Originally Posted by
as350nut
Not sure how Bell would view the aircraft records held and overseen by the Australian government not showing them as the manufacturer.
Originally Posted by megan;
OH-58A's AMT have "manufactured", serials 008, 009, 010, 011 (Australian AMT commercial manufacturer serials, no Bell listed)
FYI: Type Certificate
holders are not necessarily the actual producer (manufacturer) of an aircraft. The TC is merely a design approval whereas an aircraft gets produced under a Production Certificate (PC).
In the case of the 58 above it had a new design (TC VR507) approved by CASA here:
https://www.casa.gov.au/file/96391/download?token=ID2655YX
There are 4 similar FAA TCs that provide approval to operate certain 58s in the Restricted Category. Some of these "new" TCs require the addition of a 2nd data plate with the current TC holders name like this (Page 7):
http://rgl.faa.gov/Regulatory_and_Gu...DE_SN_List.pdf
As to how Bell views these changes, they have zero input or direct liability for those aircraft approved under a separate TC. Except that is in a US Tort trial where everybody is libel.
So in the case of the B-1s, if someone where enterprising enough, they could pursue the same tack as AMT did with the 58s and get their own CASA TC approval. Or, maybe AMT could amend their 58 TC to include the B-1s which I don't think would be much of a stretch.