Ok boys and girls, here we go. I know this has been discussed in part before, but now I have a real world example and would like comments. There is a covered but disassembled J3 in the hands of a friend. He has an Airworthiness and a reg that say J3C on them. When looking at the thing, it is obvious to the casual observer that it is a post war J3. It has metal spars and an 8 gal wing tank and the stc paperwork for the tank. It has no engine, but it had a C90-8F on it and he has the case and the logs and the paperwork covering that install. There is NO serial # tag on the fuselage. The strut attach points and the landing gear are clearly post war (1220 GW).
Here's the rub. The Registration and serial number belong to a 1941 J3F. He has the original logs up to 1949. He has a copy of the document singed by Mr. Piper giving title to the original owner. There are no logs after 1949 until 1977 when, to paraphrase Jaques Cousteau "As if by wizardry" the airplane emerges as a J3C with a C90.
There is a brief log entry at the beginning of the 1977 logs which is signed by an FAA guy that says he inspected the airplane and issued it an airworthiness certificate. (J3C)
Now, we all know what happened, but the question is, if we go through the time and expense of restoring this are we going to run into trouble when it gets inspected by a sharp eyed IA?
Just to be clear, the J3F and the J3C are different type certificates, so what the FAA guy did ,in my mind, was the same as changing a Champ into a T-Craft with the stroke of a pen.
Comments?
Rich
Here's the rub. The Registration and serial number belong to a 1941 J3F. He has the original logs up to 1949. He has a copy of the document singed by Mr. Piper giving title to the original owner. There are no logs after 1949 until 1977 when, to paraphrase Jaques Cousteau "As if by wizardry" the airplane emerges as a J3C with a C90.
There is a brief log entry at the beginning of the 1977 logs which is signed by an FAA guy that says he inspected the airplane and issued it an airworthiness certificate. (J3C)
Now, we all know what happened, but the question is, if we go through the time and expense of restoring this are we going to run into trouble when it gets inspected by a sharp eyed IA?
Just to be clear, the J3F and the J3C are different type certificates, so what the FAA guy did ,in my mind, was the same as changing a Champ into a T-Craft with the stroke of a pen.
Comments?
Rich
