Had an FAA Ops insp. on the jumpseat the other day. She was heading to DEN to work on the LYNX Cert. Said she was also involved with the VA deal, and that their ops spec. had been approved, and was waiting on the nod from the DOT.
She also indicated that they did it 'backwards', normally DOT approval is first, then manuals. Wasn't sure why, but she was just doing her job. Oh, she was one of the coolest feds I've ever run into in 20+ years in this biz.
Peace.
Rekks