FAA Certificate

[avdome]

Can a home built simulator with full motion be approved by FAA?

[Tomlin]

The certification process is up to the individual with the simulator. This is very, VERY basic, but at it's simplest, after the simulator is built the FAA would be contacted and asked to inspect the simulator and after having gone thru several aspects of the simulator, it would either be certified at a specific level or not.

Keep in mind this is a very expensive and complicated process that requires several steps between the builder/owner and the FAA.

More info can be found here:

http://www.risingup.com/fars/info/part121-H-APPX.shtml

I tried to find an old link I had that but perhaps this is even better:

http://www.faa.gov/safety/programs_i...ation_process/

[Michael Carter]

Along those lines, I wonder if anyone has ever reserved an N number for their sim.

Some time back I wanted to get a German registration number for my Lufthansa 727, but it's nearly impossible from the US.

I know that some have reserved N numbers from retired and scrapped airliners in the past.

[tomenglish2000]

Aparently in the UK the CAA used to accept registrations for anything. Most people were registering model aircraft. I think they put a stop to it when some bloke in Bristol started registering man hole covers.

Tom.

[super80]

Along those lines, I wonder if anyone has ever reserved an N number for their sim.

Some time back I wanted to get a German registration number for my Lufthansa 727, but it's nearly impossible from the US.

I know that some have reserved N numbers from retired and scrapped airliners in the past.

In the US, anyone can reserve an N-number(providing it is available). I think it is like 10 dollars a year or something like that. I reserved one for a kit plane I may build in 200 years, following the completion of my sim.

However, when you register the N-number, it isn't associated with an aircraft until you register the aircraft against that n number. This is how many states calculate sales/use/property tax for those aircraft. The state queries the FAA for this data, and if an n-number has no aircraft associated with it, then they usually ignore it. If the n-number for example has a 737 associated with it, and their records indicate no tax was paid, be prepared for a visit from the tax man.

I guess what I am getting at is be careful with the n-number thing, you may find yourself trying to explain to some clueless gov worker that it isn't a real 737, it is a sim in my basement........

[Tomlin]

If the n-number for example has a 737 associated with it, and their records indicate no tax was paid, be prepared for a visit from the tax man.

I guess what I am getting at is be careful with the n-number thing, you may find yourself trying to explain to some clueless gov worker that it isn't a real 737, it is a sim in my basement........

...and considering the way it looks like the country is going, the sim in the basement would probably be a cause for a 'luxery' tax !