Well, it took two days, but I did get a rather authoritative answer for this.  Thanks to Allan Mahon at MD-RA, who sent me this clarification from Maurice Simoneau at Transport.  Note that while the question was being asked specifically in reference to IFR flight, the question was the same... What TSO requirements are there for "certification."  I have included Maurice's reply below.  The only edits were to clarify which is a quote from the CARs and which are his words, and I also added updated links to the relevant CARs... They were moved recently and his were deprecated.

In short:  the Avionics shop's responsibility ends at conducting the tests and telling the owner/builder whether the systems meet the standards.  It's up to the owner/builder at that point to document it and sign it off.

IFR operations by amateur-built aircraft in Canada are subject to the following rules:
 
1 - the aircraft has to be equipped in accordance with CAR 605.18;
2 - the "operational" equipment has to comply with CAR 602.59(b);

no person shall operate an aircraft unless the operational ... carried on board the aircraft ... is functional -- "functional" means that the equipment performs its intended function

3 - the equipment does not need be approved in accordance with TSO standards and requirements;
4 - the equipment does not need to be certified -- no requirement for authorised release documents/certificates/tags, such as TCCA FORM 24-0078/FORM ONE, EASA FORM ONE, FAA 8130-3;
5 - the installation does not need to be approved by Transport Canada;
6 - the owner can do the installation and sign the maintenance release for the maintenance activities performed.
 
Having stated the above, I would invite your client to consult Airworthiness Notice - B032, Edition 2 - 18 April 1996 - Procedure for the Removal of 'Visual Flight Rules Only' Limitation From the Special Certificate of Airworthiness (Amateur-Built Aircraft).

AN B032 was published at a time when the Air Regulations (Air Regs) and Air Navigation Orders (ANOs) were still in effect; the draft version of the Canadian Aviation Regulations [CARs] was the Canada Gazette Part I [Pre-publication] version that was later amended and published as the "new" CARs in October 1996. I have listed below the new regulatory references:
 
ANO Series V, No. 5 is now CAR 602.137
ANO Series V, No. 11 is now CAR 602.96 to 602.104, CAR 602.125
ANO Series V, No. 22 is now CAR 605.18
CAR 601.03 is still CAR 601.03
CAR 605.17 is now CAR 605.18
CAR 605.29 is now CAR 605.35
CAR 605.67 is now CAR 605.35
 
I have quoted below those parts of AN B032 that I consider most relevant to the discussion:
 

A statement of compliance signed by the owner shall be attached with the application to remove "VFR ONLY" from the standardized operating conditions. The statement shall indicate that the equipment required for IFR flight as specified in ANO Series V, No. 22 [see CAR 605.18], CAR 601.03, 605.17 [see CAR 605.18], 605.29 [see CAR 605.35] and 605.67 [see CAR 605.35] has been properly installed, tested and calibrated in accordance with Chapters 571 and 575 of the Airworthiness Manual [see Standard 571] or CAR 571, 605 and related standards, and that it functions properly.
 
The owner must be prepared to demonstrate that the installation, test and calibration of IFR equipment has been appropriately performed". The onus to demonstrate that functionality rests with the amateur-built aircraft owner. The owner has to be able to demonstrate that he/she has the necessary testing equipment to carry out the installation of the IFR equipment, that the testing equipment has been properly tested and calibrated, and that he/she is competent to operate such testing equipment.

although the installation of IFR equipment may be performed by the owner, due to the complexity and cost of test equipment, it may be more practical for this work to be performed by an appropriately rated aircraft Approved Maintenance Organisation (AMO)

Further to the above, I would also like to direct your client's attention to CAR 551 - Aircraft Equipment and Airworthiness Manual Chapter [STD] 551 - Aircraft Equipment and Installation.
 

(1) subject to subsection (2), the standards of airworthiness for the design and installation of aircraft equipment required by Part VI or Part VII are those specified in Chapter 551 of the Airworthiness Manual.
(2) If no standards of airworthiness are specified in Chapter 551 of the Airworthiness Manual for the design and installation of an item of aircraft equipment, the applicable standards of airworthiness are those that form the basis of certification of the aircraft on which the equipment is installed.

STD 551 specifies design and installation standards for the following equipment:
 
Flight Data Recorders
Cockpit Voice Recorders
Ground Proximity Warning Systems
Transponder and Automatic Pressure Altitude Reporting Equipment
Emergency Locator Transmitter
Altitude Alerting Systems
Radiocommunication Equipment
Radio Navigation Equipment
       
It is my understanding that those design and installation standards apply to all such aircraft equipment, irrespective of the aircraft where the equipment is installed.
 

... equipment installed or intended for installation in aircraft shall meet the applicable standards of:
 
(1) Chapter 537 of the Airworthiness Manual; or
(2) this chapter [STD 551], where the equipment was already approved for use on aircraft.
 
Information Note:
 
Where a TSO is referenced as an acceptable design standard, it is intended to mean that the design standards contained with the TSO are an acceptable minimum standard and the equipment does not necessarily need to have a TSO. i.e. an applicant could obtain Transport Canada Civil Aviation approval (Supplemental Type Certificate/Limited Supplemental Type Certificate) for a design if it is demonstrated that it complies with the design standards specified in the applicable TSO.

Please let me know if I have answered your questions fully.
 
Maurice A. Simoneau
 
Senior Civil Aviation Safety Inspector / Inspecteur principal de la sécurité de l'Aviation civile
Recreational Aircraft / Aéronefs de loisir
Maintenance and Manufacturing Standards / Normes de maintenance et de construction
Standards Branch / Direction des normes
telephone/téléphone: 613-990-9490
facsimile/télécopieur: 613-952-3298
maurice.simoneau@tc.gc.ca <mailto:maurice.simoneau@tc.gc.ca>.
Transport Canada Civil Aviation, Place de Ville [AARTM], Ottawa Canada, K1A 0N8
Transports Canada Aviation civile, Place de Ville [AARTM] Ottawa Canada, K1A 0N8
<http://www.tc.gc.ca/>
 
Government of Canada / Gouvernement du Canada

Let's open up a can of worms...

A lot of Amateur-built aircraft are now using Dynon / GRT / MGL etc. EFIS displays for their primary flight displays.  Most of these have a pinout on their bus that provides an standard-pressure altitude signal intended to drive a transponder.  This means a separate encoder is technically no longer required, as the EFIS can take its place.

In the US, this is not an issue, as the EAA has lobbied to make it clear that TSO certification is not required on altimeters or encoders for homebuilt aircraft, and the FAA agrees.

It appears that the CARS in Canada are not as forward-thinking however... They allow non-TSO *altimeters* for VFR flight, but require that any *encoder* used with a Mode C Transponder be TSO approved.  As the Dynon / GRT / MGL etc. EFIS displays do not carry any TSO's, that means any amateur-built aircraft using EFIS as input are flying in contravention of the CARs because they don't carry TSO'ed encoders.

Functionally, they work fine.  They may even be better than some of the old-technology encoders in use out there in certified aircraft.  And I doubt anyone would ever get caught on this in a ramp check.

The problem is that the CARs also require that these systems be certified once every two years.  The avionics shops seem to be inconsistent in whether they will or will not sign them off... Some say they won't test it at all, others say they'll test it but won't sign it off.

This can't be the first time this has come up... Does anyone have any experience with this?

There are mail-to-forum plugins but most require too much moderating to prevent spamming.  This site is forum-only.

Hmm... I'd like more info, Irishfield.  Unless i'm mistaken, the Phillips oil doesn't have the Lycoming additive for anti-wear on the cam lobes, so it's a non-starter for me.  I'm open to reasons to switch to W100, if they are founded on some kind of reality and not old wive's tales.

What about the 15W50 makes it "crap"?  I've gone the last 25 hours without adding *any* oil, running 15W50, and leaving it at 5.5 on the stick.  And that's on a Lycoming with almost 4000 hours on the clock, and just over 2000 SMOH.

I'm looking for expired NavCanada EPub CD's.  Someone sent me one about 5 years ago but it has gone missing from my stack of CD's.  They come as a subscription, so surely someone here has a stack of used ones that they wouldn't mind rifling through for me?

Expired is just fine, but as new as possible would be great.

Any help appreciated, Thanks!

I agree with Wayne on both ideas.  For spring steel, you'll want to go to a one-piece setup, not two separate leafs.  But the simpler solution, as he says, is to replace the bungees with springs.

Might be a little late to reply to this, but maybe it will help someone else in the future... I helped a few people weigh taildraggers with the RAA scales, and this is what seems to work best:

1. Weigh the aircraft in three-point attitude.  Add together the weight on all three wheels.
2. Raise tail to flying attitude, and weigh the mains.  Add these together.
3. Subtract the total (2) from the total (1).  The result is the weight on the tail in flying attitude.

You now have the weights necessary to calculate your C-of-G.  All you need is your distances from the datums.  For a "known" design like an RV, you can pretty much take them from the plans.  If you have something else, you'll need to measure them.

This has the benefit of not requiring you to build a support that will hold the tail up and/or the scale up at the same time.  You just roll the plane on the scales, note the numbers, then have a stout friend lift the tail, record some more numbers, and you're done.  An RV can be weighed in about 10 minutes using this technique.

FYI - Nosewheel aircraft can be weighed using a similar procedure... Weigh all three gear, then pull the scale from under the nosewheel and lower it until you're in flying attitude.  If you're lucky, you won't need a hole in the floor for the nosewheel to sink into...

You might want to ask around some of your local airports... You may find a tailwheel owner with an instructor's rating, who would be willing to do the transition training in his aircraft.  Better yet, try to find a flying school (or an instructor with an aircraft) and get trained ab-initio on tailwheel.  Barring that, you're already ready to pay big $$$ for a kit, why not buy a used Cessna 140 or something similar and find an instructor to teach you on that instead?  At the end of your lesson, sell the plane again.  You'll only put 50 hours on it, so you should be able to sell it for almost the same as you paid for it.  Then put the money into the kit.

There are lots of options out there, but you may have to make some of your own come to fruition...

Just a thought, but how much oil do you try to keep in the engine from day to day?

My O-320 seems to stay quite happily at 5.5 on the stick (which is marked up to 8 ), and if I add any more it tends to ooze it out over time.  For an oil changes now I fill to 6 and let it settle back to 5.5.  I only add if it gets to 5.  If you're trying to keep it "full" that may be the majority of your problem.

Lycoming says my O-320 will safely run with oil as low as 2 (!!!) so there's still a good buffer there.

[Standby.]

I wrote this a while ago for the benefit of people i've loaned my first-generation SPOT to.  I've heard a number of people in the flying community complain about how their SPOT works (or doesn't) from time to time, hopefully this will help.

---

The SPOT only has four states or modes (5 if you include "OFF").

1. Standby.  Power LED flashes once in a while to let you know that it's on.  In this state it monitors the GPS satellites so it knows where it is.  It does not send any info on the satellite network in this state.  No track, no help, etc.  It's just sitting there, in a "state of readiness".

2. Sending an OK signal.  This is achieved by starting from state "1" and briefly hitting the "OK" button.  An "OK" message is sent via email/text message to those people on your notification list.  Both the Power and OK lights will flash together while the message is being sent.  The message is sent a number of times (I think three) and then the SPOT automatically returns to state "1".

3. Sending Tracking messages.  This is achieved by starting from state "1", and holding the OK button until the OK light starts to flash (about 5 seconds).  As long as the SPOT is in a location where it can see the GPS satellites, the Power and OK lights will flash in unison(*).  If the SPOT loses the GPS signal, the lights will flash out-of-sequence.  Track points are sent once every 10 minutes.  No emails/text messages will be sent.  To see the track, you have to go to the SPOT website.  To exit this state, you have to turn the SPOT off by holding the power button until all lights are off.

(*) Yes, this looks exactly like state 2, when it's ending an "OK" message.  There is no way to know which state it's in once it's here, the only way to be sure, if there is any doubt, is to power cycle the unit and start again.  Keep in mind:  A short a press on the OK button will send an OK message, and holding the OK button until both OK and Power lights are flashing will put it in Tracking mode.  If you want Tracking mode, and push the OK button, the light may flash briefly just as you push the button.  If this happens, you've put it in state 2.  You want the OK light to stay on while you're holding the button, until it switches off and then both lights will flash together.  Then you should be in Tracking mode.

4. Sending a HELP or 911 signal.  These are achieved by holding the HELP or 911 button from any ON state.  The HELP or 911 LED will flash.  HELP messages go out once every 5 minutes for an hour, then the unit returns to state 1.  911 messages go out once every 5 minutes until the unit is shut off or the batteries die.  To exit either state, hold the HELP or 911 button again until the indicator changes from GREEN to RED (flashing to solid, for you colourblind types).  When the light goes out again, the signal has been canceled and the unit can be turned off.

In normal operation, you should never see anything but green lights.  The only exceptions are when canceling a HELP or 911 message (as mentioned above) or if the batteries get down below 30% life remaining.  When the batteries get low, the Power LED will flash in RED instead of GREEN.  Not much help for colourblind types.

To use it for Tracking, this is what I found to be the best way to use it:

1. Turn unit on, by pressing the "Power" button.

2. Let the unit sit, undisturbed, in a place with clear view of the sky.  On the ramp in front of your hangar, if you're flying, or on your motorcycle seat or car dashboard, etc.  Ignore it for a few minutes, while you do other things (pre-flight, etc.).  This gives it enough time to power up and "lock in" to the satellites).

3. Turn on the tracking by holding the "OK" button until both Power and OK lights are flashing.  Now you're tracking.

4. Travel.  Unit will send tracking signal every 10 minutes.

5. At end of day, turn unit off by holding Power button until it turns off.

And that's it.  I usually continued with a few more steps at the end of the day, but they're optional:

6. Turn unit on again by pressing Power button.

7. Send "OK" message by briefly pressing the OK button.

8. Leave unit out in the open for a few minutes (while you're filling out logbooks, etc.) until the OK message has been sent (OK LED will stop flashing, and just the Power LED will be left flashing on its own).

9. Turn unit off.

Note: It seems that you can't switch from Tracking mode to just sending an "OK" signal without turning the unit off and then back on again.  At least, it doesn't do that on mine.  If you're in Tracking mode, you have to "break" out of it by turning the unit off and then on again.