Events Will Spotlight Light Sport Airplanes, Sport Pilots

A pair of groundbreaking categories of aircraft and pilot certification are celebrating 10-year anniversaries at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh this summer, as dedicated events focused on sport pilot and light-sport aircraft will be highlighted through the week at Oshkosh.

Those two categories, officially announced just before EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2004 and active on September 1, 2004, not only created a new marketplace of aircraft and but also an innovative way of certificating aircraft through consensus standards rather than traditional type certification. The sport pilot and light-sport aircraft standards have influenced numerous other aviation regulations and innovations over the past decade.

“EAA worked for years to get the sport pilot/LSA rule approved by the FAA,” said Timm Bogenhagen, EAA’s ultralight and lightplane community manager. “After a decade it is still a work in progress, such as our continuing efforts to include training in low-mass, high-drag aircraft, and opening possibilities for electric aircraft. This rule, however, has allowed more than 100 new ready-to-fly aircraft designs to enter the market, representing one of the greatest bursts of aircraft introductions over the past half-century. The sport pilot/LSA approach to aircraft certification is also being used as the model for FAR Part 23 reform.”

Bogenhagen added that more than 4,000 people have become new sport pilots and thousands of existing pilots have chosen to fly under the sport pilot rules, which allow use of a valid driver’s license for medical certification in lieu of a third-class medical certificate.

“That has been one of the major successes of the rule,” he said. “This set the foundation for major reforms in aviation medical certification for private pilots. Sport pilot has provided 10 years of operational data proving that flying without a third-class medical certificate does not jeopardize safety.”

EAA will be working with the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association (LAMA) on 10th anniversary activities during AirVenture. Some of those include:

• A display of light-sport aircraft that highlights the history and contributions of the sport pilot and light-sport aircraft rules
• A forum with major players in the development and growth of the LSA community on Tuesday, July 29
• Recognition for Oshkosh light-sport aircraft arrivals and sport pilots
• Flying demonstrations from the ultralight airstrip

“Although we’ve seen remarkable things from the first 10 years of sport pilot and light-sport aircraft, this celebration also points us toward the future of these categories as part of the total general aviation community,” Bogenhagen stressed. “A decade of progress has given us more opportunities as we seek to grow participation in aviation.”

(LSA Mall image provided by EAA)

FMI: www.airventure.org