"Mark James Boyd" wrote in message
news:4064a206$1@darkstar...
In article VQP8c.9144$1I5.308@fed1read01,
BTIZ wrote:
Will this all change with the coming of the "Sport Pilot Certificate" and
the "Sport Aircraft" certification?? I'm sure the Sparrow Hawk will fit
into
that category.

The Vne limit and 10,000 ft altitude Sport restrictions
discourage some glider makers from making
a glider a sport category aircraft...

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Mark Boyd
Avenal, California, USA

I think you'll find the altitude limit is on the pilot, not the aircraft.
This is probably so they don't have to have oxygen systems in the Sport
Pilot curriculum.
The Vne limit is kind of silly, but it's just a placard. What if someone
made a glider with a design dive speed of 350 kts, and then placarded Vne as
100 kts, just as a "safety factor"?
But really, why have a Sport Pilot glider license? You need to pass an FAA
practical in either case. In neither case do you need a medical.
The Light Sport Aircraft could make certification somewhat cheaper for a
manufacturer, but as long as gliders are able to get the Experimental --
Exhibition and Racing registration, I don't think it's a huge deal.
Where LSA had the possibility of being useful to gliders was in having LSA
towplanes. I think a purpose-built towplane could be built within the
constraints of LSA that would be fairly inexpensive to run. But as I
understand it, towing is explicitly forbidden.

Tim Ward