Here's the deal w/ experimentals.
With standard experimentals, amateur built, you get what's called a Repairmans Certificate for THAT airplane when you finish. That means you're you're essentially an A&P for that plane and can sign off on your own annual, but only one repairmans certificate is issued for the plane, and it's non-transferrable. If you purchase a plane someone else built, then you can still do all the work on the plane that you want, but when it's time for the annual only the original builder OR an A&P can do the signoff.
If you register the plane as an E-LSA (Experimental-Light Sport Aircraft) which is a new category, the experimental equivalent of the new LSA stuff, then anyone can get a repairmans certificate for the plane assuming they take a 16 hour course from whichever factory provided the kit or plans. Then they can sign off on their own annuals.
Personally, I think I'd prefer to do the work myself, then have someone else come in to inspect it. Writers are the worst proofreaders of their own work, ya know. That way I get the best of both worlds: I can set the standard for the work that needs to be done and do it knowing it was done right, plus I get the added risk management benefit of having someone else audit my work. I get the impression from some of the posters that they think I've got some 'get 'er done!' attitude, but that couldn't be further from the truth. But I'll try not to confuse anyone who's mind is already made up with pesky facts.
BTW, the Zodiac looks even more promising. The builder is local and is well known on the Zodiac mailing lists, and has apparently done a quite a lot of engineering to make his Stratus (read: Subaru) install solid, with 300+ hours on it now.
