The Beechcraft T-34 was based on the Bonanza, and was built as the Model A45. AFAIK it was never built for the civilian market. As such, I’d assume that they have to be registered in the Experimental category. But they have had Airworthiness Directives applied to them. I thought that ADs were not applied to Experimental aircraft. Can the T34A/B be registered in the Normal or Utility category?
The Bell UH-1 Iroquois series must be registered in the Experimental or Restricted category. The Bell Model 204, which is the same aircraft, can be registered in the Normal category. If it’s the same aircraft, why is this so?
What about the Cessna T-41 Mescalero? It’s a Cessna 172 with a 210 hp engine instead of the original 145 hp one. (Actually, the T-41 is based on the Cessna 175, which is the bases for some civilian '172’s.) Was it built under the Cessna 175 type certificate, and therefore able to be registered in the Utility category? Or, like the Bell 204/UH-1, does the type certificate not apply? (I think the T-41A was an ‘off the shelf’ 172, while the later models were 175s.)
A cursory search of the NTSB mishap database shows that T-34s, D45s, and T-41s have normal, utility, and aerobatic airworthiness certificates (not necessarily in that order). If an ex-warbird didn’t or couldn’t comply with the pertinent civilian airworthiness certification (assuming the type had one), I imagine that is when an owner would have to jump through the hoops to square it away as some flavor of experimental aircraft. I believe a recent example of a military plane certified by the FAA is the Hawker-Beech T-6 Texan II. Not a great value for civil owners at $4.5M apiece.
I believe there is also a little-knows category called “authorized experimental”. Haven’t seen the regs on this in a while, but IIRC it applies to some ex-military aircraft built in other countries and by actual aircraft manufacturers (as opposed to kit or user-built planes).
I know a guy who has a MiG-15 certified in this manner. It allows him to charge for instruction in the airplane, which you couldn’t do in the experimental category .
As I understand it, you can only get a Normal or Utility civilian registration for an aircraft if it was originally produced under a civilian type certificate. If not, they have to be Experimental. It can’t be done retroactively no matter how much you argue that a non-type-certificated aircraft is identical. Also, once an aircraft is modified outside a restrictive category it can never go back into it, even if the modifications are reversed - a plane that stops being Utility can never be Utility again, and a plane that becomes Experimental will always be Experimental.
Most military aircraft were not produced under civilian type certificates, of course, but some are, and the T-34 was one. It’s a derivative of the civilian Bonanza and has a lot of parts in common with it. For Beech to get a civilian type certificate for it wasn’t a big deal and made parts logistics simpler. The FAA type certificate also authorizes it to issue AD’s, although they have no formal authority over military-owned planes. Plus, as you note, it permits civilian purchasers to register them as Normal or Utility.
The T-41 isn’t even a derivative of the C175 but the same thing, so it has a type certificate too.
So what’s the deal with the Bell 204/205/UH-1? Of course I don’t know what differences there are, but they appear to be the same; yet when I see UH-1s for sale they are always (in my observation) in the Restricted or Experimental category. Not that I could ever afford one of course; but sometimes I like to look just to see what’s out there. Maybe the Normal category ones are snapped up quickly, and on the rare occasions that I look the only ones left are Experimental or Restricted?
Maybe Bell didn’t go for a civilian type certificate until most or all of their military orders were filled? Aircraft produced prior to a TC issuance don’t fall under it retroactively even if they’re identical.
It’s first worth noting that an Experimental airworthiness certificate craft can be “Experimental - Amateur Built” or “Experimental - Exhibition and Racing”. The latter category can (among other purposes) be used to certify aircraft in the US that have not yet completed their certification in their country of origin. Once that certification is completed, such aircraft can receive a Standard airworthiness certificate.
I know this because I own a sailplane that has an Experimental certificate, but which is now eligible for a Standard certificate.
I’d always wondered about that when what I thought were fairly mainstream sailplanes would still be placarded “Experimental” . . . thanks for the post.