Rebuild with data plate?

[JGeorge]

Hello all you Engineers & Technicians. Question for you.


I have heard rumors that all you need to rebuild an aircraft is the data plate and the log books, but I have also heard that you need more than just that. Costs aside, witch would be through the roof, is it possible to completely rebuild an aircraft with only a data plate and the logs? What if the aircraft was previously written off?


Thanks, any reply appreciated.


JGeorge

[Engineer_aus]

What aircraft are you looking at rebuilding?

[dubbleyew eight]

regardless of what the world tells you the answer is actually yes.

have a look at some of the immaculate warbird restorations then go and find photos of the state they were in when found.

it is stupid I know but the reality is a byproduct of a strident certification system that sees the records as being more important than the reality.

I've even seen someone in the british CAA quietly advise a chap that if he could find a data plate and a set of log books that were up to date then swapping them on to his aircraft would circumvent all his paperwork problems.
stupid but that is the reality.

.....now don't tell anyone else

[JGeorge]

dubbleyew eight, thanks, that's interesting information.

The aircraft would be a DeHavilland Beaver, not now but one day a little down the road.

Any idea of the cost? 500K, 1mil? Beavers crash every year and with the market price for one likely to continue to rise for some time, could it one day it be financially feasible to rebuild from nearly scratch?

[wrench1]

Not sure how Transport Canada views this but south of the border you can rebuild/restore an aircraft without logs or even an original data plate in some cases. The main issue is what type of airworthiness certificate you want. Unless you get a letter from the current Type Certificate holder of the model you rebuild the best you could hope for would be a restricted or experimental cert instead of a standard cert.




As for cost, I'd say if this were a Cessna 100 series or a Super Cub it would be doable, but a Beaver would be prohibitive, in my opinion. However, if you start with a decent core, like a weather damaged aircraft, and have in-house talent, then it may work. But its a big risk still. If your plan is to drop off logs and plate at the local airport shop and turnkey entire build then I would definitely say no way Jose. W1

[om15]

I have just seen this paragraph in an article on SUP (suspect unapproved parts), it doesn't fully answer your question, but is of interest,

According to some manufacturers, watching
for a counterfeit aircraft isn’t out of the question.
Aircraft OEMs have long opposed the
practice of building an aircraft around the
old data plate of an aircraft previously
destroyed. But unless the aircraft serial number
was actually reported to the FAA as
"Destroyed" knowing that an aircraft is original
can be difficult. So the practice continues,
despite the controversy and questionable
legality.
One aircraft manufacturer in particular
has gone to great lengths to label such
rebuilds as "counterfeit" aircraft – Textron’s
Bell Helicopter.
Bell feels so strongly about the potential
for people buying a helicopter rebuilt around
the data plate of a previously destroyed aircraft
that the company calls the entire
machine "counterfeit" if it was previously
"totaled" before being rebuilt using the original
data plate.
"If someone else rebuilds/remanufactures
an aircraft around the recovered aircraft
identification data plate, the aircraft is a
counterfeit and is not a Bell," the company
said on its website.