LSA Changes, Source Says - Discuss

It doesn't take much to get a bunch of pilots, let alone instructors, engaged in a good healthy round of hangar talk. Recently, AvWeb published an article quoting a source saying the FAA is entertaining changing the Light Sport Rules. One of the ideas on the table is possibly increasing the weight limit of a Light Sport Aircraft to 3600 pounds.

The possibility of increasing the maximum gross weight of an LSA is what really caught the attention of the members of one of the CFI Facebook groups I follow. Opinions ranged from this being a good idea to stimulate new construction and/or pilot starts to this being way too much airplane for a beginner. As for "being too much airplane," the counter argument was that, if this is where a pilot starts, they wouldn't know any differently anyway. Another concern that was raised was that this might mean an influx of students that expect to fly Saratogas or Cessna 206s with only 20 hours of training. The response, as you might expect, was that flight training is performance-based and that no good flight instructor would allow a pilot to go on a checkride before they were ready.

When I first read all of the comments, my initial reaction was "C'mon - the Notice of Proposed Rule Making isn't even out there yet! Why raise a fuss now?" I've backed off of that now, for a couple of reasons. First, having these public conversations ahead of time, as long as they are civil and respectful, will help inform people's thoughts when they do comment on the eventual NPRM. Just as importantly, the regulators are certainly aware of any "buzz" that's out there. Their hearing reasonable thoughts and opinions will give them insight as to what may or not be palatable to the community as the regulators craft the new rule.

Outside of actually flying, this is the kind of thing I love best about aviation - everyone's passion to make it better. We might not all agree, but we all know we care!