{"id":26185,"date":"2023-07-24T15:33:45","date_gmt":"2023-07-24T15:33:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/saj.pachecostudios.com?p=26185"},"modified":"2023-07-24T15:33:47","modified_gmt":"2023-07-24T15:33:47","slug":"faa-releases-long-awaited-rulemaking-proposal-for-mosaic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/national-news\/faa-releases-long-awaited-rulemaking-proposal-for-mosaic\/%20","title":{"rendered":"FAA Releases Long-Awaited Rulemaking Proposal for MOSAIC"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The FAA released a long-awaited rulemaking proposal to do\naway with light sport aircraft weight limits and other restrictions on pilots\nwho fly them, a move AOPA has been championing for years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rulemaking proposal <a href=\"https:\/\/public-inspection.federalregister.gov\/2023-14425.pdf\">released<\/a> for public inspection on July 19 is the product of a years-long effort to modernize aircraft certification. The FAA invited collaboration with pilots and industry on the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates (MOSAIC) initiative, an effort to overhaul the current rules established in 2004 and enable certification of new technologies that lead to safer and more capable aircraft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>AOPA pushed hard to expand the light sport aircraft\ndefinition, relax most current operating limitations, and allow certain\noperations for hire reserved for certified aircraft. The FAA scheduled the\nrule&#8217;s publication for July 24 in the Federal Register, which will start a\n90-day period of public comment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/Mark-Baker-edit-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-26186\" width=\"116\" height=\"171\"\/><figcaption><em>Mark Baker <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;Modernizing the light-sport category for the thousands\nof our members that fly these aircraft is something we\u2019ve been long pushing\nfor, and it just makes sense,\u201d said AOPA President Mark Baker. \u201cWe\u2019re pleased\nto see the FAA take this first step to help modernize the general aviation\nfleet and provide more options for pilots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The rulemaking proposal extends to more than 300 pages, with effects on experimental amateur-built aircraft and restricted category aircraft. It also proposes changes to right-of-way rules around Class G airports to eliminate present distinctions among various types of \u201cpowered\u201d aircraft currently referenced in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ecfr.gov\/current\/title-14\/chapter-I\/subchapter-F\/part-91\/subpart-B\/subject-group-ECFRe4c59b5f5506932\/section-91.113\">FAR 91.113<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While AOPA has long urged the FAA to significantly raise the\nweight limit, the agency eliminated any restriction and instead applied\nlimitations to performance-based criteria:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Increase the airplane stalling speed to 54 knots<\/li><li>Increase the maximum speed to 250 knots CAS<\/li><li>Allow controllable-pitch propellers<\/li><li>Allow retractable landing gear<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The increase in stall speed will enable increased aircraft\nweights for more robust airframes, installation of safety enhancing equipment,\nhigher fuel capacity, and more seating capacity. The change also will allow\nairplane designs up to about 3,000 pounds to be included in this rulemaking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The FAA also proposes allowing sport pilots to fly four-seat aircraft, but the current limitation of one passenger remains unchanged:  <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;To enable the design and manufacture of light-sport category aircraft that are safe to fly with increased capacity and ability, this proposal would apply new design and manufacturing requirements,&#8221; the FAA wrote. &#8220;This would allow growth and innovation within performance-based safety parameters. This proposal also expands aircraft that sport pilots can operate. Under this proposal, sport pilots could operate airplanes designed with up to four seats, even though they would remain limited to operating with only one passenger.&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pilots operating under sport pilot limitations will be able\nto do so while meeting all sport pilot requirements, to include a valid\ndriver\u2019s license as long as the most recent medical was not denied and any\nspecial issuance medical has not been withdrawn. Sport pilots will also be able\nto take advantage of controllable pitch propellers, retractable landing gear,\nand night VFR operations with appropriate training and endorsements under the\nproposal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The agency also agreed with AOPA&#8217;s request to allow sport\npilots flying light sport aircraft to perform certain commercial operations,\nsuch as product demonstration for engines or other modifications. These\nprivileges would also extend to experimental aircraft that have flown at least\n50 hours, provided that the applicant has established an inspection and\nmaintenance program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The agency noted that, since the 2004 rule, light sport\naircraft &#8220;have shown a lower accident rate than experimental amateur-built\nairplanes. The FAA considers that the successful safety record of light-sport\ncategory aircraft validates certification requirements established in the 2004\nfinal rule and provides support for expanding the scope of certification for\nlight-sport category aircraft and operations.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Noise limits would be broadly applied. &#8220;To provide\nflexibility and reduce burdens of compliance with these noise limits, the FAA\nis proposing options for compliance: conventional noise testing per Part 36 or\nmeans of compliance via FAA-approved, industry consensus standards,&#8221; the\nagency wrote.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;The FAA intends for these expansions to increase\nsafety by encouraging aircraft owners, who may be deciding between an\nexperimental aircraft or a light-sport category aircraft, to choose aircraft\nhigher on the safety continuum and, therefore, meet higher aircraft\ncertification requirements,&#8221; the agency wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;This rule would amend aircraft, pilot, maintenance,\nand operational requirements to increase both the safety and performance of\nthese aircraft while mitigating risk. The FAA recognizes that this is a\nbalancing act\u2014where the risk is increased due to greater capability in one\narea, mitigations may be required from the other areas,&#8221; the FAA\nadded.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The FAA released a long-awaited rulemaking proposal to do away with light sport aircraft weight limits and other restrictions on pilots who fly them, a move AOPA has been championing for years. The rulemaking proposal released for public inspection on July 19 is the product of a years-long effort to modernize aircraft certification. The FAA [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[115],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26185","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26185","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26185"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26185\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26187,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26185\/revisions\/26187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26185"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26185"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateaviationjournal.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26185"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}