Some pilots can hardly wait for Mosaic. It takes all kinds, of course.
Many aviators want to use Sport Pilot’s no-medical aspect to fly a Cessna or Piper that they can buy inexpensively (or already own). That makes sense. These affordable aircraft are familiar and proven, even if they are products of the 1950s with mostly analog instruments and powerplants that burn 10 to 15 gallons per hour of 100LL.
Another group, owners of modern LSA, wants a little more weight than allowed by current regulation. Still others may want to fly at night or in IFR or to use an economical LSA for some form of aerial work.
Then we have what I’ll call the Mosaic LSA crowd. These are pilots with larger budgets — perhaps they sold a Cirrus or Bonanza and have equity to put toward a new aircraft. These experienced pilots are accustomed to well-equipped aircraft with generous cruise speeds.
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Keeping Aircraft Affordable, Blue Collar Aviation Has a Flying Machine for Everyman
Tabor Coates calls his business Blue Collar Aviation. Honestly, as someone who scours the globe for affordable aircraft, any business with this name was certain to grab my attention.
This isn’t simply adroit marketing. Tabor’s Maynard, Massachusetts operation is deep into affordable aviation. How affordable? Tabor’s most-expensive offering is the SkyRanger Nynja (featured in this 2023 article and this flight report). With every item needed in the kit to include engine, instruments and coverings that need no paint, this tried-and-true light aircraft sells for $65,000 and that even includes freight from across the Atlantic.*
How deep into affordable goes Tabor? He offers two versions of SkyRanger — Swift III and Nynja — with a complete kit for the former starting at $49,985. If that’s still high for your budget Tabor offers FlyLight’s line of superlight (nanolight?) weight-shift trikes. The simplest of these flying machines are ready-to-fly for around $15,000.
True Story about TrueLite — Update on this Much-Anticipated Part 103 Ultralight Entry
Article UPDATED 1/29/24 — See at bottom —DJ
You may have experienced this but I just got sticker shock. A young pilot told me he is facing a $1,000 fee for his Private Pilot check ride. What?! I got my license so long ago I forgot how much I paid but, obviously… “A dollar doesn’t buy what it used to!”
A few sources confirmed $1,000 is a common fee. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying a check ride isn’t worth that much; it’s merely a bigger number than expected, although my young pilot friend still has to come up with that amount of dough. Whew!
When friends and family complain about grocery store prices or the cost of air travel, I shrug and say, “Tell me something that has not gone up by 50 or 100% in the last three years.” No one loves the situation but those are economic facts.
Made for Mosaic? Scissortail Aerosport Imports G750 wth 2+2 Seating
Are you ready for Mosaic? Let’s be crystal clear. You have almost no time left to comment on FAA’s proposed rule. Mere days remain before the comment window closes. (Comment links at bottom)
However, we won’t see Mosaic LSA for many months yet. …Or, is that wrong? In this article, we look at G750, a 2+2 seat Mosaic LSA candidate.
Mosaic as a completed regulation is still 16 months away, according to FAA’s oft-repeated statements about how long they need after comments have closed. The agency has a lot of work remaining on this proposed regulation.
After a group of maintenance organizations asked for more time, FAA extended the comment period to January 22, 2024. That means you have less than one week left as this article is posted. After that, FAA begins huddling internally to review all comments and make other changes (and hopefully fix a number of weak areas; see other reporting on Mosaic).
Top 50 Video: Back Yard Flyer — One of Most Requested Models Among Affordable Aircraft
Over many years, one of the most consistently requested aircraft is Back Yard Flyer. Even the name sounds affordable, doesn’t it?
While you can’t get this one any longer, about 20 are flying and some pop up on aviation sale listings. In its day — before Valley Engineering decided to cease building and focus on their Culver (wood) Prop enterprise — Back Yard Flyer attracted wide interest, rising steadily to be one of our Top 50 videos of about 1,000 produced.
Part of the reason for keen interest was an airframe that quickly folded in a unique for easier storage. Built primarily of welded aluminum, the airplane looked tough yet managed to stay within Part 103 tight constraints.
Another reason for strong interest in this simple flying machine was its four-stroke engine, modified from a Generac engine. At the time, 2010 or so, four stroke on genuine Part 103 ultralights was extremely rare.
LSA Pilot Review of a Multicopter: Lift Aircraft’s Part 103-Eligible Hexa
Ready or not, new flying machines are headed our way. Correction, they are already here and a wave of similar entries could follow (see earlier reports). The earliest market-ready arrivals qualify under FAR Part 103.
I believe this website needs to report these aircraft, so with pleasure, I announce the following to be perhaps the first multicopter pilot report from “one of us.” Scott Severen is a longtime LSA pilot, the importer of Jabiru aircraft, and the newly-elected President of LAMA, the Light Aircraft Manufacturers Association. Scott offers his impressions as one of the very first non-company pilots to fly one of these aircraft.
Some call them multicopters (me). Some prefer eVTOL. C’mon, have you said a mouthful like “eVTOL” to any non-pilot? …or even to most pilots? They look at you blankly, “Huh?” Marketers of these aircraft have yet to settle on a catchy word to identify them.
Simple, Light, Affordable… Why Recreational Flying Can Soar in 2024
Simple, light, and affordable is not a throwaway line. Each word is pivotal.
Like many of you, I have enjoyed the advancing development of the LSA space, leading to Mosaic LSA in about 15 months. Additional operational capabilities plus features like autopilot, synthetic vision, and powerful, compact engines… all these can build a very exciting airplane.
With Mosaic, the list gets even longer: more weight, more seats, more powerful engines, plus retract, adjustable props, even aerial work for entrepreneurs (see full list). Wonderful, I agree. Some pilots have asked for more and industry with FAA have been working to achieve these potentials.
Yet this is a path to ever-more complex (and expensive) aircraft. Have you been waiting for Mosaic LSA? If yes, your wishes may be answered in 15 months. If not, please continue reading.
Simple, Light, Affordable — All three words are key. Much depends on your aviation goals.
TrueLite’s New Wing — U.S. Importer On-Site Finalizing Affordable Part 103 Project
When I wrote about TrueLite a little over one year ago, readers loved the concept pushing the article to one of my best-read pieces of the year. That story had lots of detail, different from what follows.
Now the story is the start of production and preparation of import to the US for final assembly.
Francesco Di Martino is the man behind Zigolo, a superlight Part 103 entry. Zigolo looked so light in construction, relying partly on cable support, some pilots were hesitant about the design. A few years passed and sales were made but behind the hangar door, Francesco was busy with his Aviad company.
As a follow-on to the earlier project, Francesco created the all-metal, much-updated Mg21 as he called it; Zigolo was called Mg12.
When Francesco linked up with Part 103 impresario Chip Erwin of Merlin Lite fame, things started to move quickly.
Top 50 Video: MVP — “Most Versatile Plane” LSA Seaplane Entry
Long before “Mosaic” was a term anyone used*, one airplane stood out for its highly-original design, innovative features, and amazing versatility. Welcome to the once-wonderful world of MVP, the Most Versatile Plane. I am featuring this aircraft as part of an on-going series of our Top 50 Videos (of 1,500) on Dave Loveman’s Light Sport and Ultralight Flyer YouTube channel.
The bad news is… MVP never made it to market, a shame… yet despite heroic fund-raising efforts, sufficient support never materialized.
The good news… other designers observed what MVP offered. Around the time MVP was actively fund raising, Vickers Aircraft down under in New Zealand had begun work on their Wave that is now nearing market release. Icon’s A5 was already mostly frozen for design but some European entries later showed innovations first promoted for MVP.
Developer Darrell Lynds scoured the world for investors. I went with him and other aviation pioneers to China in 2017 where Darrell worked non-stop trying to raise money.
Got Mosaic Fatigue? — Comments on FAA’s New Regulation from Two Presentations
I don’t know about you, but I can guess that Mosaic Fatigue is setting in to a lot of quarters. Some pilots have done an extraordinary job of digging into this 318-page document to distill essential parts that need to be addressed. Many pilots get exhausted just looking at the NPRM. …Me, too.
I look forward to more reporting on aircraft. Nonetheless…
Mosaic has given us an inside look at how FAA works. Many improvements resulted when industry worked in harmony with government officials. Nonetheless, careful study found areas of concern in the NPRM. Recent articles in other publications hit essentially the same points as I did in my talk (slide). Those points were partly my thinking, but I also relied on other experts to whom I had posed a variety of questions.
Still, some of the best commentary has come from non-experts, regular pilots who were concerned about a certain part of the NPRM and explored it thoroughly.
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