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I got the paperwork problem resolved today. I had contacted the MD-RA by e-mail on Tuesday morning, and got a quick response that I should contact the local TC office. I phoned them, played phone tag a bit, and finally spoke with an inspector in the afternoon. George E. was very helpful, and said that he would extend the expiry date of Special Certificate of Airworthiness if I brought it to their office. I finally got a break in my schedule this afternoon, so I left a bit early and dropped by their office on the way home from work.

The aircraft is finally legal to fly again. YeeHaa!! I’ve got a few more hours of work to do to finish off the annual inspection, but I hope to be ready to fly Saturday afternoon. It will have been almost six months since I last flew the aircraft, and I haven’t flown any tailwheel aircraft in that time either. So I will want pretty good wind conditions for the first flight. Hopefully the weather will cooperate.

While I had George E. captive in the meeting room, I also discussed the Catch 22 that the regs seemed to create with the aerobatic approval. The regs say it is prohibited to fly aerobatics unless you have completed the aerobatic evaluation called for in Airworthiness Manual Advisory 549.101A. But, you are required to have an “Aerobatics Prohibited” placard installed unless you have had the aerobatics restriction removed, and you must fly aerobatics as part of the process to get the restriction removed. But, it seems like TC has a way to cut this Gordian knot - they issue a temporary Flight Permit which removes the Aerobatics Prohibited limitation, so you can fly the aerobatic evaluation.