Back in the sky!
Anchorage, Alaska-Nov.19--Today I had the opportunity to call the local Anchorage Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) they are the regulation and enforcement arm of the Federal Aviation Administration here in Alaska.
For those of you who are not familiar with the difference between ultralights and Light Sport Aircraft as designated by the FAA you won't understand the rest of this posting. But for those of you who do read on.
I wanted to amend my airworthiness certificate beyond the Jan. 31, 2010 deadline and called to make an appointment with the FSDO to trigger a Letter of Deviation Authorization.
This came after I read a post on the Web site Trike Pilot from Paul Hamilton who quoted the Experimental Aviation Association's Sport Pilot and Government Affairs page with info about a two-step process to change the E-LSA airworthiness certificate expiration date from Jan. 31, 2010 out in to the future (see http://www.eaa.org/news/2009/2009-11-05_trainers.asp).
This would allow me to continue to use my E-LSA WSC (weight shift trike) for instruction. Although I am not instructing, due to the lack of insurance offered here in Alaska, I may in the future want to offer instruction (when I can get a Designated Pilot Examiner to give me a check ride/practical test) or I may wish to sell my Antares MA-33 R582 and purchase a newer better supported S-LSA trike.
After speaking with two inspectors at the FSDO I determined that they had no idea what I was talking about. To be honest this was what I expected, and thought that I would be their first LODA customer.
After being told that because I built the Antares that I could not qualify for the instruction rating on my operation limitations as a manufacturer my fears were realized.
They had no idea what I wanted.
So as not to lay blame here I told the inspector that I would be happy to let him research what I was opting for and that he could call the FAA 610 Branch to find out what was needed.
To his credit he did inquire further and called me back and informed me that he was working on another project and that we could get together next week to continue this process.
The moral to this post:
If you have an E-LSA with Operation Limitations that include instruction in your aircraft, be it a Powered Parachute, Weight Shift Trike, or a Tri-Axis SEL aircraft don't expect miracles yet.Be patient.
As I get more information I will pass it along to the Alaska Sport Pilot community "Blue Skies"!
For those of you who are not familiar with the difference between ultralights and Light Sport Aircraft as designated by the FAA you won't understand the rest of this posting. But for those of you who do read on.
I wanted to amend my airworthiness certificate beyond the Jan. 31, 2010 deadline and called to make an appointment with the FSDO to trigger a Letter of Deviation Authorization.
This came after I read a post on the Web site Trike Pilot from Paul Hamilton who quoted the Experimental Aviation Association's Sport Pilot and Government Affairs page with info about a two-step process to change the E-LSA airworthiness certificate expiration date from Jan. 31, 2010 out in to the future (see http://www.eaa.org/news/2009/2009-11-05_trainers.asp).
This would allow me to continue to use my E-LSA WSC (weight shift trike) for instruction. Although I am not instructing, due to the lack of insurance offered here in Alaska, I may in the future want to offer instruction (when I can get a Designated Pilot Examiner to give me a check ride/practical test) or I may wish to sell my Antares MA-33 R582 and purchase a newer better supported S-LSA trike.
After speaking with two inspectors at the FSDO I determined that they had no idea what I was talking about. To be honest this was what I expected, and thought that I would be their first LODA customer.
After being told that because I built the Antares that I could not qualify for the instruction rating on my operation limitations as a manufacturer my fears were realized.
They had no idea what I wanted.
So as not to lay blame here I told the inspector that I would be happy to let him research what I was opting for and that he could call the FAA 610 Branch to find out what was needed.
To his credit he did inquire further and called me back and informed me that he was working on another project and that we could get together next week to continue this process.
The moral to this post:
If you have an E-LSA with Operation Limitations that include instruction in your aircraft, be it a Powered Parachute, Weight Shift Trike, or a Tri-Axis SEL aircraft don't expect miracles yet.Be patient.
As I get more information I will pass it along to the Alaska Sport Pilot community "Blue Skies"!
Labels: Alaska, Alaska flying, Birchwood Airport, Chugiak, E-LSA, EAA Chapter 42, FAA, flying in Alaska, LODA, Rob Stapleton, ultralight certification
posted by Akfotoman at 8:33 PM
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