Homebuilts in the Isle of Man

[macconnacher]

I asked a question on this subject on this BB and the Air-Britain AB-IX site.

An AB member got this answer from
Brian Johnson, Director of Civil Aviation in the Isle of Man,

Thank you for your e-mail below. Following is the reason why we are unable to support homebuilt permit to fly aircraft on the Isle of Man register:



The Isle of Man Aircraft Registry, in common with the vast majority of countries in the world, has no experts on staff to deal with the design of aircraft. This is not normally a problem because under the international agreements which permit aircraft to fly from one country to another, it is possible to accept the design work carried out by another country.



However, homebuilt aircraft do not qualify under these international agreements which explains why they receive a Permit to Fly rather than a Certificate of Airworthiness. The permit specifically prohibits flights over another country without that countries prior permission. Any country which wish's to issue permits must evaluate and agree to the design of the homebuilt aircraft themselves.



It would be extremely expensive for the Aircraft Registry to employ a design specialist for the homebuilt aircraft. The cost of the specialist would have to be recovered from the applicant for a permit to fly and they in turn are usually the least able to afford these high costs, therefore there are no plans to permit this type of aircraft on the M- register.


That is a pity but are there any LAAers on the Island with projects and what do they think. We seem to have a section of our members at a adisadvantage and perhaps those in the Channel Islands if they go down the route of separate ANO and registration.

Any views?

[John Dean]

It's an interesting topic, Stuart.

As I understand, the IOM has had its own ANO for some years and the only recent change has been its decision to have a seperate register. Jersey and Guernsey also each have their own ANO.

I know of at least one aircraft (Cozy) that was built on the island under LAA supervision and also one on Alderney (Guernsey). I also know of at least one LAA homebuilt based on the IOM and owned by an LAA inspector.

Things are, perhaps, not as bleak for island members as the reply from Brian Johnson would indicate. The best person to give an answer would be Ken Craigie at HQ but I will be on the IOM in a couple of weeks and if I get the time I will see if I can have a chat to a few people.

[Nigel Hitchman]

I wonder if this is really a problem.
Is there any legal requirement for an Isle of Man based aircraft to be on the IOM register? I dont think so. Thus presumably it is still acceptable for someone living on the IOM to register aircraft on the G- CAA register and operate to CAA rules. I guess it is more a question of what the IOM ANO says, not the IOM register. Most of the aircraft on the IOM are still on the G- register.
It seems to me that the purpose of the IOM register is not for everyone on the IOM to register their aircraft there, but on the other hand to make some money providing a "register of convenience" where people with lots of money can register their aircraft and get around some of the rules where they live. This might be for tax purposes, certification purposes or flight time limitations purposes.
No doubt the IOM register charges quite a bit, but by their rules being different, owners are able to save more money in other areas.
Many UK based executive jets are not on the CAA G- register for some of the above reasons, the previous favourite registeres of convenience were USA, Bermuda or Cayman Islands