||| |—|—| | | | The FAA proposed the broadest changes to existing pilot and light plane certification standards in decades, when it published its proposal for the new Light-Sport Pilot and Light-Sport Aircraft rules. The Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) was published in late January. The public has 90 days to comment on it (on or before May 6th). If the rule is enacted, and that process could take months or years, the FAA estimates that it would lead to the licensing of 10,000 new pilots and the creation of many new airplanes over the next decade.
New Aircraft The proposal would create a new class of simple, light, certified aircraft, to be called “light-sport aircraft.” These single-engine, fixed-gear airplanes would weigh a maximum of 1,232 pounds, carry no more than two occupants, have a single non-turbine engine, stall no faster than 39 knots and have a maximum airspeed of 115 knots. Some existing simple aircraft, like Piper Cubs, Aeronca Champs and the like, might qualify, but the largest number of aircraft grandfathered in as certified would be illegal sport aircraft, the so-called “fat” ultralights, ultralight style craft that are flown without certification while exceeding the FAA’s definition (FAR Part 103) of an ultralight.
