Registration Airplane or Motorglider

Section 1.1

Light-sport aircraft means an aircraft, other than a helicopter or
powered-lift that, since its original certification, has continued to
meet the following:

(1) A maximum takeoff weight of not more than--
(ii) 1,320 pounds (600 kilograms) for aircraft not intended for
operation on water...

(3) A maximum never-exceed speed (Vne) of not more than
120 knots CAS for a glider.

Perhaps BeaglePig was quoting:

(2) A maximum airspeed in level flight with maximum continuous
power (Vh) of not more than 120 knots CAS under standard atmospheric
conditions at sea level.

which does apply to LSA other than gliders...

Unfortunately the synopses of LSA and SP put out by EAA and others,
as well as even the summarized FAA brochure, omit the special glider
Vne LSA definition, so it is easy to become misled...

Bruce Hoult wrote:
BeaglePig wrote:

Vne has nothing to do with Sport Pilot Lic or Light Sport Aircraft. The
top end speed limiter is the speed at "maximum continous power" at sea
level.

Which is 0 knots for any pure glider.
--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd

In article ,
BeaglePig wrote:

" wrote in news:10pfmmr7ffv7l23
@corp.supernews.com:

Only the fixed gear ones. The rest would have to be fitted with floats.

The SGS 2-33, SZD 50-3, SGS 1-34, SGS 1-26, Std Libelle,
Open Cirrus, ASW-15, H301, etc. seem to all qualify.
Vne 120kts or less, under 1320lbs meets the requirements.
The Vne seems to be the discriminator.



Vne has nothing to do with Sport Pilot Lic or Light Sport Aircraft. The
top end speed limiter is the speed at "maximum continous power" at sea
level.

Which is 0 knots for any pure glider.

--
Bruce | 41.1670S | \ spoken | -+-
Hoult | 174.8263E | /\ here. | ----------O----------

COLIN LAMB wrote:
"Well, one of the points was that certification as a glider means no
medical. My point was that certification as an Airplane-LSA
also means no medical."

As of this date, that is misleading. If you have been denied a medical by
the FAA, you cannot be certified under the LSA rules. This is a gaping hole
in the present rules that may be changed someday.

So, if you are a pilot with a medical and your medical was revoked, you are
limited to flying a glider and cannot fly an LSA - unless you go back to the
FAA and get a waiver or get your medical back. This is a case of the FAA
being worried about getting sued. It also means that if something happens
that causes you to believe that you will not get your medical, do not take a
FAA flight exam and do not tell the FAA. Let it lapse and then you can get
a LSA.

The "previously denied a medical" part of Sport Pilot is quite a bone
in the craw of EAA. I suspect it will be resolved soon. As I don't know
how many glider pilots fly gliders specifically because they have failed
an official FAA medical, I can't speak to whether this is a worthy
subject or a very minor footnote of the rule...
--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd

(Mark James Boyd) wrote in
news:419843f4$1@darkstar:

Section 1.1

Light-sport aircraft means an aircraft, other than a helicopter or
powered-lift that, since its original certification, has continued to
meet the following:

(1) A maximum takeoff weight of not more than--
(ii) 1,320 pounds (600 kilograms) for aircraft not intended for
operation on water...

(3) A maximum never-exceed speed (Vne) of not more than
120 knots CAS for a glider.

Perhaps BeaglePig was quoting:

(2) A maximum airspeed in level flight with maximum continuous
power (Vh) of not more than 120 knots CAS under standard atmospheric
conditions at sea level.

which does apply to LSA other than gliders...

Unfortunately the synopses of LSA and SP put out by EAA and others,
as well as even the summarized FAA brochure, omit the special glider
Vne LSA definition, so it is easy to become misled...


--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd


You're right, I had no idea of the differing requirement for Sport Pilot
gliders.

IMHO, there is no reason to get a "sport pilot" lic for gliders or
motorgliders. There is absolutely NOTHING gained, and much lost. A
regular glider licence has no night flight restrictions, no altitude
restriction, and most importantly, if you happen to loose your Drivers
License, even for something not related to your health, you can still
fly.

I'm a big proponent of Sport Pilot, and even of S-LSA or E-LSA gliders,
but for someone to choose to get a Sport Pilot-glider lic. would be
foolish (you can still fly LSA gliders with a reg glider lic)

BeaglePig

BeaglePig wrote:

IMHO, there is no reason to get a "sport pilot" lic for gliders or
motorgliders. There is absolutely NOTHING gained, and much lost.

Absolutely true in terms of initial license. I don't expect anyone
to choose as their first license to get a glider-SP license.

However, for transition pilots, either from ultralights
or Airplane Single Engine Land, this is a large improvement.

A
regular glider licence has no night flight restrictions, no altitude
restriction, and most importantly, if you happen to loose your Drivers
License, even for something not related to your health, you can still
fly.

Another interesting point is that 61.31(d)(2) solo of transition
ASEL pilots to gliders also has no restrictions. This is why in
my writings about SP I focus almost exclusively on 2-place
LSA and SP. The passenger carrying in a new cat/class with NO
additional check ride is the key. And pipistrel seems to be counting on
this, since their Sinus and Virus motorgliders require but
the stroke of a pen by two CFIs to make an ASEL into a glider-SP.


I'm a big proponent of Sport Pilot, and even of S-LSA or E-LSA gliders,
but for someone to choose to get a Sport Pilot-glider lic. would be
foolish (you can still fly LSA gliders with a reg glider lic)

Again, this is very true. We're just talking about transition
pilots in two-seat gliders. The rest of the SP rule doesn't seem
to have much value where gliders are concerned...
--

------------+
Mark J. Boyd

Mark James Boyd wrote:

"I've never met an ASEL pilot who couldn't safely fly a glider
in all the other (PTS) areas by the time he had learned to safely aerotow"
... [big snip] ...

In the sense you developped below, it is certainly true, but would be equally
true if you deleted the word "ASEL".