A question came up as to whether FAA Form 8130-6, Application for U.S. Airworthiness Certificate, dated 4/2011 in the lower left corner is valid even though the OMB expiry date posted in the upper right corner has past. I contacted Rodney Watson, FAA AIR-230 Aircraft Certification Service, Production & Airworthiness Certification Division, since he is listed as being responsible for the form and he graciously provided the following response.
A form is a device used to collect information from someone. In the case of an OMB form, it’s a device to collect information from the general public, not someone in the FAA.
OMB is not concerned with the actual form. They’re concerned with the data collection aspect of it – who are we trying to collect data from, what kind of data we are collecting and why.
An OMB approval isn’t for the form itself, it’s for the act of collecting data from the public.
Every 3 years, OMB requires that we re-validate the need to collect this data from the general public. That’s what the expiration date on the form indicates. The form is validated until it is superseded by a new form and that information will be posted at the bottom of the form. FAA form 8130-6 dated 4-2011 is the correct revision until it is superseded.
