Sport Pilot News News Archive

04/07/06 - FAA ADMINISTRATOR BLAKEY LAUDS EAA FOR ITS SPORT
PILOT EFFORTS

During her "Meet the FAA" presentation today at the Sun 'n
Fun Fly-in in Lakeland, Florida, FAA Administrator Marion
Blakey singled out EAA and EAA President Tom Poberezny for
the organization's work in the past year to advance the
sport pilot and light-sport aircraft community.

"We cannot thank you and EAA enough for all the work you
have done," Blakey said. "Your efforts have been the driving
force behind the [sport pilot] rule and its implementation."

Blakey spoke in favorable terms about the growth of the
sport pilot movement since January 2005. FAA actions since
then have included conducting eight pilot-examiner courses,
adding 54 sport pilot examiners to those examiners who
already had sport pilot privileges. FAA has also conducted
seven courses to train and authorize seven designated
airworthiness representatives (DARs) for light-sport
aircraft (LSA). This effort generated 43 new DARs
specializing in LSA.

In this same time period, FAA has certificated 254 LSA - a
group comprising new factory-built special light-sport
aircraft (S-LSA), as well as two-place or "fat" ultralights
converted to registered LSA by their owners as stipulated in
the sport pilot regulations.

"The buildup of the sport pilot infrastructure still has a
ways to go, but we're clearly off to a good start," Blakey
said.

Having worked with government and the general-aviation
community for 10 years to make sport pilot a reality, EAA
has worked in earnest to continue promoting this new
category of aircraft and pilots. These efforts include:

a.. Helping to achieve industry consensus standards via
the ASTM process;
b.. Promoting sport pilot's potential to CFIs, and giving
them tools for incorporating sport pilot into instructors'
training arsenal;
c.. Using the Sport Pilot Tour to invigorate EAA chapters'
interest and begin spreading the word in the general-public
and outdoor-enthusiast marketplace;
d.. Reinforcing safety and security considerations;
e.. Collaborating with manufacturers, flight schools,
insurers, lenders, and training providers to help them
market services for prospective sport pilot aviators; and
f.. Advocating continued refinement and precision in
defining the sport pilot rule.
EAA will continue to highlight the possibilities available
in the sport pilot community and work to bring the dream of
recreational flight to those who wish to participate.

"AJ" wrote in message
oups.com...
| Has anyone compiled figures on how many sports pilots
there are? I
| thought if might be interesting to see how well it's
caught on.
|
| AJ
|