The NYFSDO was simply overwhelmed and over worked. The tedious process began under the old rules, and then when the rules changed in mid stream, the staff was furious. (especially the top dog at that FSDO). It is a lot of time and paperwork that had to be re-done...and the NYFSDO was fighting like hell to try to keep certifying Baltia under the old rules. Unfortunately, no matter how the NYFSDO tried to spin it, FAA would not accept a certification under the old system. Baltia was just treading water over there - waiting for the NYFSDO to stop futzing around. They would probably still be there today...spinning their wheels and going no where...if they had not pulled the application and moved it somewhere else.
Moving to Michigan to basically "start the process all over again" was the best move Baltia could have made.
Now.....keep in mind that by the time they got to Michigan, Baltia already had all the fundamentals in place - like 10,000+ pages of manuals and an operational plane (N706BL), etc., so the beginning stages of the certification process went "relatively" quickly in Michigan.
Baltia....you've come a long way, baby!....and you have proven over these many years, that there is no stopping you!
