Can't find it anywhere else, so it must be April fool's joke.
A cruel one...
Eliacim
----- Original Message -----
From: Glenn Putnam
To: Gordon Smith
Cc: Ercoupe Flying ; Ercoupe Tech
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 9:14 AM
Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] LSA weight Limit Lifted
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.
