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Airworthiness Certificate

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FAA Regulations

When must an aircraft be issued a new AWC?

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7 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on Nov 14, 2014

    An Airworthiness Certificate is issued when an aircraft is manufactured.
    A new one will be issued if the current one becomes unreadable.
    A new one will also be issued if the registration number for the aircraft changes.

    In the case of a helicopter being used for agricultural spraying, it will be issued two Airworthiness Certificates. A Restricted category certificate for when the spray equipment is installed and the Standard category certificate for when the spray equipment is removed.

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  2. Sam Dawson on Nov 15, 2014

    I have seen a few cases where a change in N number has bitten people. They change the N number, but not the AWC. I even saw one case where the N number was changed at the factory but the AWC was not changed. The airplane flew several years with two owners (including one who leased it back to a flight school), but it was not caught until I was preparing a client for his check ride, actually looked at the AWC (instead of just checking that there was one on the airplane), and saw the different N number.
    Also the AWC can not be copied. I have seen a case where an owner was using a photo copy of the AWC. Not legal.

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  3. Kris Kortokrax on Nov 16, 2014

    The problem with absolute statements is that there can be an exception.
    In this case, the exception is found in 137.33.

    The operator of an agricultural aircraft could carry a copy of the registration and airworthiness certificate and be completely legal, because there is no requirement to carry them at all.

    I don’t believe there is any other case where the Airworthiness Certificate is not required to be carried, and when it is required to be carried, it cannot be a copy.

    Also, I have seen cases where a Special Airworthiness Certificate (Experimental, Restricted, Limited, Light Sport) is carried on the aircraft, but the Operating Limitations (issued with the Special Airworthiness Certificate and required to accompany it) are not in the aircraft.

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  4. Sam Dawson on Nov 16, 2014

    My assumption was that we were discussing FAR 23/CAR 3 aircraft.

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  5. Kris Kortokrax on Nov 16, 2014

    Interesting.

    Mentioning the requirement to carry the original and not a copy would suggest that we would be discussing the operating rule requiring the carriage of the Airworthiness Certificate (91.203(a)(1)).

    This requires that the certificate be carried not only in Part 23 Normal category airplanes, but also in Part 25 Transport category airplane, Part 27 Normal category rotorcraft, Part 29 Transport category rotorcraft, Part 31 Manned Free Balloons and aircraft of any other categorys (Primary, Experimental, Limited, Restricted, Light Sport and any others I might have missed) and their CAR counterparts.

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  6. Sam Dawson on Nov 16, 2014

    Yes, I am aware of the others. I even saw a part 25 airliner delayed because they could not find the AWC. My assumption, however, was that the OP was asking about part 23/CAR 3 aircraft. There are many examples of different types of AWC’s, times they are no longer valid and times they must be reissued that he will probably never encounter. We could also point out that the space shuttle does not require an AWC and it would be just as applicable as some of your examples.

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  7. Kris Kortokrax on Nov 17, 2014

    So, let’s see,

    You started with “When must an aircraft be issued a new AWC?”

    You ended up with your assumption “Gary wants to know if he can display a copy of the Airworthiness Certificate or must he display the original? Oh, and by the way, he is only interested in FAR23/CAR3 airplanes?.”

    I would love to hear the logical thought process that produced that assumption. His use of the word “aircraft” seems to imply that he is interested Airworthiness Certificates issued to the whole family of aircraft, not just Part 23/CAR3 airplanes. The lack of any inquiry concerning displaying the AWC by Gary would lead to an assumption that he had no interest in whether he could display a copy of the AWC.

    What led to the assumption that he was interested only in Part 23/CAR 3 airplanes and had no interest in the thousands of Luscombes, Taylorcraft, Stearmans and other airplanes certified under CAR 4a?

    You are correct that the space shuttle, a public aircraft, would not be required to have an AWC or registration, as is the case for military and other public aircraft. The Scaled Composite civil spacecraft do, however, possess experimental Airworthiness Certificates and Registrations.

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