www.PSFmagazine.com | December 2016-January 2017 | 19 18 | December 2016-January 2017 | Powered Sport Flying SLSA Aerial Work Aerial Work for Light Sport Aircraft Introduction In 2004, as the new Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft (sp/ lsa) regulation was announced and made effective, the focus of these new pilot certificate and aircraft categories was fully on recreational use. While such aircraft could travel and while they would advance quickly in capabilities – adding such things as digital instrumentation, autopilots, crush-zone designs, and much more – the primary purpose of Light Sport Aircraft was flying for pleasure, not work. Wisely, allowances were made in the interest of safety. Flight instruction is vital to make flight in Light Sport Aircraft a safe and successful pursuit. Even experienced aviators (overwhelmingly of heavier, faster aircraft) required transition training. Thus, compensated flight instruction has been part of the Special lsa mission since day one. Renting these aircraft was also part of introducing them to a pilot population that initially knew little or nothing about Light Sport Aircraft. Towing gliders with light aircraft, an activity that long predated sp/lsa, was also allowed. Towing Part 103 hang gliders with light aircraft designed expressly for the purpose was sensible. During a dozen years of field operation, Light Sport Aircraft have proven to be capable machines with an acceptable safety record. From the very beginning lsa have been allowed to perform missions well beyond sport or recreational flying. Flight instruction, rental, and glider towing are all forms of aerial work that require better capability, durability, and safety than might be needed for purely fly-for-fun aircraft. Because these were expected activities from the beginning, structure and flight characteristics for such aerial work have been built into the designs using appropriate and highly-functional consensus standards. Through detailed faa field audits, industry’s ability to comply with these standards has been significantly verified. In fact, the entire activity has proven sound enough that astm established the F44 committee to take lessons learned from lsa to buttress the Part 23 rewrite project. Outside of the sp/lsa regulations, Light Sport Aircraft have been deployed in the usa to several public-use functions. One of the most obvious uses is law enforcement work in various capacities. Less obvious is the military’s regard for the value of light, far-lower-cost aircraft. In several cases, law enforcement agencies or military departments have found Light Sport Aircraft efficient enough that repeat orders have been achieved. (See Note #7 on the survey for more details.) In other countries, the value of such light aircraft has additional verification. This is one of three presentations made by USUA and LAMA to executives at FAA Headquarters in Washington DC in November of 2016 Aerial Work In Other Countries lama and usua coordinated to conduct a survey of industry contacts to discover the many different functions that can be achieved by Light Sport Aircraft. Because aerial work is not permitted under sp/lsa regulations – other than flight instruction, rental, and glider towing – a 2014 survey asked experts in light aviation to report on how lsa or lsa-like aircraft are used in other countries. Since this survey was completed, additional functions have been proposed, for example, tree surveying in Oregon. Like many of the aerial work activities referenced in the survey, most flying activities can be performed over areas of minimal or no population. Public Interest This white paper is not a formal petition for exemption. However, it is useful to observe how this might benefit the public interest (defined here as other than the industry’s or pilot’s interest). Drones have captivated pilots and the general public via faa regulatory work, media reporting, and marketing promotion by companies such as Amazon, Dominoes Pizza, Google, and Facebook, among others. Certainly, drones can do much useful aerial work. Future technology will surely advance this success; however, some work applications are best accomplished with a human on board. Drones are less desirable for many kinds of aerial work that might be done with a manned lsa. Two examples include pipeline patrol or searching for a lost child. In the former case, mile after mile must be flown. While technology may one day permit fully autonomous inspection via drone with no real-time human involvement, that activity remains over the horizon. Until then, a human pilot on board, perhaps accompanied by a pipeline expert, is a presently unbeatable combination. When searching for a lost child (or a fugitive criminal) the tight interaction of an on-board human with ground personnel is essential. Drones may eventually be capable of this purpose but today such real-time, person-to-person communication is essential. Manned operations are better accepted by law enforcement personnel tasked with this duty than autonomous or semiautonomous air vehicles. Operation Migration, an organization that used light sport aircraft to assist migratory flocks, could not have done the work with either drones or general aviation aircraft
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