www.PSFmagazine.com | October-November 2018 | 13 12 | October-November 2018 | Powered Sport Flying Light Sport Aircraft dealers, owners, operators, and pilots to exercise the corefour-plus-one privileges. The program we proposed is an evaluation and data-gathering period, which will give faa precisely what managers and executives say they need (“more data”) in order to get approval to change current regulations. lama’s plan will help industry and pilots but it will also help faa. Allowing industry and pilots to gain new opportunities under controlled circumstances can give everyone privileges in the near(er) term while generating valuable data for faa to use in justifying regulation change. lama and usua are pleased to supply such a great outlook but caution that it took more than four years of hard work to get to this point and, as a much-revered author once wrote, “Anything can happen. Nothing has to happen.” Nonetheless, we pledge to keep moving forward toward these goals. Wait! What’s All This About a Weight Increase for Light Sport Aircraft? In early October a firestorm erupted out of the blue. A wave of questions began ringing my phone, piling up text messages, and populating my social media accounts. Because it seemed premature, I preferred not to weigh in on lsa weight but given the volume of comments, neither was I able to remain silent. In addition, a shockingly near-term timeline for faa to issue rulemaking further enforces the need to speak out now. I will provide information gleaned from contacts made to the faa. In case you missed the story, here’s what aopa reported: “eaa chairman and ceo Jack Pelton [was invited] onto the stage. On January 19, 2019, Pelton said, the faa will publish a notice of proposed rulemaking that seeks to raise the weight limit for Light Sport Aircraft from the current 1,320 pounds to 3,600 pounds.” aopa went on to quote Pelton, “That will allow you to fly in a 172, have four seats in the airplane, and fly 150 mph.” Stop the Presses This news was flabbergasting to many and upsetting to others. Having worked rather closely with faa over the last four and a half years, in my role as lama president, I was sure parts of this were incorrect. I reached out to contacts in the agency and got a reply even though government is closed for Columbus Day. Here’s what I learned from the group tasked with preparing this rule. First — The announced date of “January 19, 2019” simply cannot happen. The team creating the rule does not possibly have the time to complete work by then. In fact, it is more likely “three to four years away.” The new rule is a huge, sweeping effort that touches on many far parts; it cannot be completed on such a rushed schedule, nor would doing so be prudent. Second — An effort is being made to align this major new regulation with the Basic Med rule, meaning that, yes, gross weight may go as high as was stated — and extra The FAA is reworking airworthiness requirements based on risk. That is, kinetic energy and exposure to other aircraft and people. This is all very preliminary and this is not an official FAA document. seats may be added — but, this is by no means determined yet. It will not even go before faa’s high-level rulemaking council for initial determination until December …if then. At this time, “this is just at the discussion stage,” reported my contact. Third — lsa gross weight will rise but “not to a hard number” like 3,600 pounds. It will involve a maximum horsepower, a given stall speed, among other considerations, all of which will rely on the laws of physics to keep the aircraft design reasonable. In a July report, I described changes that faa told us were coming. That report was shown to the rule-writing group before publication and they replied, “No changes necessary.” It still stands as a valid report. Naturally, Industry Is Concerned Remember in the fall of 2011, when eaa and aopa announced a change in aviation medicals? The surprise announcement —which subsequently took years to enact (becoming what we call Basic Med) — caused an immediate drop in orders. Orders already placed were canceled. Other orders never got placed as pilots began to ponder what would happen next. About this weekend’s news, one U.S. supplier said, “I’m pretty worried.” He’s concerned people may hold off a purchase, waiting to see what happens. “I’ve seen it before,” he added. However, since the new rule remains years away, no buyer ought to halt the joy of acquiring and flying a new aircraft. Another industry expert said, “I hate being caught flatfooted like this.” He remembered clearly what happened with the early announcement of medical changes. While all the buzz today may be about gross weight, the light aircraft industry has other concerns about the regulations that lama and usua will continue to vigorously pursue. Weekend News Firestorm (about lsa weight) Continues to Blaze An article from the Columbus Day weekend’s news about a massive jump in lsa weight propelled my website to an all-time record as light aviation enthusiasts from around the nation and the globe signed on to make comments and shared the article with their friends. Words you read there proved to be correct as more information emerged. Specifically, one large error was a quoted date for a new nprm on this subject. Some outlets reported it would be released on January 19, 2019. nprm is an abbreviation for Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and precedes any new regulation, allowing for comment and revision. Before such a nprm is released, faa has normally spoken to many parties that could be affected. That largely has not happened yet and for a good reason. The nprm is nowhere near ready to be published, certainly not on such a specific date as January 19th next year. Other Quality Reporting Besides my own investigation with sources in faa working on this specific regulation, AVweb journalist Paul Bertorelli also followed up on this story. The short summary: No nprm will come out in three months. Under the current FAA MOSAIC (Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates) concept, aircraft will be given increased privileges dependent on several factors. Confidence in manufacture is one, purpose for the aircraft, and even pilot qualifications may be considered. This is all very preliminary and this is not an official FAA document. However, it is important to note that commercial assist operations are recognized to be safer than typical amateur-built aircraft and may ultimately be awarded more privileges than a homebuilt experimental amateur-built.
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