Author: DavidBunin
Subject: 757
Posted: 21 Oct 2017 at 7:50pm
Subject: 757
Posted: 21 Oct 2017 at 7:50pm
 ansond wrote:I do realize that Garmin has an ODA. Why doesn't Avidyne? Would it be possible for Avidyne to try to hire an ODA or train one of their current employees to become the company's ODA? Would that be possible? |
ODA = Organization Designation Authorization
It is an approval of an organization (a company or facility) not an individual. You can't hire one, and you can't train a person to become one. It is a process, and it is a process that can takes years or even decades. It normally goes like this:
A company does their first certification project. The do the certification with the FAA "directly" although they often hire a DER or two to help shepherd them through their end of the process. With any luck, the application goes well and approval is forthcoming and the FAA is impressed with the applicant.
On the next project (or after a few projects) the applicant has grown as a company and has a DER (or better yet, several) on staff within the facility. The FAA is still the final word, but trust is building for the internal DER(s) to handle minor decisions and more of the paperwork on behalf of the feds. Side note: To become a DER, one has to be recommended or "sponsored" by at least two FAA employees. So one does not become a DER overnight or without extensive qualifications. In other words, these are all old men. No new, young or out-of-the-box thinking allowed. These people know very well how to do things by-the-book.
After lots of successful certification projects, and more trust built with the overseeing FAA office, the applicant creates an internal but separated piece of the organization (like quality control). Lots of DER staff, lots of trust with the FAA, and (like the individual DER) a letter or two of recommendation for an ODA. Then the approval process begins.
In other words, getting an ODA can be a years-long or even decade-long process.
I believe that the ODA of UPSAT was one of the unspoken reasons that Garmin bought them. Or did nobody else notice that Garmin's ODA is in Oregon and not Kansas?