A new era of sport aviation

On July 24, 2026, the now-separated rules governing airworthiness certification of new light-sport category aircraft will take effect, creating FAR Part 22 and completing the modernization.

The final rule announced July 24 at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh will, effective July 24, 2026, strike from the regulations the light sport aircraft definition first enacted in 2004, and establish under Part 22 the newly defined light-sport category of aircraft. The FAA's new regulatory approach separates pilot qualifications and privileges from aircraft regulations. The new light-sport category eliminates the 1,320-pound weight limit for LSA (1,430 for seaplanes) and most other prescriptive measures, replacing them with stall speed requirements that define new—and different—limits for aircraft that are distinct from those that apply to sport pilots.

The changes taking effect in July 2026 will also open the door for helicopters and gyroplanes to be issued special airworthiness certificates, pending the creation of industry consensus standards for such aircraft. For now, helicopters and gyroplanes may be flown by sport pilots with required endorsements, but the aircraft in question are issued experimental airworthiness certificates. The FAA issues special airworthiness certificates to light sport aircraft under the 2004 rule based on ASTM standards, and that will remain the case until July 24, 2026.

While a sport pilot is allowed to fly any LSA, and, as of October, will be allowed to fly aircraft with a “clean” (flaps up V_S1) stall speed of 59 knots (subject to a few other requirements), sport pilot privileges, including endorsements, will not necessarily qualify the pilot to fly every light-sport category aircraft to come.

Beginning in July 2026, light-sport category airplanes will be allowed a “dirty,” flaps-down stall speed (V_S0) of 61 knots calibrated airspeed, with up to four seats (two for helicopters and powered lift). Constant-speed propellers, retractable gear, and any powerplant (including electric or turbine powerplants) will be eligible for a special airworthiness certificate as a light-sport category aircraft. These changes vastly increase the types of aircraft that can be issued special airworthiness certificates under the new light-sport category. Sport pilots will be required to obtain an instructor's endorsement to fly an aircraft with some or all of these features.

The FAA and aviation industry expect it will cost much less to bring a light-sport category aircraft to market, compared to type certification under Part 23 as a normal category aircraft. At the same time, elimination of the weight limit in favor of a stall speed limit gives aircraft designers more flexibility to enhance performance.

Among the designs already being flown as experimental aircraft, or certified in Europe under ultralight rules, this crop of contenders appears likely to be among the first light-sport category aircraft approved after the category is created in 2026. They range from more traditional low-wing aircraft like the Slovenian GoGetAir G750 or Bristell B23M to the Polish ScaleWings SW–51 Mustang lookalikes or the Italian Porto Risen with its signature V-tail design. These manufacturers, among countless others worldwide, will very possibly seek a stake in the new light-sport category aircraft market in the United States.

Without a weight restriction and with “clean” stall speeds (V_S1) up to 59 knots KCAS, most flight schools will have airplanes available for sport pilots to rent, such as the Cessna 150/152, 170, 172, and 182 models that all are within the new limits for sport pilots, along with many Piper PA–28 series trainers, and others.

It’s important to note the new difference between stall speeds used to define light-sport category airplanes and sport pilot privileges. The FAA intentionally set two different stall speeds for light-sport category airplanes and sport pilots. The 2004 sport pilot “training requirements would not sufficiently prepare sport pilot applicants to operate airplanes that have a stalling speed greater than 59 knots KCAS V_S1, which tend to be heavier, faster, and more complex. Furthermore, it was not the intent of the 2004 final rule nor this final rule to expand sport pilot privileges to operate aircraft with those more demanding characteristics,” the agency wrote in the final rule.

The FAA cited NTSB data as part of its rationale for using a clean stall speed instead of a landing configuration stall speed to define the privileges of sport pilots: “V_S1 maximum stalling speed limitation is more appropriate for indirectly limiting what aircraft sports pilots can operate because more fatalities occur in the departure phase (V_S1 configuration).”  

The FAA chose the 61 knots calibrated airspeed V_S0 for light-sport category aircraft as “a compromise between the proposed stall speed that would provide lower kinetic energy for survivable emergency landings and one that could achieve safe operations of heavier airplanes allowed by this rule.”

As a result of these changes, some light-sport category aircraft issued special airworthiness certificates after the aircraft category changes become effective in July 2026 may only be available to those exercising the privileges of a private pilot certificate or higher. There will also be light-sport category aircraft that sport pilots can fly, as long as those aircraft meet sport pilot stall speed restrictions—V_S1 at or below 59 knots KCAS.

Many legacy aircraft will be available to sport pilots in October, though not all. The V_S1 restriction puts aircraft like the Mooney M20 (61 to 63 knots clean stall speed) or Beechcraft Bonanza (62 to 68 knots clean stall speed) out of the reach of sport pilots.

Some aircraft will straddle both sides of that stall speed line and vary based on specific production versions and model years. For example, some Cessna 185s have published clean stall speeds at or below 59 knots KCAS whereas others have clean stall speeds in the 60- to 65-knot range.