Amateur-built and experimental aircraft - Australian Transport Safety ...

the Australian civil aircraft register (VH-). The concern driving this policy change
was that aircraft not entered onto the register were operating outside the normal
system of airworthiness control, and this was perceived to be a risk to aviation
safety (National Archives of Australia: Department of Transport, K95).
Ultralight Aircraft - ANO 100.18
First introduced in 1955, ANO 100.18 was a government response to post-war
interest in aviation. Air Navigation Order 100.18 set out the requirements for
building amateur-built aircraft, including the submission of test pieces to the
regulator (Figure 10), welding and flight evaluation specifications, permit to fly,
and maintenance. Maintenance was to be carried out according to ANO 100.5, and
this required a licensed aircraft maintenance engineer (LAME) or person with a
Maintenance Authority to conduct maintenance. The Civil Aviation Branch of the
Department of Defence was replaced by the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) in
1939. The DCA had previous experience with sub-standard workmanship of some
amateur builders (National Archives of Australia, 1928), and this may have
convinced them of the need to sample the workmanship of prospective builders
when formulating ANO 100.18. This ANO operated for about 40 years before being
repealed when the present experimental category was introduced in 1998.
Figure 10: Example of a regulator test piece (mock aileron)
Developmental Category - ANO 101.31
Introduced on 1 July 1967, the Developmental Category ANO 101.31 gave amateur
aircraft builders the opportunity to build and test a prototype aircraft or significantly
alter an existing aircraft. This was a transition category to either production aircraft
or design approval under the Amateur Built Aircraft Approval (ABAA) ANO
101.28 scheme (see below). The Corby Starlet, Hughes Lightwing, and Clancy
Skybaby are the only designs approved for amateur construction using this process
(Mitchell, 1994). Another aircraft constructed by amateur builders, called the Paleto
Maverick, operated under the Developmental Category, but was eventually entered
into the experimental category (see below).
Aircraft developed under ANO 101.31 required substantial input from a Civil
Aviation Regulations (CAR) Part 35 delegate, particularly where design changes
were necessary, or adaptations and improvements were made on the original design.
Stage inspections were performed at crucial points by the DCA, Department of
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