Light Sport Aircraft for Private Pilots (Long)

"George Patterson" wrote in message
...


Jimbob wrote:

Speculation: If this really takes off and the industry starts making
some money, could the FAA be pressured to expand speeds, weight limits
and # of seats. Include retracts? Maybe incorporate all
non-commercial A/C operations under the LSA rule? It may be far
fetched, but not outside the realm of possibility.

Not a chance. The only way the FAA was convinced to relax the requirement
for a
medical certificate was to convince the powers that be that an LSA can't
do very
much damage when the pilot has a heart attack. Expand the size or speed of
those
planes, and they'll start requiring medicals for that class.


Gotta agree. Increase the plane capabilities and you increase the impact on
others in the system and on the ground. If you are going to fly over two
nautical miles per minute, you likely need to learn about the airspace rules
and get your PPL anyway. You gotta draw the line somewhere.

If LSA is successful in letting more members into the club, I would hope we
would look into rewriting a lot of the mishmash we now have as regulations
to make things simpler. The simpler the regulations, the more time we can
devote to training real safety issues.

Dude wrote:

If LSA is successful in letting more members into the club, I would hope we
would look into rewriting a lot of the mishmash we now have as regulations
to make things simpler. The simpler the regulations, the more time we can
devote to training real safety issues.

I sincerely hope that the next 20 years will provide the statistical ammunition
to overturn the requirement for third-class medical certificates. My personal
belief is that there will be no significant difference in the number of
accidents caused by medical problems in the SP and PP/RP categories. It probably
won't matter to me by that time, though.

George Patterson
He who tries to carry a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in
no other way.

"George Patterson" wrote in message
...

I sincerely hope that the next 20 years will provide the statistical
ammunition
to overturn the requirement for third-class medical certificates. My
personal
belief is that there will be no significant difference in the number of
accidents caused by medical problems in the SP and PP/RP categories.

This is the real hope. If you want to fly a Bonanza, getting a PPL should be
the least of your concerns.

Of course, 20 years ago you couldn't get a special issuance for any number
of things that are routine now, and so long as we don't do something stupid
to the pharmaceutical/healthcare industries, they will probably find cures
for an awful lot of qhat is now disqualifying.

-cwk.