By Mel Asberry, EAA Lifetime 207610
On Friday, December 11, 2020, I issued an Airworthiness Certificate to Gregory Rodriguez for his amateur-built American Legend AL18.
This was, in fact, my 1,000th aircraft certification as a DAR since receiving my designation in September 1999.
Attached are pictures of me handing Mr. Rodriguez the airworthiness certificate for N867GR, and of Tony Baumgard, my FAA PMI, handing me a Certification of Recognition from the FAA North Texas FSDO.
Being able to certificate light-sport and experimental aircraft means a lot to me. It’s a personal goal to try to make sure these aircraft are as safe as possible before leaving the ground for the first time. I’ve always said, “This is the perfect retirement job; I get paid to go look at airplanes.”
But in all honesty, it’s NOT about the money. I love this job.
Have you reached a milestone recently? Passed a checkride, given your first or hundredth Young Eagles flight, flown your homebuilt for the first time? Tell us about it at EAA.org/Submissions.