Sport Pilot Update: Standards On A Fast Track

As the seemingly endless Sport Pilot rulemaking process creeps through all of its necessary hoops, discernable progress is being made on a related front: the development of consensus industry standards for Light-Sport Aircraft. Subcommittees representing fixed-wing aircraft and powered parachutes have already completed work on their standards, EAA reported this week. Those standards are now undergoing a thorough 30-day review and comment period, which ends in mid-December, prior to a vote. "This effort is unprecedented in aviation history," said Earl Lawrence, EAA vice president of government and industry relations. "The aviation industry and the FAA have formed a partnership to create practical standards for safe light aircraft. The result of this partnership will eventually be more airplanes, more pilots and growth throughout general aviation."