Yes, I had a field approval done by a FSDO in the state the plane was operated in. Inspector from neighbor state was doing something there and determined that the plane was unairworthy.
The two FSDOs got into a significant tiff, which ultimately was settled by the Region. Field approval was legit all along, but this ding dong said you can’t field approve external antennas……
And, we had “disagreements” between the ANC FSDO and some guy in the Region…..
I had a totally legit field approval signed by a FAI Inspector, which was subsequently rescinded by a new FAI Inspector, and that stuck….loooong story, but true, the second guy screwed up, but Inspectors do not make errors, so it stuck……even though the boss knew he’d screwed up.
I view Flight Standards offices as a local version of the Afghan model: Dozens of local “Tribes” sorta allied with the “National” organization. They all allegedly operate under the same set of rules, but they each interpret those how THEY see fit, without regard to what the guys down the road think.
MTV