Decoding MOSAIC: Empowering Sport Pilots With Crucial Insights

Have some questions about MOSAIC, the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification? You’re not the only one. 

Since the rule was announced, aviation groups such as the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) have been inundated with queries about what MOSAIC means to the flying community.

This Article First Appeared in FLYING Magazine

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Well, here goes. 

New Definition for LSA

Under MOSAIC, the weight and airspeed limitations of the original light sport aircraft (LSA) rule—a weight of 1,320 pounds (1,430 for seaplanes) and a speed limitation of 120 knots have been removed. 

LSAs are now defined by stall speed. Aircraft with flaps-down stall speeds of up to 61 knots and a clean (flaps up) stall speed of up to 59 knots qualify as LSAs. The aircraft can now fly as fast as 250 knots. What that means is that single-engine aircraft that were too heavy or fast to be in the original LSA category are now options for sport pilots, although they are limited to flying with one passenger at a time.

One of the greatest misconceptions is that by removing the weight and speed restrictions that were part of the original definition, MOSAIC turned four-seat, single-engine aircraft like the Cessna 172 and Piper Cherokee into LSAs.

This is incorrect, according to Sean Elliott, EAA vice president for advocacy and safety.

• READ MORE: First Phase of MOSAIC Arrives, Expands Sport Pilot Privileges
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“To understand MOSAIC, you have to remove the connection between LSA and sport pilot,” Elliott said. “LSA is a category of aircraft and a manufacturing pathway to certification. Sport pilot is its own definition.”

Elliott reminds pilots that the category of aircraft is what appears on the type certificate, and most of the single-engine varieties that make up the training fleet were certified for the normal and utility category. However, under MOSAIC, a certificated sport pilot will be able to legally fly certain normal category aircraft, provided they meet the new definition of LSA.

The EAA has been a driving force behind change for LSA over the better part of a decade.

“EAA was really the source of the initial conversations with the FAA that led to MOSAIC…as we started talking about the next step beyond sport pilot/LSA,” said EAA spokesperson Dick Knapinski. “And during the comment period for the NPRM (Notice of Proposed Rulemaking), multiple other aviation organizations, including AOPA, simply endorsed EAA’s comments on the rule.”

The MOSAIC rule is 717 pages long, and according to Murray Huling, vice president of regulatory affairs at AOPA, pilots and would-be pilots are reading it and asking questions. But Huling said AOPA has a team working to provide answers. He describes the feedback from the public as “overwhelmingly positive,” which the organization attributes to the expanded privileges for sport pilots and the changes to LSA category.

Sport Pilot Training Requirements

The release of MOSAIC has increased the interest in Sport pilot training. The requirements for the certificate have not changed under the new rules, and sport pilot allows for certification with less training and medical costs than the private pilot certificate. The details can be found under cFAR 61.301 and 61.305.

To be a sport pilot, the applicant must be at least 17 and able to read, speak, and write English. The pilot must hold a valid aviation medical certificate or a valid U.S. driver’s license. If your medical certificate was denied or revoked, you cannot participate in sport pilot using a driver’s license medical. However, if you obtain an aviation medical certificate under special issuance, you can be a sport pilot.

Per 61.313, a sport pilot (airplane) must log a minimum of 20 hours of flight time, of which 15 are dual instruction given from an authorized CFI, and must have logged five hours of solo flight. The knowledge requirement can be found under 61.309, and the flight proficiency requirements can be found under 61.311. These include preflight procedures, airport, seaplane base, and gliderport operations as applicable, takeoffs and landings and go-arounds, performance maneuvers, ground reference maneuvers, navigation, slow flight, stalls, emergency operations, and postflight procedures.

There are additional tasks required for gliders, and some operations are not applicable to lighter-than-air aircraft and powered parachutes.

Required experience for a sport pilot includes five hours of solo flight, two hours of cross-country flight training, 10 takeoffs and landings to a full stop, and one solo cross-country flight of at least 75 nm total distance with a full-stop landing at a minimum of two points and one segment of the flight consisting of a straight-line distance of at least 25 nm between takeoff and landing locations.

The applicant must log ground training from an instructor or use a home study course to pass a knowledge test and have two hours of flight training in preparation for the practical test.

New Rules, New Opportunities

When the sport pilot rule was introduced in 2004, many were unable to train because of a lack of suitable aircraft. In some cases, even if the flight school offered an LSA, dual instruction had to be performed with partial fuel to accommodate the weight of the CFI and learner.

In a statement to FLYING, the AOPA noted that because the new rule allows the use of four-seat models with a gross weight in excess of 1,320 pounds it could make aviation accessible to more pilots who wish to train for sport pilot privileges but weigh too much to use a two-place aircraft.

“We expect this to spark new interest in learning to fly, as the sport pilot certificate has lower costs, fewer barriers to entry, and less stringent medical requirements,” said AOPA in the statement. “Pilots who have been away from flying—whether due to a lapsed medical certificate or the availability of more affordable aircraft—may also want to come back to flying.”

In addition, flight schools are likely to see increased interest from prospective students as the expanded rules greatly broaden training options.

“Schools that have not trained sport pilots in the past should consider developing a sport pilot syllabus, educating instructors on the new requirements, and evaluating which aircraft in their fleets—and aircraft they may purchase in the future—meet the new light sport category aircraft standards,” the statement said.

MOSAIC for Instructors

Instruction for a sport pilot certificate can be provided by someone holding a flight instructor certificate (CFI) or a light sport flight instructor certificate (CFI-S).

When the final MOSAIC rule goes into effect, the practical exam for CFI candidates will likely include questions about which aircraft can be used for sport pilot training, what limitations exist on sport pilots, and how these can be removed. 

More Privileges for Sport Pilots

Sport pilot privileges also increase. Provided the sport pilot has had additional training and holds a medical certificate or BasicMed, they can earn an endorsement that allows flying a properly equipped aircraft at night. 

Additional training and an endorsement can also enable the sport pilot to fly an aircraft with retractable landing gear or a manually controllable pitch propeller and specific make/model aircraft with simplified flight control designation.

One of the confusing aspects of MOSAIC is that while it allows a sport pilot to fly an aircraft with more than two seats—for example, the Cessna 172—they are still limited to carrying only one passenger.

Change Provides Manufacturing Inspiration 

EAA’s Elliot suggests that changes to LSA rule may lead to an increase in the number of aircraft designed as LSAs, because the removal of the speed and weight limitations will make it easier to develop a marketable design.

“It will take time,” Elliott said. “It won’t be done by a flick of a switch, but you will likely see people come up with new designs.”

AOPA notes that it is also possible the rule will open the light sport category to helicopters and electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.

The new rule also opens the door for LSAs to be used for commercial activity for the first time. Under MOSAIC, LSAs can now be used for aerial survey of infrastructure, search and rescue, aerial photography, agricultural observation, and glider towing

Other Changes to Come

The MOSAIC rule also revamps repairman certification for experimental aircraft, introducing LSRM-I (inspection only) and LSRMM (maintenance) ratings. A two-day training course is required for LSRM-I privileges to inspect your own experimental amateur-built (E-AB)/E-LSA, and a 15-day course will be required (LSRM-M) to inspect any EAB/ELSA in your category/class.

MOSAIC will also necessitate some changes during EAA AirVenture, according to Knapinski and Elliot, as the LSAs often fly from the ultralight 1,200-foot grass runway. With the change in definition and bigger, heavier airplanes, the EAA will likely create new rules specifically defining which aircraft can use that runway.

This feature first appeared in the November Issue 964 of the FLYING print edition.