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Thread: If you could, would you....

  1. #1
    Pacerfgoe's Avatar
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    Default If you could, would you....

    Up here in Canada, we have the option to move our planes into the "owner maintenance" category.
    This allows the owner of an aircraft to maintain and sign out his work, and also allows the installation of parts and avionics that would only be allowed on homebuilt or experimental aircraft.
    The aircraft that have moved over to "OM" have not had any noticeable decrease in value.

    Your not allowed to install turbochargers, turbines, rockets, variable pitch propellers, increase the gross weight, or modify to a retractable gear, and a few other things.

    It's basically a one way street though....once you've converted, it's going to stay there. Another restriction is you basically can't fly out of the country. The FAA will not allow "owner maintained" aircraft to fly in their airspace. ( For this exercise let's just forget about all those RV's flying around the US.)

    I like to work on my airplane, (I pretty much do everything to it, my AME signs it out,) and have been considering moving into the "OM" category for a while......but I'm sitting on the fence, not sure if I should jump in.

    If you had the opportunity to do this would you?

  2. #2
    Administrator Steve Pierce's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    I guess if it truly doesn't effect resale and you have no intention of flying into the states it might be worthwhile. I remember Jared ho use to be on this site installing experimental avionics and exhaust system and being able to do all the work himself.

  3. #3
    Gilbert Pierce's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    I flew the 2010 ACROSS CANADA trip with a Colt in OM. Saw him several years later at AirVenture lamenting the fact he couldn’t fly the Colt to OSH.

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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    Quote Originally Posted by Pacerfgoe View Post


    my AME signs it out

    I foresee a problem here, unless it is a Canadian thing. Does your A&P perform your flight physical?

    Anyway, If I could do this and had no plans to travel out of country (or sell out of country) then heck yes!!

  5. #5
    59pacer's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    Selling it overseas can be problematic.
    An Auster that had been on OM arrived here about a year ago from Canada. The new owner got a deal, he thought, and didn't realise the implications of OM. It seemed a straight forward business to get in on the register here, until the LAME realised it was OM. Last heard, the new owner had reached about $50k of work on top of the original purchase price--and he still ends up with an Auster!

  6. #6
    robertsailor's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    OM does indeed reduce the value on aircraft, at least in what I have observed.

  7. #7

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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    OM may not reduce the value, but it reduces your potential market. If your market is only Canada, that’s fine. But I see lots of airplanes that are sold from Canada to the US. A US buyer will have a hard time getting an OM airplane certified here, so your pool of potential buyers is much smaller.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  8. #8
    tyndall's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    OM does decrease the value as well as have a bad stigma about it. As much as everyone with an OM plane brags about how pristine their aircraft is, I've never seen one. The last OM PA22 that came in for a float install had rusted tubing in the tail, a shoddy alternator conversion with a bent oil cooler bracket missing a couple of bolts, all sorts of wiring hacks, the list goes on and I wasn't really looking. The new owner was more concerned about the time to install the floats than making his aircraft safe. This is normal. This is what people see when the shop and what people expect when the see an ad for an OM aircraft. Not one would I ever sign out as "safe", even forgetting about any kind of conformity.

    There's good reason you need to have a warning stenciled on the doors in english and french. Imagine a scared potential passenger seeing:

    WARNING
    SPECIAL CERTIFICATE OF AIRWORTHINESS - OWNER-MAINTENANCE
    THIS AIRCRAFT DOES NOT COMPLY WITH INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED AIRWORTHINESS STANDARDS

    Considering how close most of the population of Canada lives to it's southern border, it doesn't make sense to permanently eliminate so many potential buyers. As well as the travel problem. You've taken an already small pool of canuck buyers and reduced it to ones that will never want to fly south. There is no way you can do all that and not have it impact the value.

    Quote Originally Posted by pilot View Post
    I foresee a problem here, unless it is a Canadian thing. Does your A&P perform your flight physical?
    AME = Aircraft Maintenance Engineer. Same as an A&P IA. No such thing as a crackerjack box A&P in Canada.

  9. #9

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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    Aviation Medical Examiner is what we have here I suppose some of them may have dual status as an A&P also

  10. #10
    Pacerfgoe's Avatar
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    Default Re: If you could, would you....

    Thanks for the feedback guys....now I'm as confused as ever.
    I'll probably do it, as I don't have a huge desire to fly this thing into the States, and to do that and go to the places I want to, I'd need to do the ADSB upgrade....not likely to do that.

    As you were....

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