Thanks so very much David for bringing such clarity to this issue for the benefit of the little people.
Cheers, Bill -----Original Message----- From: David Winters <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: 'Richard Green' <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; [email protected] Sent: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:45 am Subject: RE: [ercoupe-tech] CD and D Models LSA ELIGIBILITY....READ THIS Guys, THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. IN FACT THIS IS LEGAL UNADVICE. (Sort of like an UN-birthday party for Alice in Wonderland.) FORGIVE ME IF I RANT A BIT. We in our little closed Ercoupe society have generated a little legal world all our own. In it we have passed around our own little legal opinions, and the more we tell them to each other, the more we believe them. We have, for example, assured each other that we have established the metes and bounds within which the LSA classification is valid, or not valid, for our lovely birds. But, it is (using technical legal terminology) a load of hooo haaaa. We, in our imaginary little legal world, are deluding ourselves. Our personal opinions of law are just personal opinions, and no more. What the “plain meaning” of the LSA rules really is can only be definitively discerned AFTER some judge tells us what the plain meaning is, and not before. Apparently, that has not yet happened. (Even FAA opinions are not legally binding when a judge gets hold of them.) CASE IN POINT: Many of us, apparently, have “C” registered coupes with all the bells and whistles of a “D” model. We are telling each other they are not LSA eligible, cuz’ they have logbook 337 entries, have probably been flown at 1400 lbs, etc. Well, MAYBE THEY ARE ELIGIBLE AND MAYBE THEY AIN’T. Our little opinions do not amount to a hill of lima beans in the world of law. For sure, whether or not somebody actually (illegally) flew a “C” registered bird overweight, like a “D” model, and whether that makes it LSA ineligible is NOT a question to which we know the answer. I CAN say that, as I understand to the law books I occasionally peruse, under very well recognized rules of legal interpretation, a model “C” is a model “C” is a model “C”, whether it has been illegally overloaded or not. (Depends upon the intent of the legislators…whatever that was.) (Remember that if it is still registered as a “C”, then any load over 1250 lb is apparently unlawful, even if it has the “D” conversion installed.) Under that interpretation, it apparently would be LSA eligible. But, I shonuff don’t know what a judge would say. And that is all that counts. There are OTHER rules of legal interpretation besides those of intent. So, I can offer this merely as one possible personal opinion. With respect to INSURANCE questions, I can also say that, as I understand the law books I peruse, unless use of the bird as an LSA materially contributes to an accident, then that LSA status is immaterial to after-accident issues of an insurance company. But, that is merely one personal opinion, also. THEREFORE, I OFFER TWO POINTS IN CONCLUSION: 1. I DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHICH ERCOUPES QUALIFY AS LSA BIRDS. 2. NOBODY ELSE KNOWS EXACTLY WHICH ERCOUPES QUALIFY AS LSA BIRDS. Some ‘Coupes are unquestionably LSA eligible. Some ‘Coupes are unquestionably NOT LSA eligible. Many ‘Coupes appear to be up for grabs on the LSA question. For sure, nobody in this group can authoritatively answer the LSA eligibility question for a model “C” ‘Coupe that has been physically altered to make it like a model “D”, but never registered to be legally flown as model “D”. So, everybody is on their own in this question. We can quote the regs on the subject ‘til the cows come home. But, we need to STOP offering our legal opinions on the subject as if we know what we are talking about, because NOBODY HERE KNOWS THE ANSWER….INCLUDING ME. In further shortened form, MY PUBLICALLY OFFERED OPINION AS AN ATTORNEY IS, “I DUNNO.” (You may quote me.) (Yes, I do, also, have my own personal opinion, and that opinion is….to quote Thomas Jefferson…..”personal.”) Dave (the grouch) W -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Richard Green Sent: Saturday, January 26, 2008 5:51 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [ercoupe-tech] CD and D Models I got an FAA record return for an aircraft I hope to buy. The Coupe left factory as a CD in 1947. Only one bill of sale in late 1947 and the associated registration application for that same sale says D rather than CD. All other registrations and bills of sale (and there are numerous)say CD or don't note the model (early records in the 47, 48, 49 and 50's don't note the model in the registration cert.). To my knowledge W&B was not upped to 1400 pounds. All 337's in FAA records provided say CD model. I am guessing this might be a killer for LSA as there is at least one registration way back yonder (1947) that says D. I also suspect they just weren't careful in the documentation because they didn't need to be then. Am I correct in my assessment that the a/c is disqualifeid for LSA based on this documentation? I don't think the current owner knows this yet. Will be calling to talk to him. Best regards. ________________________________________________________________________ More new features than ever. Check out the new AOL Mail ! - http://webmail.aol.com
