Skycatcher IFR?

Helen wrote:
Even the current Continental Katana's are VFR only. I heard somewhere
is has to do with how the composite structure would dissipate lightning
if struck. I think they added some metal in the structure to address
this on the Star.

Sorry, I don't remember when the night legal change came out.

I don't think it would be hard to find someone who would take a Tecnam
IFR. I would take ours into the scud if it was an IFR version. It's
every bit as stable as my C172 only I don't have to worry about carb ice
in the clouds like I do with my 172.

Is the Tecnam all aluminum? I'd be worried about a composite airplane
taking a lightning hit if it doesn't have the embedded metal mesh, etc.

Matt

LSAs are supposed to be VFR only. I can't find anywhere in the rules
that allow for an LSA to be IFR certified. If you find it let us
know. http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/regulatory/sport_rule.pdf

The Light-Sport Aircraft were not intended for complex operations.


Have a good day and stay out of the trees!
See ya on Sport Aircraft group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sport_Aircraft/




On Oct 12, 4:30 pm, Matt Whiting wrote:
Does anyone know if the Skycatcher will be IFR certified? It doesn't
appear to be from what little I've found at the Cessna web site.

Matt

wrote:
LSAs are supposed to be VFR only. I can't find anywhere in the rules
that allow for an LSA to be IFR certified. If you find it let us
know. http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/regulatory/sport_rule.pdf

The Light-Sport Aircraft were not intended for complex operations.



Gilan, A fully certified airplane can be used by an LSA pilot provided
it also meets LSA requirements (weight, speed, etc). If it incidentally
also has lights for night flight, or instrumentation for IFR, that
doesn't prohibit a sport pilot from using the plane within the limits of
their sport pilot privileges.

The VFR only limitation is strictly on the light sport airman not the
light sport aircraft. You aren't going to find this anywhere in the
FARs because most of these planes are not certified by the FAA, but by
ASTM.

Here's a good article that will explain it to you, Note: Since the
article was written the 912ULS has been approved for night ops.

http://www.sportpilot.org/news/051013_ifr.html

Helen

wrote:
LSAs are supposed to be VFR only. I can't find anywhere in the rules
that allow for an LSA to be IFR certified. If you find it let us
know. http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/regulatory/sport_rule.pdf

The Light-Sport Aircraft were not intended for complex operations.


Have a good day and stay out of the trees!
See ya on Sport Aircraft group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sport_Aircraft/




On Oct 12, 4:30 pm, Matt Whiting wrote:
Does anyone know if the Skycatcher will be IFR certified? It doesn't
appear to be from what little I've found at the Cessna web site.

Matt

Helen wrote:
The VFR only limitation is strictly on the light sport airman not the
light sport aircraft. You aren't going to find this anywhere in the
FARs because most of these planes are not certified by the FAA, but by
ASTM.

Are you sure about this? I thought the FAA still had to certify them,
just that they will certify any that meet the ASTM standard.

Matt

What the FAA issues is a Special Airworthiness Certificate rather than a
standard airworthiness certificate. While issued by the FAA, the
standards that must be met are all published by ASTM rather than the FAA.

Helen

Matt Whiting wrote:
Helen wrote:
The VFR only limitation is strictly on the light sport airman not the
light sport aircraft. You aren't going to find this anywhere in the
FARs because most of these planes are not certified by the FAA, but by
ASTM.

Are you sure about this? I thought the FAA still had to certify them,
just that they will certify any that meet the ASTM standard.

Matt

Helen wrote:
What the FAA issues is a Special Airworthiness Certificate rather than a
standard airworthiness certificate. While issued by the FAA, the
standards that must be met are all published by ASTM rather than the FAA.

Helen

Matt Whiting wrote:
Helen wrote:
The VFR only limitation is strictly on the light sport airman not the
light sport aircraft. You aren't going to find this anywhere in the
FARs because most of these planes are not certified by the FAA, but
by ASTM.

Are you sure about this? I thought the FAA still had to certify them,
just that they will certify any that meet the ASTM standard.

Matt

Yes, understand. However, I still think it is the FAA that is really
certifying the aircraft even though they aren't developing the standards.

I don't think ASTM has any authority to certify aircraft, but I could be
wrong.

Matt

On Oct 12, 7:30 pm, Matt Whiting wrote:
Does anyone know if the Skycatcher will be IFR certified? It doesn't
appear to be from what little I've found at the Cessna web site.

Matt

You've gotten a lot of good replies here so it may be redundant, but I
did want to mention I saw the Skycatcher at OshKosh and asked one of
the Cessna salesdrones if it would be IFR capable and he said no.

Putting the technical and regulatory limitations aside, I doubt Cessna
would want to cannibalize 172 sales by offering a much cheaper IFR
alternative.

xyzzy wrote:
On Oct 12, 7:30 pm, Matt Whiting wrote:
Does anyone know if the Skycatcher will be IFR certified? It doesn't
appear to be from what little I've found at the Cessna web site.

Matt

You've gotten a lot of good replies here so it may be redundant, but I
did want to mention I saw the Skycatcher at OshKosh and asked one of
the Cessna salesdrones if it would be IFR capable and he said no.

Putting the technical and regulatory limitations aside, I doubt Cessna
would want to cannibalize 172 sales by offering a much cheaper IFR
alternative.


That is too bad, but certainly not surprising given the mission of the 162.

Matt

On 2007-10-16 07:46:25 -0700, xyzzy said:

On Oct 12, 7:30 pm, Matt Whiting wrote:
Does anyone know if the Skycatcher will be IFR certified? It doesn't
appear to be from what little I've found at the Cessna web site.

Matt

You've gotten a lot of good replies here so it may be redundant, but I
did want to mention I saw the Skycatcher at OshKosh and asked one of
the Cessna salesdrones if it would be IFR capable and he said no.

Putting the technical and regulatory limitations aside, I doubt Cessna
would want to cannibalize 172 sales by offering a much cheaper IFR
alternative.

Yeah, sure. Both the Skycatcher and the 172 have order backlogs running
into several years now. Somehow I doubt that Cessna is worried about
sales.
--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor