Bright Minds Have Repositional Limits

By ANN Contributor John Ballantyne

Sport Pilots may fly Light Sport Aircraft, says FAA. And Light Sport Aircraft are limited, in part, to "repositional landing gear." What in the world does this new phrase "repositional landing gear" mean?

According to FAA, repositional landing gear is wheeled landing gear that allows an aircraft, designed for operation on water, to take off and land from a hard surface as well. The wheels cannot be retracted. Instead, "repositional" landing gear must remain fixed in its position from takeoff through landing.

So, a Sport Pilot may fly a plane where the gear can go up and down, but only on the ramp or alongside the dock. There is one exception that we'll get to in a minute. But first, why did the FAA enact this odd rule for Sport Pilots?

Short answer: to avoid adding mechanical or operational complexity in a Sport Pilot's aircraft. Perhaps we can assume that FAA wasn't worried much about a Sport Pilot who would taxi for takeoff without noticing that full power was required to drag the hull, wheels-up, scraping along the asphalt taxiway. Probably regulators are more concerned about someone landing in the water with wheels down -- or on the ground with the wheels up.

In other words, Sport Pilots aren't expected to cope with a landing check list containing "U" for Undercarriage. The FAA apparently does expect a Sport Pilot to manage landing check lists including fuel tank selection, various flap settings, perhaps spoilers, fuel mixture, power and airspeed management, other air traffic, radio tuning and communication, monitoring of engine gages and more.

I guess we should be thankful that there's no "U" to complicate matters. Besides, any pilot of complex retractable airplanes knows that it is not if you will land on land with no wheels, it is when you will land with that skidding sound.

The situation regarding skis is much the same. FAA believes that skis are acceptable for light-sport aircraft flown by Sport Pilots, but a retractable combination of wheels and skis is not allowed.

There is, however, one big, fat exception. The FAA thinks that Sport Pilots will have the mental faculties to handle the wheels up/down issues only if they are piloting gliders. That's right. Light Sport Aircraft gliders may have retractable land gear. This is where you may roll down the runway (perhaps under your own power!), take off, retract the wheel(s), fly, then put the wheel(s) back down and land; or just leave the rollers up for splash-and-dash operations; or mix and match. Complicated, right? Apparently, that's why it is only permitted for glider pilots.

Perhaps the FAA thinks that having no engine will permit the Sport Pilot the mental capacity to deal with wheels up or down. Hopefully the glider pilot will not become overloaded with altitude/airspeed management, spoiler and/or flap settings, other landing pattern traffic, radio tuning and communication. Don't forget the notion of having only one opportunity to land on the runway. Don't you agree that this simplified checklist will allow for the acuity to handle the additional mental load of deciding "Gear up, Gear down"?

The FAA allows Sport Pilots to fly "Powered Gliders." Because Powered Gliders (Light Sport Aircraft) may have wheels that go up and down in flight, this offers a work-around for Sport Pilots who crave retracts. Be aware: you will now have the combined checklist of the glider and powered aircraft. Mental overload may be inevitable (if FAA's original rational was correct)!

Incidentally, powered gliders flown by Sport Pilots also may have autofeathering propellers. All other Light Sport Aircraft must have fixed-propellers (ground adjustable is okay).

In all fairness, the FAA says it will reconsider this matter in Advisory Circulars that are scheduled to come soon. Let's give the FAA a big hand for making such an inventive attempt to manage the level of complexity for Sport Pilots. This particular method, however, seems too ambiguous to float.

FMI http://www.faa.gov/avr/afs/sportpilot/index.cfm