Thats not exactly right. It’s simply that you cannot sell something built >51% by the factory under experimental rules, you’d need to have it FAA certified which this isn’t ( for thousands of reasons ).

The 51% rule is extremely common in experimental aviation.

Can confirm [1], am building an aircraft in my garage. It's the only segment of general aviation that's growing as it does away with a lot of the arduous approval process for inconsequential modifications/maintenance. I don't mean this is some sort of libertarian crypto-utopia, the FAA has just lumped general aviation in with commercial operations where the passengers expect to have an absolute guarantee of an uneventful trip whereas GA is similar to driving your car. Realistically safety ranges from slightly better than car to slightly better than a motorcycle depending on how you work the numbers but it's important to note that mechanical issues are extremely rare in GA accidents, much like the auto world, it's almost entirely operator error. The FAA is, as a result, regulating GA aircraft into extinction as certifying new airframes is an absolute financial impossibility due to overhead costs. Even if the new craft are safer than the existing fleet they're prevented from entering service and it's causing a lot of issues.

[1] https://www.eaa.org/eaa/aircraft-building/builderresources/g...