As general aviation inches toward full reliance on satellite navigation, flight instructors who are early adopters of this technology are progressively teaching their instrument students these latest FAA-approved techniques.

On January 14, private pilot and businessman Jack Baldwin from Enid, Oklahoma, passed his instrument checkride by shooting the RNAV GPS Runway 32 LPV approach at Lake Havasu City Airport in western Arizona. He was the first student to qualify for his IFR ticket using this new procedure less than a week after the FAA had approved it as part of the new Instrument Rating Practical Test Standards.

LPV approaches (localizer performance with vertical guidance) now outnumber instrument landing system approaches across the nation and are seen as the next generation of ILS, offering vertical guidance practically down to the numbers. While adaptable for almost any aircraft the LPV approach can only be accomplished with a WAAS GPS receiver installed.

FAA changes sport pilot rules

How high can you fly?

By Sarah Brown

The FAA has finalized revisions to the sport pilot regulations that will expand the operating window for sport pilots in mountainous terrain and allow Part 141 training programs to use light sport aircraft, among other changes.

According to the final rule, sport pilots will be able to fly above 10,000 feet msl as long as they are at or below 2,000 feet above the ground.

The final rule also provides for the use of special light sport aircraft in Part 141 training courses; removes the requirement for all flight instructors to log at least five hours of flight time in a make and model of LSA within the same set of aircraft before providing training in it; and requires aircraft owners or operators to retain a record of the current status of applicable safety directives for S-LSAs.

NTSB to change reporting requirements

Improving aviation safety

The requirements to report certain types of accidents and incidents to the National Transportation Safety Board will soon change, thanks to a final rule recently published in the Federal Register. Effective March 8, operators will have to report the loss of a propeller in flight, and the loss of an electronic primary flight display. Both apply directly to general aviation, and students will be expected to learn them for operations going forward. The NTSB said it enacted the new requirements as a way to improve aviation safety.