Originally Posted by
martymayes
I'm with Dana, the FAA doesn't certify, they issue certificates. In aviation the terms are used synonymously and for the most part everyone understands each other, however, when the purist show up:
"Certificated" means "to furnish with or authorize by a certificate."
Anytime the FAA issues or furnishes a certificate to authorize something, that product or person is referred to as "certificated."
Aircraft are certificated, airmen are certificated, air carriers are certificated, some airports are certificated, some are not. None are certified. You know, you can buy a C-172, register it in Canada and it's still a US certificated aircraft even though it does not have an FAA issued airworthiness certificate.
I have never seen an airplane (or aeronautical product) that had a rubber ink stamp saying "FAA CERTIFIED" like USDA does with meat.