I’d planned for the flight test permit application to be processed whilst I was away in Llanbedr on a gliding trip for a couple of weeks. I’d been checking the LAA website to see if there was any change in the status of my test flight application. On Friday 6th I saw that the application had started to be reviewed so was surprised that today I received a note from the LAA that they had reviewed my application and had a few queries that needed clarification.

More specifically these were the points raised:

1. I had not listed the Manufacturer’s options like landing lights, wing lockers etc so I needed to supply a list.

2. I needed to supply some photos of the servo installation to prove that I had installed them as per the Mod that I was repeating.

3. I needed to confirm that I had fitted the harnesses as supplied with the kit?

4. I had transposed the aft and forward figures on the W&B report so that needed to be corrected and resubmitted.

5. There was a query on the W&B report but that turned out to be a mistake by the LAA.

6. I needed to confirm the full designation/part number of the Airmaster propeller that I had fitted. I thought I had but apparently there was another designation that I needed to get from Airmaster themselves. I rang Airmaster in New Zealand and confirmed the full designation.

7. I had set SIL=1 on my ADSB transponder as the GPS250 was now capable of using that level of integrity but I was told that I needed to downgrade to SIL=0.

8. The last thing was to supply details of the Radio aerials I had used for my VHF Comm and Transponder so I sent photos and part number information.

These were all very straightforward to deal with Jon Viner of the LAA. The engineers there take calls from LAA member between 1400-1600 each day so the first thing I did was to call Jon and discuss the issues in detail. Jon was very good and allowed me to use email to give my answers to the queries.

After a few emails and phone calls during the week Jon presented the paperwork to Francis Donaldson and I received the test flight certificate for when I returned home on Saturday with a hope of a first flight on Tuesday 17th September.