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I have been dabbling in this homebuilt airplane thing for a
couple decades now and have heard many interpretations and opinions relating to
the ever nebulous "51%" rule. One that keeps coming up is that there
are several areas that supposedly can be done professionally without affecting
the builder doing 51%. Depending who you talk to they include paint,
upholstery, instrument panel, avionics component installation, wiring, and
engine hookups. Does anyone know for sure if some or all of these things
are true or is all of this just more urban legends. I've had conversations
with local FSDO folks about this and, although I know it's hard to believe, they
don't seem to know for sure either. If it's a fact that all of these can
be farmed out to the pros without encroaching on the 51% then does that mean if
the amateur builder does all or most of them he, or she, gets credit for a
larger percentage of the total? I don't see anything in the new "improved"
proposal that addresses any of these issues. Again, if anyone has any
knowledge of this I would love to know.
Leighton Mangels
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