Is thia real or an april fools joke? Glenn
On Apr 1, 2009, at 11:29 AM, Gordon Smith wrote:
'Old Pilots Are Usually Fat, Too'
<image.tiff>ANN APRIL 1st "SPECIAL" EDITION: The Federal Aviation
Administration announced Wednesday a major shift in policy in regards
to the nearly five-year-old Sport Pilot category, affecting light
sport aircraft. The agency will soon issue a Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking, stating the maximum gross weight restriction for aircraft
certificated as LSA will be raised to 1,800 lbs.
"Let's face it... older pilots are the primary beneficiaries of the
Sport Pilot rating at this point, and old pilots are usually fat,
too," said Acting Administrator Lynne Osmus.
"In addition to that reality, a number of European-sourced sport
aircraft are certified in their home markets for gross weights of up
to 1,700 lbs; for them, the US 1,320 lb. restriction for land-based
aircraft is only a line on a piece of paper. Why should we subtract
usefulness in the name of bureaucracy?"
Of course, in addition to raising the allowable useful loads for a
number of existing light sport aircraft, the eased weight restriction
should also theoretically make available a number of older aircraft
designs in the LSA category; namely, the Cessna 140 and 152 lines.
"We realize how unpopular the agency's original decision in regards to
LSA weight was with some," Osmus said. "It's taken a long time, but
the FAA is starting to come around."
FAA Administrator-Designate Randy Babbitt is also said to be in favor
of the plan.
