wrote:
Could someone clarify something for me concerning LSA's. The websites
that have the detailed LSA aircraft limitations listed say that the
plane must have a maximum stalling speed of 51 mph at the maximum gross
takeoff weight WITHOUT the use of high lift devices.

I plugged the numbers for a Sonex into the John Roncz spreadsheets. (
Max Gross TOW of 1150 lbs, stall of 46 mph ) and it reports that I need
a wing area of 180 sq. feet. The Sonex only has 98 square feet of
wing. What am I missing?

Thanks
Neal

There's something very wrong with your spreadsheet. A quick sanity
check shows that a Cessna 172 doesn't have 180 sq feet of wing (it is
174 sq ft) and it carries four people, baggage, 320 pounds of fuel and
still manages a stall speed of 51 knots (no flaps, "R" model), only a
little higher than LSA requirements.

I have flown most all of the S-LSA aircraft and a lot of experimetals
that are LSA compliant. I am fairly confident that their figures are
not exaggerated.

Rick Pellicciotti
LightSportFlying.com