I've just spent a fun three hours trawling through the RA-Aus Ops Manual, AC21.11, AC21.4, CAO 95.10, CAO95.55 and CAO101.28. trying to determine the requirements for own-design aircraft. As far as I can tell under RA-Aus, single seat, below 300kg MTOW and 30kg/m2 wing loading you can try just about anything(!). But if I want to go to two seats I'd be looking at an LSA and would have to go through all the requirements for producing one i.e. Just like a manufacturer I'd need to apply for a special CoA and experimental certificate and satisfy CASA that my design meets CAO101.28.
Looking at the SAAA side of things there appears to be more flexibility under the Amateur Built Experimental - MTOW of 1500kg, up to 4 seats etc. (as per AC21.11 and 101.28) but I'd ultimately need an RPL/PPL to fly the aircraft.
Have I got this right? The above documents are bureaucracy at it's absolute worst!
