Source for Piper records

Good day

i am in the process of rebuilding a 1950 PA-18A with serial# 18-191.
The aircraft is based in South Africa but the idea is to re-register it in the USA soon.
To facilitate this process, the DAR will require the original export CofA. The plane was apparently exported directly from the USA to South Africa in 1950, but I do not have an export CofA for it and reaching out to Piper for information has been fruitless. I have also searched the FAA registry in the hope of finding some export / cancellation info based on serial number, but no luck.

Can anyone offer guidance on where one can search for info like this? Any help will be much appreciated.

www.cubdoctor.com

Glenn

If Clyde can come up with a build sheet with an N#, then they may be able to find the old records. Short of that, the Export C of A or the E number for that export will be critical. I’ve had at least one other airplane where FAA lost all the old records. Make for a lot more problems (read $) to eventually get a Standard Airworthiness certificate.

Export certificates of airworthiness aren’t filed by N# or serial number, they are filed by E number (the serial number of the export certificate). Without the E number it is impossible to get a copy of the Export C of A or any info related to it.

Worst case, you could be looking at an Original certification rather than a Recurrent certification. For an original, every part on the airplane will likely need to be conformed to the type design. Reason why I said more $.

Finding that E number (or the old FAA records) could mean either spending $10k+ for conformity to get a Standard, or settling for an Experimental Exhibition. Certificate.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

A friend at my local airport brought back a Champ and 2 Ercoupes from Canada ....... over the last couple of years. All had current Canadian registrations. He used the FAA and not a DAR. It took a little time but got them all back on US registry. What the fed told me was basically if it was ever/originally registered in the US, it can be brought back in. It took a while and a lot of verifications and paperwork. They did extensive annuals that were contingent on getting the C of A since you cant really have an annual with out the C of A. It wasn't too bad since they are simple airplanes. I sure wouldn't want to try to bring back a Lear Jet.

Thanks Gents, appreciate the feedback.

I have made contact with Clyde, hopefully some sort of records can materialise that can assist with the move back the the N-reg. I am sure not keen on going through an original certification process.

Southern Aero - it is exactly the proof of " if it was ever/originally registered in the US" that I am looking for. It was obviously built in the US and exported from there, but I do not possess the documents for this and as far as I understand and as DGA Pilot confirmed, having the export CofA, Build Sheet, E-number etc is critical in establishing the original registration in the US and this in turn is critical in re-registering it there.

The main reason for wanting the original Export C of A, is to verify if there are any “exceptions”. When exporting, the aircraft is supposed to meet both the US type design, and the importing countries requirements. Most times they are the same, but sometimes they are different and exceptions need to be listed on the Export C of A. When coming back to the US, those Exceptions need to be corrected or adjudicated in some way, and that export document is the only place they are listed. Fortunately these airplanes are pretty simple, and we can inspect to be sure they meet the US requirements. I’ve had issues with some larger airplanes where those exceptions would cost a lot to fix!

The build sheet from Clyde should provide the original N#, and hopefully with that you can get the rest of the info from AFS-750. Just hope they didn’t loose it. The stories I heard was there was a fire in one of their storage facilities and lost a number of files.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Thanks dgapilot, makes sense.
Waiting with bated breath to hear from Clyde.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

HarryB said:

Thanks dgapilot, makes sense.
Waiting with bated breath to hear from Clyde.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

When you bring it back to the US, depending on where you are, I can be available to do the certification. I'm just outside Washington DC.