Unforeseen Obstacles

I was trying to finally get in touch with the DAR I had focused on more than a year ago when I last checked the FAA-published list.
You know that if this attempt would have been successful, I would not be posting here under this title. When I started building in 2009, the list of in-state DARs that would be able to do an E-LSA inspection and issue an Airworthiness Certificate (it is function code 47 on the FAA list), was showing enough individuals that it was not a concern. I remember around 3 just in the Tucson area and many more up in Phoenix.
If you look at www.sportpilot.org and the DAR list they had published there, based on data from 2008, you get the impression that there is nothing to worry about. There even were some EAA Volunteer DARs listed that only require you to pay for their expenses if you are an EAA member yourself.
This still was not an issue last year when the FAA list showed at least 3 DARs with function code 47 in whole of Arizona (no-one in Tucson anymore).
This year however, the list is down to exactly one individual and this poor fellow is not just doing experimentals but has a long list of function codes and is probably pretty busy. It might be a red hering but an interesting detail I found is that two DARs on the list whose names I recalled from last year's check, were still DARs but had dropped their function code 47 (at least).
I was not able to get in touch with the one active code 47 DAR yet and so I looked over the fence and checked the neighboring states.

Oops, what a rude wake-up call I got!

New Mexico has none at all, neither does Utah. Colorado shows two and for the whole of California there are 4 on the list. Well, there were 5 actually and the fifth one was even an EAA Volunteer DAR and so I contacted him in the hope he might come out and get the job done for me.

Here's his response:

Hello Torsten,

Thanks for your DAR inquiry.  Sorry to say I am just this moment letting my DAR authority lapse after over 10 years of aviation activity. Sad to say the FAA with their attitude of complete "take it or leave it has forced me to give up the program.  Actually I very much enjoyed doing the work as I am a retired aeronautical engineer, pilot and an intensely active aviation enthusiast. Unfortunately being also an A/P, I/A and being dedicated to following sound airworthiness practice was just not enough.

I do hope you can convince your local FSDO or MIDO to come out and inspect your aircraft. Don't let their weak excuses of work load deterr you. I am also sending this message to the EAA where I have been an active member for some 64 years.

Does anybody else see a problem here?

This was the last EAA Volunteer in the Southwest and there are only 4 code 47 DARs left in California and there are hardly any in the neighboring states. Function ode 46 (Experimental/Amateur Build) is not doing much better either.
And this is a continuous development since I started building, completely disregarding the fact that in 2011 the EAA got the FAA convinced to ease up on the requirements to become a DAR for E/AB and ELSA and put it in the Federal Register. This either did not catch on in the community or the bail-out rate was higher than influx of new DARs.

This is disturbing at best.

I have asked the EAA for help by providing me with a full list of EAA Volunteer DARs in the slim hope that I can find someone who would be willing to travel all the way out to Arizona to take a look at my plane and sign the required paperwork. I will also contact my FSDO and MIDO and try to convince them to perform their duties themselves but I do not know if that will be successful.

At this point I think that finishing the build will take less time than getting the certification process on the road.