LESLIE MILLER, Associated Press Writer
AP Online
07-20-2004
Dateline: WASHINGTON
New safety rules for light airplanes will soon take effect, a victory for private aviation groups that have long been encouraging them as a way to lower the hurdles to flying entry-level aircraft.
Under the rules, an aviation enthusiast will be able to obtain a sport pilot license, with lower training requirements than for a private pilot's license, The Associated Press has learned.
A candidate will need 20 hours of training and a valid driver's license to qualify for a sport pilot's license. Private pilots are required to have 40 hours of training and a medical certificate from the government.
Experimental Aircraft Association spokesman David Berkley said the new rules will make it cheaper and faster to get a license to fly.
'It really does promote access to the dream of flight,' Berkley said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Greg Martin said the agency would announce new flight standards on Tuesday that will balance two important objectives: 'one, to increase the safety of recreational flying, and two, to introduce new enthusiasts to the sport.' He declined to provide further details.
Earl Lawrence, the EAA's vice president of regulatory affairs, said the rules also ease the regulatory requirements for manufacturers, opening a mass market for 'low and slow' planes.
'It allows them to produce and bring into the marketplace less expensive airplanes that meet the weight limitations of sport aircraft,' Lawrence said.
Most 'low and slow' recreational aircraft are now built by individuals from kits, Lawrence said.
Currently, he said, certification accounts for about half the cost of bringing an airplane to market. It can take years for aircraft makers to prove to the inspectors that every part on the plane works, Lawrence said. FAA inspectors must certify the manufacturing plant and each component as it's being built.
The new rules will require manufacturers to build the plane to a standard, develop quality control standards and establish ways to recall the planes. The rules will require an FAA inspector or designee to inspect the plane at point of sale to make sure it will fly, he said.
The new regulations will also allow people to buy insurance and register light aircraft, which in turn will enable them to finance purchases of the planes, Lawrence said.
The Piper Cub _ a small two-seater introduced in 1936 _ would qualify as a sport plane. A Piper Cub hangs in the FAA lobby in Washington.
The new rule will also puts fewer restrictions on people who want to fly another kind of plane, the ultralight. An ultralight is defined as a single-seat flying machine that weighs less than 254 pounds, carries no more than 5 gallons of fuel and has a top speed of 63 miles per hour. A motorized hang glider, for example, is an ultralight.
The rule will allow ultralights to carry two passengers.
___
On the Net:
Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov
Experimental Aircraft Association: http://www.eaa.org
Copyright 2004, AP News All Rights Reserved
AP Online
07-20-2004
Dateline: WASHINGTON
New safety rules for light airplanes will soon take effect, a victory for private aviation groups that have long been encouraging them as a way to lower the hurdles to flying entry-level aircraft.
Under the rules, an aviation enthusiast will be able to obtain a sport pilot license, with lower training requirements than for a private pilot's license, The Associated Press has learned.
A candidate will need 20 hours of training and a valid driver's license to qualify for a sport pilot's license. Private pilots are required to have 40 hours of training and a medical certificate from the government.
Experimental Aircraft Association spokesman David Berkley said the new rules will make it cheaper and faster to get a license to fly.
'It really does promote access to the dream of flight,' Berkley said.
Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Greg Martin said the agency would announce new flight standards on Tuesday that will balance two important objectives: 'one, to increase the safety of recreational flying, and two, to introduce new enthusiasts to the sport.' He declined to provide further details.
Earl Lawrence, the EAA's vice president of regulatory affairs, said the rules also ease the regulatory requirements for manufacturers, opening a mass market for 'low and slow' planes.
'It allows them to produce and bring into the marketplace less expensive airplanes that meet the weight limitations of sport aircraft,' Lawrence said.
Most 'low and slow' recreational aircraft are now built by individuals from kits, Lawrence said.
Currently, he said, certification accounts for about half the cost of bringing an airplane to market. It can take years for aircraft makers to prove to the inspectors that every part on the plane works, Lawrence said. FAA inspectors must certify the manufacturing plant and each component as it's being built.
The new rules will require manufacturers to build the plane to a standard, develop quality control standards and establish ways to recall the planes. The rules will require an FAA inspector or designee to inspect the plane at point of sale to make sure it will fly, he said.
The new regulations will also allow people to buy insurance and register light aircraft, which in turn will enable them to finance purchases of the planes, Lawrence said.
The Piper Cub _ a small two-seater introduced in 1936 _ would qualify as a sport plane. A Piper Cub hangs in the FAA lobby in Washington.
The new rule will also puts fewer restrictions on people who want to fly another kind of plane, the ultralight. An ultralight is defined as a single-seat flying machine that weighs less than 254 pounds, carries no more than 5 gallons of fuel and has a top speed of 63 miles per hour. A motorized hang glider, for example, is an ultralight.
The rule will allow ultralights to carry two passengers.
___
On the Net:
Federal Aviation Administration: http://www.faa.gov
Experimental Aircraft Association: http://www.eaa.org
Copyright 2004, AP News All Rights Reserved
