The solution to that is getting an "Experimental" certificate and that is a subject I hope to research with the SAAA if the have a stall at Avalon. The RAA showing at the last air show left me no wiser, probably because I went on the trade days.
Sunny, you are spot by considering the SAAA and certainly on the right track with your thinking. As an SAAA member (a number of us are here including Jabawocky) I can tell you from experience that the rules and regulations are much more flexible and accommodating than the Raa guidelines. You are fully authorized in an amateur built aircraft to fly at the MTOW for the aircraft, be GA registered, fly into CTA, over built up areas and perform your own maintenance, as well as NVFR and IFR flight. It is actually the Holy Grail that you are thinking it is. That is why there are so many RV's and the like buzzing around all over the country. (You also don't have to pay $220 to register it and $110 every year!)
Happy to discuss further via PM.