perfidy

The OMB has temporarily halted progress on the Light Sport Aircraft proposal. Sport aircraft are small planes that seat two people, mass less then 1450 pounds, and can't fly faster than about 115 miles per hour. They're pretty small. They're also really easy to fly, and it's been recognized for a long time now that a simplified method to get citizens in the air would be a great idea. LSA regs are designed to do that -- they require only a driver's license for a medical (just like cars), have somewhat reduced training requirements (to lower costs), and substantially restrict what a pilot is able to do with one of these certificates.

It's designed to make flying fun and affordable again. "Certificated" aircraft, such as ye olde Cessna Skyhawk, cost north of $200,000 when new, and that's for a basic aircraft. Back in the age of American creativity, flying was cheap and easy.

Insurance, regulations, and lawyers have made mincemeat out of the public's freedom to fly.

Hopefully the OMB's objections are simple in nature and can be quickly dealt with by the FAA. OMB isn't really supposed to be doing anything other than rubber-stamping this thing; I am worried that this has something to do with "security" concerns. If so, it's patently ridiculous. Any car on the road is dramatically more dangerous than any of these little aircraft.

There's another effect, though, that people are going to be less aware of.

Small American companies are currently fairly dominant in the kit-plane industry. There are tens of thousands of industrious people out there who buy kit planes and build them...truly with an adventurous, handyman's spirit. I very much admire these folks (to see one of the best, try Dan's RV Project.

The LSA is intended to allow, for some kit planes, to allow manufacturers to assemble the aircraft themselves, and sell them. Kit planes have an excellent safety record, almost exactly comparable to certificated aircraft; having assembly done by manufacturers is almost sure to increase the safety factor of these aircraft.

These small planes often cost about a quarter of what a fully certificated plane can cost. There's a new industry waiting to happen here; thousands of jobs are waiting to be created, to build and export these little planes all over the world.

I wish the OMB hadn't found flaws in this incredibly lengthy process. The regulations have been studied to death. It's hard to believe that there's much wrong with them at this point, from a technical standpoint.