Originally Posted by
FH1100 Pilot
If the rules are followed (with respect to my first paragraph), then I see nothing wrong with, say, building up a Bell 47 or even a 206 from legitimate parts. It was done routinely in both the fixed- and rotary-wing industries until the FAA changed the game. FAA now clarified their rule and says that you cannot remove a data tag or data plate from one component and put it on another. And Bell changed the game too. If a Bell aircraft is crashed (and that crash is reported), and said aircraft is listed as "destroyed," Bell removes that airframe serial number from its master list, rendering the ship permanently unairworthy..
You still seem to be confusing the two issues. Building or assembling an aircraft from spare or salvage parts is still an acceptable method per the FAA and has its own set of guidance which has been around for decades as shown in the link below. None of which involves swapping data plates. I’ve been a part of several
legal aircraft salvage rebuilds. The rules and process are straight forward. So why not follow them?
https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/...r/AC_21-13.pdf
As to the “FAA now clarified” their data plate removal rule, not quite. As mentioned several times above, that rule has been around for many years. It’s been tweaked because it’s obvious even today some people still have reading comprehension issues on whether it’s okay to move data plates between aircraft.
And for the reason Bell started tracking destroyed aircraft, you can basically blame one Washington company for that. They took a data plate from a 1966 fatal 204B wreck in the GOM and 30 years later that same S/N aircraft miraculously flew on a US Forestry contract. However, under that data plate was actually a modified UH-1 aircraft. And guess what, the “whole shebang” was signed-off by a certified mechanic as well. Go figure. So would you fly that aircraft since all the “checks and balances” and “due-diligence” were met?
Regardless, given the OP article is dated 2020 and all the existing FAA guidance on data plates and aircraft rebuilds is dated from 24, 47, and 65+ years ago, the only obvious answer people still consider swapping data plates as the only way to rebuild aircraft from surplus is that they want to beat the system and make a quick buck. Personally, anybody caught violating these long standing rules should be banned from aviation permanently and serve an extended stretch at Club Fed. But that’s just me.