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FAA Approves Sport Pilot License
"Light-Sport airplanes will be limited in size and power: maximum weight 1,320 pounds, maximum two seats, maximum airspeed 120 knots, single non-turbine engine, fixed landing gear. If it's a Light-Sport, it should be one of the easiest planes to fly."
This has the potential to dramatically increase the number of people owning and flying planes. Not only is it easier for a person to become a Sport Pilot, it is easier and cheaper for a company to sell a Light-Sport airplane. (For years, people have been building "kit" airplanes just so they will fall under the looser "homebuilt" rules. Now, there will be no need to build a plane unless you actually want to do so.) Several airplane companies have promised to produce Light-Sport planes that will cost no more than a luxury car."
Another good overview can be found at http://www.aero-news.net/index.cfm?ContentBlockID= 65261609-3814-42c0-979d-a77f9b8c10f8&
This new category bridges the gap between the relatively uncontrolled (US) ultralights and the standard airplane. If I understand correctly (correct me If I'm wrong), it may allow European 'ultralights' (which can be larger than their US cousins) to be flown in the US without meeting all the standard airplane rules.
Why do we need licenses at all for light sport planes? There have been light sport planes on the market for years.
Until now, light sport plane pilots were fully licensed. The new license is easier to obtain, meaning that "casual" pilots won't need to demonstrate that they're medically capable of flying a passenger- or commercial-aircraft.
This is where the serious fun begins.
The FAA is not replacing the Ultralight rules with this; single seat Ultralights under 550 pounds are still OK to fly under the existing rules. This allows use of TWO seat 'ultralight trainers', which were not really legal under the Ultralight rules, except for flight training.
Many people were flying these as if they were in the Ultralight category when they were really not.
Yes, Ultralights were limited to 55 mph, 5 gallons of fuel, 550 pounds weight, and a single seat. The Light Sport Class allows very light two seat airplanes to be flown under limited conditions with relaxed rules.
The good news is that now instead of having to pay $25000 for a two seat metal Cessna you might be able to buy a 1942 Taylorcraft for $10,000 and then actually afford to keep it airborne.
The light sport planes are allowed to weigh up to about 1,100 pounds.
Not even close.
Ultralight limited to 55 mph vs this class at 120
Ultralight limited to 254 lbs dry weight vs this class at over 1200 lbs
Ultralights are pretty much toy looking, whereas these are "real" small aircraft.
The difference in size and performance is roughly the same ratio as Yugo vs Ford Exploder.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
http://www.eaa.org/
Flying a 757 is easy. Take off is fairly easy. Landing is very hard. Or at least not crashing on landing. I have flown in the commercial airliner training sims. It doesn't take much to steer a jet.
Just a Tuna in the Sea of Life
These are the standard class aircraft that are considered to be sport pilot legal.
And actually, the weight limit has been increased from the initial publication of specs to 1,320lbs. So some of the planes listed on the bottom half of the URL I posted are now legal as well.
If you're in a position where you can seriously kill a bunch of people, you need to be regulated.
Parent did not argue against all regulations, but merely indicated that perhaps they should be revised to allow for greater deviations from what was considered "normal" when the regulations were developed, based on our further understanding of the human body.
That's why they don't offer members of the general public to fly commercial jets.
And parent specifically indicated that they felt these regulations were proper for commercial jets: "I accept being picky about choosing people to fly +400 people airliners, but please leave people alone who want to have some fun in a tiny 152."
FAR 103 is still in effect. All aircraft under 252 lbs. weight (dry)and under 63 mph do not require a license to fly. They do require instruction. The FAA allowed un-licensed ultralights if the industry policed itself and strongly encouraged instruction. The Ultralight safety record is stupendous.
The Sport Pilot ruling applys to aircraft up to 1235 lbs, no faster than 115 knots (132 mph) and only one passenger (2 seats max). You still cannot fly at night. This license is so Trikes, and paragliders can carry passengers as well.
There is still almost 20 - 30 hours of instruction required and you must pass a flight test. Also, these are slow and light planes that are not allowed to fly over cities or into Class A, B, or C airspace.
The driver's license is for medical purposes. If you medically fit to drive, then you are allowed to EARN a license in the Sport Pilot category.
Simply not true - in fact I attended a talk by one of the investigators who was contracted by the NTSB.
John was flying a LongEZ - which is certainly not in the light sport plane class. It is a pretty spiffy plane in the high performance general aviation class (though homebuilt).
The initial cause of failure was running one tank dry at low altitude (bad).
The tank selector valve is normally controlled by a pushrod, however that was disconnected in John's plane. Instead he had vice grips cliped to the valve which was now unreachable in flight (bad).
John apparently disconnected his seat belt/harness so he could reach the fuel selector by diving over the back seat (bad).
Sudden shift to an aft CG (bad).
Steep decent into water without a seat belt (bad). (At this point the plane was still perfectly okay, no structural failures occured until impact.)
When John ran out of gas at low altitude over water by a beach, he should have ditched. Ditching is normally not the best choice for emergency landings, but this particular design floats and does not tend to flip over. At low altitude he should not have tried to fix all his mistakes, he should just land the plane.
I've flown in a number of LongEZs and they are great planes. Designed sold/by Burt Rutan (of Spaceship One/Voyager fame).
The parent poster knows not of what he speaks.
If you are curious about homebuilt aircraft (not light sport aircraft) check out my builders log: http://www.geeksville.com/plane
Homebuilt aircraft are still certified. They're certified under different rules, but they still have to be inspected by the FAA and have to play by almost all of the same maintenance rules. The big difference is the manufacturer doesn't have to carry millions of dollars of liablity insurance and the owner can fix it instead of paying out the ass for someone else to fix it.
I think it is a bit more than this. My understanding of the SPL is that it will allow people to fly small airplanes locally, bypassing much of the training required for the PPL (like cross country (distance greater than 50 miles) training. These new pilots will also not be allowed to fly at night, or over 10000 feet.
Since a lot of people get their license then tend to stay in the local area, hopping to familiar airports for lunch, this is a good option for them.
From Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Light Sport Aircraft are aircraft that are too large to be considered an ultralight or aircraft that do not meet the "51%" requirement to be considered an amateur homebuilt airplane, and are only simple, low-performance, low-energy, aircraft limited to two occupant seats. Light Sport aircraft is defined as a simple, low-performance, low-energy aircraft that is limited to -- 1,232 lbs. maximum certificated gross weight two-occupant seating a single engine (non-turbine) a stall speed of 39 knots with lift enhancing devices or 45 knots without. maximum airspeed of 115 knots fixed landing gear
As a pilot, I disagree, and so do the accident statistics. I never practice rules, regulations, and protocols, and while I can't say I've never broken one, they're pretty easy to stick to.
The only thing that's tough about emergencies is keeping your wits about you. Everything else had better be drilled into your head before you do your first solo.
On the other hand, I religiously practice landings. Nowhere else in flying is there near the level of concentration or skill required.
I dont think that the aviation community has made it cost prohibitive to get a license. To the contrary, you can get a private pilot cert for $4500 to $6000. Yes, this is not cheap, but this is also a hobby for most people. Who / what makes it expensive are (1) the regulations and (2) the insurance company. Buying a new single-engine plane is not cheap, around 200K for a nice Cessna 172, and upwards of 450K for an IFR rated Cirrus SR22, but that cost is ammoratized over 20 years. The real killer when owning a plane are the costs associated with insurance, annual maintenance and checks, and parking the damn things.
1 knot == 1.15MPH approx.
120kt == max airframe speed == if you're going this fast already and then, say, dive with power, the plane BREAKS, probably fatally == 138MPH
45kt == stall speed == speed at which plane turns into a rock == 52MPH
Both of these characteristics make the sport-light plane more demanding than the no-license-required ultralight but still pretty docile. Limiting the max speed makes it easier to transition from a cruise flight configuration to maneuvering flight, such as when preparing to land. Lowering the stall speed gives the pilot more time to make glide path and runway alignment corrections while descending to the runway, plus it makes controlling the airplane easier once back down on sweet, sweet earth. I love flying, but I really love landing.
Regards the P-51 -- I don't think you should fly anything without proper training, license requirement or no. And the Curtis P-51 requires more training than most. So nothing changes on September 1st regards that daydream for either of us, *sigh*.
Regards self-transportation -- you're right, most light-sport pilots won't be flying to work every day, but not because of speed constraints. Meteorological conditions vs. pilot training level are mainly what impose limitations on utility. There are lots of days when you can't be sure the visibility will hold along your entire route -- and there is no light-sport 'instrument' rating -- so it's best to not have a rigid itinerary when yer flyin' for fun in case you have to divert to your secondary destination.
I, for one, welcome my fellow sport-plane-flying overlords...
Even though perfectly adapted lenses give me a 20/20 eyesight, I cannot qualify.
:-)
Are you sure? Here are the vision requirements for a third-class medical certificate (the one you need for non-commercial operations):
67.303 Eye. Eye standards for a thirdclass airman medical certificate are: (a) Distant visual acuity of 20/40 or better in each eye separately, with or without corrective lenses. If corrective lenses (spectacles or contact lenses) are necessary for 20/40 vision, the person may be eligible only on the condition that corrective lenses are worn while exercising the privileges of an airman certificate. (b) Near vision of 20/40 or better, Snellen equivalent, at 16 inches in each eye separately, with or without corrective lenses. (c) Ability to perceive those colors necessary for the safe performance of airman duties. (d) No acute or chronic pathological condition of either eye or adnexa that interferes with the proper function of an eye, that may reasonably be expected to progress to that degree, or that may reasonably be expected to be aggravated by flying.
Unless your condition is covered by (d), you can get a medical certificate that restricts you to flying only while wearing corrective lenses. That's how mine reads, at least.
The requirements for first (airline captain) and second (other commercial operations) class medical certificates read about the same -- for those, you need to be able to get to 20/20 at distance, but you can use your contacts or glasses to do it. I forget if the uncorrected vision requirement was from the government or from airlines' own hiring guidelines, but it's definitely not a current requirement for civil aviation in the USA.
If that's the only thing between you and a medical certificate, give your friendly AME a call and get yourself cleared for takeoff.