The full Theseus treatment would need you to take [part of] the airframe that first plane discarded, then recertify it for use under its original serial number.
The way the Aircraft of Theseus is generally resolved is there’s a piece of metal called the “data plate”. This is the airplane as far as the FAA is concerned. I’ve been in a vintage biplane that was completely rebuilt from the data plate up. I think they got it for $40k.
It was worth it because without that, a home built airplane would have an experimental certificate and you couldn’t sell rides in it.
Does the data plate not limit the scope of what can be built around it?
In other words had Virgin Galactic built the VSS Enterprise around the data plate of a Cessna 172, would it then no longer have been an experimental aircraft?
It does limit, but I suspect a lot less for the rebuilt from ground up biplane, than for a certified for airline service aircraft (a commercial airliner).
