Not All Are Light-Sport Aircraft

Not all light aircraft will fit the light-sport aircraft mold.
In light aviation, excitement appears focused on FAA’s proposed Sport Pilot/light-sport aircraft proposal. The proposed rule may hold great promise, but it won’t consume all of light aviation, not by a wide margin.
Near and dear to KITPLANES® readers’ hearts is the so-called 51% rule. The legality of building your own plane from scratch or from a kit is in no danger, and it will continue to be a source of satisfaction for many aviation craftsmen.
A second safe harbor is the lightly regulated Part 103 ultralight segment. The FAA has made it abundantly clear that there are no plans to alter FAR Part 103. In fact, it points to Part 103 as a success story that can offer guidance to industry leaders as they fashion a new set of rules for light-sport aircraft, which KITPLANES®has labeled SportPlanes™. (Under the FAA’s sport pilot/SportPlanes™ plan, manufacturers will arrive at their own consensus standards for airworthiness—a situation successfully achieved by hang glider manufacturers.)
Celebrate Part 103
It lives! And it will live for a long time. I’ve often said that if the magic of Star Trek ever comes and we can beam ourselves around, we will still fly airplanes for fun. The airlines may disappear, but ultralights will still fly, and people will still assemble their own aircraft.
I also find it a sure bet that certain types of light aircraft will continue—even prosper—under the SportPlanes™ proposal. These include flying machines such as hang gliders, single-place ultralights, powered parachutes and paragliders, and light sailplanes.
Several manufacturers of ultralights have told me they will continue to build their Part 103 models, and a few have said they will develop new aircraft that meet the rule.
Hang gliding—now a mature industry with a Big Five group of manufacturers, each from a different country—will continue to sell thousands of gliders a year.
Powered parachutes and their foot-launched siblings, powered paragliders, remain in a growth mode with each group claiming not only to add participants but finding them among the non-flying public. U.S. sales representatives for primary engine supplier Rotax (Bombardier) confirm that powered parachute makers are the largest buyers of engines.
Light sailplanes weighing less than 155 pounds empty are starting to approach the market and can operate in the Part 103 environment.
Who Needs 103?
Most pilots see the allure of factory-built, ready-to-fly, two-seat airplanes capable of cruising at 130 mph (that’s part of the new proposal). Already numerous models are emerging with sleek appearances, surprising roominess, good range, agreeable handling, and many creature comforts.
The downside is that such a machine will cost $40,000-$60,000, according to most industry experts. That may be a quarter to a third the price of Cessna’s least expensive Skyhawk, but it’s at least three to four times the average price of a genuine Part 103 flying machine.
The Part 103 aircraft still won’t require a pilot’s license nor any medical, you won’t have to register your aircraft with FAA or have them inspect it, and you can do 100% of your own maintenance. As long as you abide by a set of regulations that can be printed on both sides of one 8.5×11-inch piece of paper, you have freedom to fly that stands as a marvel of government non-intervention.
But are these aircraft questionable? They have no certification, the pilot may be unlicensed, and maintenance varies widely. They also cannot fly in weather like an IFR-approved GA plane.
All these points are true, but the safety record is simply not significantly different between GA aircraft and ultralights. Pilots do have accidents, and fatalities are suffered, but the numbers are low and compare well with other forms of personal aviation. Part 103 accidents are usually not investigated by the NTSB, so facts are less certain in ultralight incidents.
In Their Own League
Forget prices. Forget regulations. Ignore the safety record for now. Instead, think about why we all fly (or build). We do it because this activity inspires and satisfies us. For the sheer joy of flight, ultralights and other Part 103 aircraft offer special pleasures.
Hang gliders can coast silently along mountain ranges or in thermals, sometimes for hundreds of miles (the world record is well over 400 miles). In the last year, paragliders have also achieved impressive long flights exceeding 200 miles.
Powered paragliders and powered parachutes offer low-level flying that you simply don’t do in other aircraft. They may be restricted to calmer winds but under the right conditions, these machines offer a type of low-and-slow flight that many find delightful. They also take little room to transport and store.
True 103 powered three-axis ultralights (which means single-seat and empty weight less than 255 pounds) have always maintained a respectable share of all ultralight sales because these vehicles are pleasurable to fly. They take off quickly, climb steeply, can maneuver in small areas, land easily on short fields, make marvelous float planes, and cost pennies to operate.
So it’s welcome to sport pilot(once the FAA publishes the final rule). Yet this is not goodbye to Part 103 or homebuilding. The new proposal adds new choices without losing the old ones…and that has to be good.