Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft Comes To Life (Sort Of)

By ANN Correspondent John Ballantyne

Well, here it is again. Another year's end. Those who were turning blue from holding their breath for FAA to release sport pilot and light sport aircraft are now breathing: shallowly, maybe, but breathing.

Below you can find the specific items that the FAA has accomplished after releasing the Sport Pilot regulation. The list is impressive and the FAA folks involved are really pumping out the "rolling" implementation plan. The plan contains milestones for completion of the specific guidance, policy, and infrastructure necessary for the public to conduct operations and seek certification under Sport Pilot and Light Sport Aircraft.

At the end of 2004, however, it is not yet possible to become a sport pilot. Nor is it possible to purchase a Special (factory-built) Light Sport Aircraft. Therefore the rule's actual success, or lack thereof, will not become clear for some months to come. The FAA has taken the big leap by publishing the rule, but many individuals continue to breathe shallowly as they wait to see if the rule really fulfills their needs and expectations.

Quick History Lesson

The FAA regulations for Light Sport Aircraft and Sport Pilot had been in development for, ahhh, very long. Actually, sport pilot history reaches back to the 1980's when the FAA painfully produced the Recreational Pilot certificate program, then Primary Category aircraft airworthiness program for "Advanced Ultralights." Many do not even remember those regulations because of the non-impact. A core issue in Recreational Pilot was the proposal to stop requiring third-class FAA medicals for recreational pilots. The final rule did require all pilots to pass the FAA medical which, many said, had defeated the main purpose. Sport Pilot actually has succeeded in deleting the FAA medical for sport pilots (sort of), but let's not get ahead of ourselves...

Approximately four years after releasing the ineffective Recreational Pilot and Primary Category Aircraft, the FAA was still unable to provide reasonable alternatives for "Fat Ultralights" (illegal experimental aircraft, technically). Of special challenge to the FAA were 2-place weight-shift controlled trikes and powered parachutes for which the FAA had no functional pilot certificates. So, the FAA formed a formal study group (Aviation Rulemaking Advisory Committee-ARAC) on Aug 17, 1993. More than 7 years later there had been dozens of meetings by all interested aviation groups. On December 21, 1999, the group concluded and a series of recommendations were forwarded to the FAA.

The FAA turned the recommendations into a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) and published it for public comment on January 25, 2002. The proposal contained very few of the actual recommendations made by the ARAC working group. One suggestion ARAC did make to the FAA was that the pilot could simply have a driver license in lieu of an FAA medical examination. The public notice created a flurry of discussion and comments through out the light aircraft community. Nearly 5,000 individuals, companies and organizations commented ? a historic number. On May 6, 2002, the FAA took the proposal back in-house to fix it based on the public's comments. The FAA promised that every comment would be addressed.

FMI: www.faa.gov