items listed do not have any such caveats.

Much of that equipment is either no longer available, or have long been replaced by newer generations For example, the Becker radios listed are the AR 2008/25, AR 3201, and AR 4201. The current version offered by Becker is an AR 6201. In the case of the AR 4201 which I have, it actually has an AD that makes in unreliable, given that it can be jammed by signals not on the currently tuned frequency.

My questions are:
1) Does the MEL apply even though it is Experimental?
2) Is a MEL required for experimental aircraft?
3) If the answer to #1 or #2 is yes, how can one get it revised?
4) Can anyone point me in the direction of specific FARs to get answers to the above questions?

I am hoping to do a panel upgrade, but have limited space, and it would not be feasible to keep old MEL equipment and add new items as well.
 
MEL's

Chuck,
MEL's are determined by the OEM and approved by the FAA. Any additions or modifications to an existing MEL must be approved by the FAA.
 
Pretty much the only MEL that would apply to an Experimental, Amateur Built aircraft in the US is that stuff required by Part 91. I don't have the relevant paragraph numbers in front of me, but it would be things like ELT, Airspeed and Altimeter, Oil Pressure, Temperature gage, Fuel Quantity indicators, and equipment appropriate to the airspace where it would be operated. We're talking Com radio, Transponder, and in January, ADS-B out. You'd also have to have anything called out in the Operating Limitations such as; Placards, Passenger Warning, etc. and equipment for night and IFR, if operated in those regimes. Any equipment removed from the airplane or replaced with something else would need a logbook entry and an assessment of it's affect on Weight and Balance.

I don't know what your sailplane's Special Airworthines Certificate and Operating Limitations say. If they reference the flight manual, then you are stuck with that.

Ed Holyoke
 
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Pretty much the only MEL that would apply to an Experimental, Amateur Built aircraft in the US is that stuff required by Part 91. I don't have the relevant paragraph numbers in front of me, but it would be things like ELT, Airspeed and Altimeter, Oil Pressure, Temperature gage, Fuel Quantity indicators, and equipment appropriate to the airspace where it would be operated. We're talking Com radio, Transponder, and in January, ADS-B out. You'd also have to have anything called out in the Operating Limitations such as; Placards, Passenger Warning, etc. and equipment for night and IFR, if operated in those regimes. Any equipment removed from the airplane or replaced with something else would need a logbook entry and an assessment of it's affect on Weight and Balance.

I don't know what your sailplane's Special Airworthines Certificate and Operating Limitations say. If they reference the flight manual, then you are stuck with that.

Ed Holyoke

Part 91.205 doesn?t apply to aircraft with an Experiemntal certificate - unless it is included in your Ops Lims for night or IFR flying...so for Day VFR, you don?t need ANY of the instruments specified in that list. ELT is another matter of course....
 
To clarify

To clarify, it isn't Amateur-built, nor built in the US, just Experimental.
I will check the Operating Limitations and Special Airworthiness Certificate to see what they say.

My best understanding is in agreement with what Paul wrote. I am hoping to find all the relevant regs to prove it. For instance 91.205 specifically indicates it applies to "civil aircraft with a standard category U.S. airworthiness certificate", and my glider has a Special Airworthiness Certificate".
 
To clarify, it isn't Amateur-built, nor built in the US, just Experimental.
I will check the Operating Limitations and Special Airworthiness Certificate to see what they say.

No such thing as "just Experimental". There are several Experimental categories; R&D, Crew Trining, Exhibition, Market Survey, Amateur-Built, or Primary Kit Built.
 
No such thing as "just Experimental". There are several Experimental categories; R&D, Crew Trining, Exhibition, Market Survey, Amateur-Built, or Primary Kit Built.

And dont forget the ever popular Air Racing....many gliders get certified that way!
 
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