Did the Sport Pilot rule forget its origins and true purpose in and for the ultralight community?
A number of writers have recently approached an understated aspect of the Sport Pilot and Light Sport Aircraft regulation — the crack-down on thousands of pilots and their aircraft colloquially identified as “fat” ultralights. Who is this group of pilots and instructors and will they be helped or injured? To properly answer these questions we must review the development of ultralight regulation (FAR Part 103). It was begun circa 1979 in an environment where hang gliders were increasingly being powered. The ability to use modern materials such as aluminum tubing and polyester sail cloth — often manufactured under the trade name “Dacron” — was facilitating so-called “designers,” often without formal aviation design backgrounds, to create simple, fun-to-fly aircraft of many shapes. All the aircraft had one thing in common — they were slow. Those self-made designers are my heroes. Soon, practical experience revealed that those who wanted to learn to fly these early ultralight vehicles
Related Questions
- I am an ultralight pilot who does not hold any FAA pilot certificate, and I am not registered with an FAA-recognized ultralight organization. How will the sport pilot rule affect me?
- Are there special provisions for obtaining a sport pilot certificate for persons who are registered ultralight pilots with an FAA-recognized organization?
- Does this mean that EAA’s support for the sport pilot and ultralight communities is diminishing?