News Archive

Work nears completion for light-sport airplanes

Flight Design CT

A green light could come soon for aircraft manufacturers wanting to sell ready-to-fly light-sport airplanes. A government-industry group called the ASTM Committee F37 is now considering the final hurdle, the last of the so-called consensus standards to which the industry will be adhering in order to ensure quality in designing and building ready-to-fly airplanes. A committee vote on maintenance manuals is due April 5. (AOPA is a voting member of the committee.)

Assuming there are no negative votes, the standard will then have to be accepted by the FAA. The FAA has a seat on the ASTM committee and casts one vote along with votes from industry representatives. The FAA likely won't have misgivings the second time it looks at the standard, but the sport pilot and light-sport aircraft initiative has had many past delays, so keep your fingers crossed. (See AOPA Online's Sport Pilot section.)

April 4, 2005