http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-29/sport-plane-makers-warned-by-faa-to-stop-evading-rules
Vans is probably as on the "straight and narrow" on this as anybody out there, but (as I have noted in some past posts), there have been some issues regarding "conformity." Thirty+ years in the Boeing system has made conformity my middle name.
The submitting to Vans of the Fly-off Flight Test Reports has been discussed previously on this forum. I think it's accurate to say not all builders either complete all the tests as documented by Vans, or submit the finished (or unfinished) reports - which could be an element in this article.
It's also unclear to me whether the statement about "light sport aircraft" having a higher accident rate than other private planes, isn't confusing the recent NTSB report on "amateur-built aircraft" with LSA's, which can be either home-built (and thus part of the larger E-AB population) or factory-built. I suspect the reporter had a problem with that distinction.
Bob Bogash
N737G
Vans is probably as on the "straight and narrow" on this as anybody out there, but (as I have noted in some past posts), there have been some issues regarding "conformity." Thirty+ years in the Boeing system has made conformity my middle name.
The submitting to Vans of the Fly-off Flight Test Reports has been discussed previously on this forum. I think it's accurate to say not all builders either complete all the tests as documented by Vans, or submit the finished (or unfinished) reports - which could be an element in this article.
It's also unclear to me whether the statement about "light sport aircraft" having a higher accident rate than other private planes, isn't confusing the recent NTSB report on "amateur-built aircraft" with LSA's, which can be either home-built (and thus part of the larger E-AB population) or factory-built. I suspect the reporter had a problem with that distinction.
Bob Bogash
N737G