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by plantain 1780 days ago
Huh? LSA is doing fine. It does considerably better in basically every other jurisdiction where the licencing is typically easier and the payloads higher.

“Comparing charts I see 506 registrations of LSA-type aircraft in 2020 and 358 registrations of GA aircraft in 2020,” Steve notes. “Thus, registrations of LSA-type aircraft account for more than half of the single-engine piston aircraft registered in 2020, 59% from data analyzed for this report.”

https://generalaviationnews.com/2020/11/02/up-or-down-how-fl...
3 comments
nameless912 1780 days ago
And there's scuttlebutt that the LSA rules might be revised to be based off a load factor formula rather than a fixed upper gross weight limit, as well as the creation of PSAs (larger aircraft certified via ASTM standards rather than FAA part 31(? I can't remember the CFR part right now), which would allow for much faster and easier certification of PSAs (as opposed to standard category aircraft).

Here's hoping for a full revision to the LSA rules that allows 152/72/82 and Piper Cherokees into the category; that would open up Sport pilots to thousands of new aircraft they were unable to fly for essentially no reason. It's painfully obvious that the FAA's artificial limitation of 1320 lbs was completely arbitrary and is overall a detriment to the safety of pilots operating under the sport rules. Frankly, I think/hope that recertifying the majority of standard category aircraft as PSAs will help drive down costs and spur some new innovation in GA.

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JamilD 1780 days ago
I guess it's just based on my observations in the US. I'm a Sport Pilot; I don't see many others in the Bay Area.

Often I'm the only one that rents the Skycatcher at KPAO in a given month, and there's basically only two LSAs that are accessible to rent nearby (that Skycatcher at KPAO and a SportStar at KRHV).

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phkahler 1780 days ago
I think the problem with LSAs was the industry adopted them too fast. There were so many manufacturers none of them could the volume needed for lower prices. Even Cessna canceled the C162. This has been improving over time of course.
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