In practical terms, not many people were directly affected by the Sept. 1 enactment of the rule. For those few, however, the change could be significant. Anyone with a pilot certificate who has let his or her medical lapse, for whatever reason, can now legally fly (VFR only) a plane meeting the LSA standards. The rule does not help those who have lost their FAA medical, however. The medical problems that prompted the lifting of the medical must still be addressed and signed off by an FAA examiner before flying Light Sport or any other kind of aircraft. While there won’t be any “new” LSA certificated aircraft for some time, thousands of existing planes became eligible for the new classification on Wednesday. Fully certificated aircraft that meet the LSA standards (Cubs and Champs are good examples) can be legally flown by pilots with lapsed medicals, as can a lot of amateur-built aircraft. Existing maintenance and inspection requirements for the certificated planes will continue to apply.
…Changes Come Slowly…
Key Takeaways:
- The rule change allows pilots with a lapsed FAA medical (but not those who lost it due to disqualifying conditions) to legally fly aircraft meeting Light Sport Aircraft (LSA) standards under Visual Flight Rules (VFR).
- This change primarily affects pilots with already-existing certificates whose medicals have simply expired, not those with unaddressed medical disqualifications.
- Thousands of existing certificated aircraft (e.g., Cubs, Champs) and amateur-built planes that meet LSA specifications are now eligible to be flown under this new classification, with their current maintenance requirements remaining in effect.
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