I dropped the paperwork off at the Transport Canada regional office on Monday, so they could review it and issue me a Special Certificate of Airworthiness that didn’t have the “No Passengers” or “Remain within 25 nm of Smiths Falls airport” restrictions. The new paperwork was ready today, and my course finished earlier than expected, so I zipped over there and picked it up. YeeHaw!!

And to cap it all off, they also removed the “VFR Only” and “No Aerobatics” restrictions. I had discussed my intentions to ask for those restrictions to be removed with the inspector, and had detailed the methodical approach I would take to fully evaluate the aircraft in each of these areas. He must have been quite happy with the approach I planned, as the new paperwork has removed those restrictions too.

It’s been a very protracted flight test program. First flight on 30 Aug 2008, and finally out of the flight test phase 13 months later. Four months lost after the engine/prop overspeed event, and six months lost after the car accident, but finally out of the official flight test phase. I still have lots of flight testing I plan to do over the next few months, but I’ve done everything I intended to do before I started carrying passengers.

I want to take Terry up for her first RV flight ASAP, but we are stuck in the middle of a long spell of horrible weather. Nothing but low overcast cloud and rain showers. It might break for a few hours on Friday, but I’ve got a meeting from 10 AM to 4 PM, then a flight simulator session that won’t end until around 10 PM. Drat. Hopefully the weekend will be better than the current forecast.