Finbar wrote:
Operating the SparrowHawk under Part 103 has never made any sense to
me, for several reasons: there are operating restrictions (prior
permission required to fly into an airport with a control tower,
etc.); there's a common "that's not a real airplane" response you get
from airports and tow operators; and from the manufacturer's point of
view it seems unwise to develop a high-wing-loading, high-performance
sailplane and essentially advertise "no license required." (License
or not, you need training to fly something like that.)

I'd think the public airport thing isn't that big of a deal:
towered ones generally have no tows, untowered ones have
ultralight policies (which at worst say "with airport manager
permission" in my experience).

Since in CA at least half of the tow operators are
at private fields, that's still a very viable option.

As far as "that's not a real airplane/glider," two mintues of that and
then five hours of flying later makes up for it, I suppose...

As far as no license required, I'm surprised at this myself.
I haven't seen the manual, and would be very surprised if
it didn't at least mention "pilot should have
experience equivalent to glider solo training and
launch endorsements for appropriate launch." I suppose a
single seat ultralight is just that. There's quite a bit
of precedent for pilots being allowed to kill themselves solo if they wish...
On aerotow seems a bit more involved...as a tow pilot myself
I'd want to see some evidence of aerotow experience before towing
someone...

This, however, creates a new consideration: now we have the prospect
of a US company producing manufactured sailplanes with the explicit
intention that they should be certificated as Experimental. I don't
think this was ever something the FAA had intended.

I still think sport aircraft would be a way to go if this passes...
this glider seems ideal for it (ok a little typo change for Vne down
8 knots, but otherwise it seems like a winner for this new
airworthiness class).
--

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Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA