On 5 Jan 2005 12:02:54 -0800, "Robert M. Gary" wrote:


BTIZ wrote:
Chuck... as many people that have read the new Sport Pilot
information.. is as many different interpretations as you will get.

If you currently have a VALID ClassIII medical or higher, and a
Private Pilot Certificate. You can fly Light Sport Aircraft, J-3,
small Taylor Craft, etc that qualify as "Airplane", but also "Light
Sport Aircraft"

As a private pilot, can we fly LSA certified aircraft (of where there
are currently none, but will be some)?

Yes, just like you can fly Primary, Normal, Utility, Experimental, or other
categories of aircraft.

There seems to be a lot of
confusion about LSA aircraft. I believe a SP can fly a J-3, but a J-3
is still a normal category certified aircraft.

Yes. Here's a segment of a posting I made recently to rec.aviation.homebuilt:

The basic confusion here is over the term, "Light Sport Aircraft." IHMO, the
developers of the new rules made a mistake here, as they use the same term for
two separate, but related, concepts.

The first is that of "Light Sport Aircraft" as a definition. The regulation
changes added this definition to 14CFR Part 1...what us'n old timers would call
FAR Part 1. In Part 1, an LSA is an aircraft that has a gross weight of 1320
pounds or less, a stall speed less than 52 MPH, a flat-out level flight top
speed of 138 MPH or less, etc.

A person with a Sport Pilot license, or someone with a Primary, Private,
Commercial, or ATP license with an honorably lapsed FAA medical (e.g., a valid
medical that expired and was not revoked or renewal denied), can fly *any*
aircraft that meets the LSA definition.

This airplane can be licensed in ANY Category... Normal, utility, primary,
experimental, restricted, limited, etc. The only exceptions I can think if is
if a given aircraft has a set of operating limitations assigned by the FAA that
require a minimal set of pilot qualifications.

So, that's LSA as a definition. The FAA also instituted a *certification
category* called "Special Light Sport Aircraft."

There are two basic kinds of Airworthiness Certificate. There is the 'Standard'
category. Once an aircraft receives a certificate in the Standard category, the
owner can operate the aircraft with no more attention from the FAA. A Standard
category aircraft can be flown for pleasure, rented, leased, or carry passengers
for hire with no additional involvement from the FAA other than the operator
ensuring the appropriate FARs for the type of operation be followed.. Standard
category includes "Normal" category, "Utility," "Aerobatic," "Commuter," and
"Transport." Each aircraft in these categories is assumed to be airworthy as
long as the appropriate inspections verify that the aircraft still meet the
description of its type certificate.

The other basic kind of Airworthiness is the "Special" category. The Special
category exists to allow aircraft that do not necessarily meet the requirements
of the Standard category to be operated to perform specific tasks. This
category includes Restricted, Limited, Experimental, and, now, the Light Sport
Aircraft category.

The Light Sport Aircraft category under the "Special" category (hence, "Special
Light Sport Aircraft") was created to allow production of ready-to-fly small
aircraft without requiring the level of design verification that Standard
category requires. To be produced on a Standard certificate, you have to meet
the FARs...and SLSAs do NOT meet the "regular" FARs. The FAA is allowing the
industry itself to define the amount of testing and validation necessary for a
SLSA airworthiness certificate.

The only things the FAA requires is that the aircraft produced must meet the FAR
Part 1 definition of an LSA, that the industry agree on the requirements *all*
SLSA aircraft must meet (e.g., the consensus standards), and that every occupant
of a SLSA aircraft be advised that the airplane does not meet FAA certification
requirements. In other words, all SLSA aircraft must include the same kind of
"Passenger Warning" that homebuilts carry.

... I believe a new category
will be put on some airplanes called "LSA" that will allow owners to do
some maintenance.

Actually, owners of SLSAs have no more maintenance rights than owners of
conventional aircraft...they can perform Preventative Maintenance. However, a
new "maintenance license" has been created to go with the new category...the
Light Sport-Maintenance (LS-M) Repairman Certificate. A person can obtain an
LS-M Certificate after just 120 hours training (vs. ~2000+ for an A&P).
Aircraft that are certified as Special Light Sport Aircraft can be maintained
and annualed by an LS-M.

There is also a new type of Experimental aircraft, the Experimental LSA. See
rec.aviation.homebuilt for an ongoing discussion of the ramifications of this.

Those who are interested can see an article I wrote about the new rules at:

http://www.kitplanes.com/sportplanes...Revolution.pdf

Ron Wanttaja