Editor’s Note: This two-part short series is the handiwork of Ron Wanttaja, who has been tracking accident and registration data for Experimental aircraft for decades. Here, he looks at both the fleet size and accident rates among the various LSA categories. Looking ahead, the next installment will dig deep into how LSAs fare against more common certified trainers.
It’s been almost 20 years since the FAA implemented the Light Sport Aircraft category. While the planes might appear similar to traditional Experimental/Amateur-Built (E/A-B) aircraft, there are significant differences in how they are designed, constructed, maintained and operated.
Light Sports have had a major impact on flying in the U.S., even if their numbers are still relatively few. Without Light Sport (and the accompanying Sport Pilot program), the FAA would have lacked data to justify the simplification of pilot medicals known as BasicMed. Light Sport’s proven safety led to the MOSAIC program, featuring a major relaxation of the limits of what can be flown without an FAA medical.
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Who Is This Guy, Anyway? Please Welcome, Marc Cook!
You’re probably wondering about this raspy old voice appearing on the ByDanJohnson site. Who are you and what have you done with Dan? Part of that you already know.
Dan sold this site to what was then the Flying Media Group, owned by Craig Fuller, an LSA owner himself. Since adding a bunch of marine titles from Bonnier, the overarching company is now known as Firecrown, but the aviation side is still a big part of the portfolio, including FLYING, Plane & Pilot and KITPLANES (among many others). ByDanJohnson, when it becomes Affordable Aviation, will fit like the perfect puzzle piece into the group
Speaking of KITPLANES, that’s where I come from. In fact, Dan and I have history—the good kind—as he wrote about the then-nascent LSA category for KP back when all this got started. We felt it was important to get smart about the segment since it would intersect with Experimental aircraft.
Super Petrel XP Arrives in Florida; Proven Product Significantly Upgraded
A few days ago a couple Super Petrel XPs arrived in Florida. In no time, Roger Helton‘s team had the pair assembled and had earned their Special Airworthiness Certificates, from two different FAA inspectors no less.
Development happens fast in light aviation; Mosaic will further quicken the pace.
Welcome to Light-Sport Aircraft where the swift thrive and those that can’t move fast enough fall behind. LSA is a market full of seasoned competitors. They’ve learned their trade well, surviving and some even gaining during the Covid upset. Any new creation coming to market will be measured against tough standards.
You think the pace of development is fast now? Wait as Mosaic approaches and company after company announces new products to take advantage of the “Christmas in July” list of new privileges FAA offered in the summer release of their Mosaic proposal (view list at bottom). The regulation is currently in review by the agency and according to their own statements, it should go live by second quarter 2025 (2Q25).
The Shape of Tomorrow? Pegaso Is Another Beautiful Light-Sport Airplane You’ve Never Seen
Pilots who have attended the Aero Friedrichshafen show in Germany may have spotted Pegaso since it first exhibited in 2018. Six years later, the model lacks American representation so Yankee pilots generally don’t know this flying machine.
This is Pegaso, a European “ultralight” that expresses a beautiful style we expect from Italy.
Promecc is better known for their low-wing Sparviero but Pegaso drew lots of admiring looks at Aero 2023.
Let’s take a deeper look at an aircraft that can help imagine what we’ll see as Mosaic emerges from FAA rule making in the second quarter of 2025.
Promecc Pegaso
Promecc Aerospace specializes in the design and manufacture of European-style ultralight aircraft predominantly using carbon fiber construction. As is more common in Europe, the company behind Pegaso and Sparviero has a larger operation involved in professional aviation.
The company’s first design, Sparviero, which translates to Sparrowhawk in English, was introduced in the early 2000s.
News Wrap — A60 Junkers Takes Maiden Flight, Icon Launches Higher, Rotax Record Year
As the end of the year approaches and as excitement builds for 2024, I have some news items of interest to the light aircraft community.
Right before Christmas, read about the maiden flight of Junkers side-by-side A60, a year-end recap provided by Icon Aircraft, and year highlights from leading engine producer Rotax Aircraft Engines. Let’s get started…
Junkers A60 Flies!
Earlier this year, Junkers garnered lots of attention with their highly distinctive A50 Junior, an LSA with tandem seating and a look you won’t forget. Not everyone loves tandem, though, so here comes A6o, the side-by-side sibling of Junior.
We saw Junkers Aircraft‘s’ A50 Junior at Sun ‘n Fun 2023, where it made a splashy debut and flew for the first time in front of American pilots off the grass strip in Paradise City (the airshow within an airshow at Sun ‘n Fun). While most who examined it closely admired the detailed workmanship that went into it, not everyone desires tandem seating.
Composite Whisper Resembles an RV; Offers Quicker Build, Faster Delivery, and Speedy Performance
As the recreational flying season slows and northern states button down for winter, one Florida LSA supplier is headed further south, much further. As he prepares for the upcoming 2024 season, Deon Lombard is headed to South Africa where he will work with the Whisper factory for three months as manufacturer and importer prepare to launch the product in the USA.
Deon is not the first to go after the Whisper prize in America but he is taking a different approach. Here’s the update on Whisper, which looks remarkably like an RV made out of composite.
As spring arrives, look for Deon and Whisper at Sun ‘n Fun 2024 when the famous Florida event celebrates its 50th anniversary.
With wait times exceeding a year for most fully-built LSA and even for many kits, Whisper looks more interesting with faster delivery predicted plus Mosaic-rule top speeds.
Article Updated 11/13/23 — see area captioned with **
Why “Whisper?”
This is not a battery electric aircraft so why call it Whisper?
Beautiful Bargain — Alto is Back, Again! Looks Great and Costs Surprisingly Little
At Midwest LSA Expo on Day Two, I gave my first Mosaic talk to a SRO room. The video turned out well so following some editing on the Q&A session that followed, I pledge to get this up next week.
My presentation was a distillation of 318 original pages into a 45-minute presentation. Some described it as “drinking out of a fire hose.”
The Q&A added another 30 minutes. Pilots in the audience helped me better understand this Mosaic monster. I hoped that would happen and I’m pleased it did.
After going through the entire document twice and multiple times for some portions, more is yet to be discovered (though I’m getting weary of studying it.)
Beyond Mosaic
After a vigorous discussion about FAA’s new rule, I was keen to get outside among the airplanes that I enjoy. In particular, I wanted to have a closer look at Direct Fly’s Alto NG.
Ahead of Its Time, Rainbow’s EMG — Electric Motor Glider — Proved Idea of Electric Part 103
Nine years ago, in 2014, electric aircraft were mostly experiments and the beginning was challenging. Several ill-fated projects attempted to electrically power airplanes that were inappropriate for such a powerplant. Batteries of the day had lousy power-to-weight ratios. Enough juice to lift and fly a two seater, much less a four seater, by an electric motor made for very short duration flights, measured in minutes not hours. An electric Cessna 172 project never succeeded; hardly a wonder.
Similar challenges face more than 350 air taxi start-up businesses. Sure, someday you might zip around big cities using UberAir but I think that remains years in the future. Range anxiety felt in electric cars becomes much more intense in an aircraft.
On the other hand, electric Part 103 aircraft enjoy two enormous advantages: (1) they only need to fly 30 minutes to an hour to deliver all the fun their owners have in mind; and (2) since Part 103 aircraft are the lightest in powered aviation, lifting them by electric power and batteries is far more achievable with today’s technology.
Midwest Expo 2023, Zenith’s Homecoming, Aero Showcase, and a New Owner of Jabiru
When AirVenture Oshkosh ends, you can almost hear a national sigh as if to denote the flying season is over. EAA’s magnificent summer celebration of flight leads to Labor Day and into fall.
Fun flying in northern climates might begin to slow but in the southern half of the U.S., flying for fun is entering its best season.
As if to prove the point, coming up soon:
15th annual Midwest LSA Expo,
Zenith’s 32nd Annual Homecoming event follows the Expo, with even larger crowds,
Aero Showcase’s second event is scheduled and being promoted, and
down under — where Australis is exiting winter (yeah, weird, huh?) — big changes for Jabiru
Midwest 2023
I’ve taken to shortening the event name to “Midwest (Year)” because I say or write it so often. This show — as you might expect, in the Midwest USA — has become a foundation of my aviation calendar. I only missed one year due to a hurricane in Florida where I live.
Back to Our Top-50 Videos — Aerolite 103 May Be the Top Seller Among True Ultralights
Among the couple hundred readers who commented on my recent Mosaic article, several referenced Private Pilots who consider a Sport Pilot to be “unqualified.” I’ve heard that, too. In fact, I’ve heard similar comments my entire long career.
It’s a pecking order thing, I suppose, a natural human response, but I dislike when one aviator puts down another. Is a hang glider pilot somehow less than a power pilot? Is a LSA pilot doing a lesser job flying than a GA pilot? Indeed, is the humble prop pilot somehow less than a jet pilot? Are pilots who like rotary or seaplanes oddballs? I think not but such opinions are too-commonly heard.
Similarly, why are pilots so ill-informed about Part 103? Most pilots have heard of the category yet most of them know next-to nothing about the aircraft type. Contrarily, I can say this: the ones who learn about Aerolite 103 know this is a right-proper light aircraft and they want more… for less.
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