I really don't consider the aircraft that meet the "sport
aircraft" limitations real airplanes. They are toys. No real
useful capability, much like a powered parachute.

 C. Smith

 I would like it raised also as it would enable not only for
 safer airplanes to emerge and more engine types, but also include a
number of certified aircraft, e.g., Citabria, C-150, etc. to qualify. It
would be nice if EAA would begin working this issue...I think you would see
more "sport category flying" if this occurred.

 T.C. Hall
 Colorado Springs, Colorado

 There are many, many very good "sport category" airplanes out there now,
two that come to mind are the KITFOX and the SEAREY, both of these airplanes
are great performers, having rates of climb around 1000 feet per minute
and cruise speeds of 100 knots plus, plus a range of engines types, etc.
True, most sport category aircraft are not great "cross-country or heavy
ACL airplanes" that some pilots want and should have, but for the "sport
pilot" who wants great performance close-in, i.e., rates of climb, minimum
take-off
 and landing distance, rough terrain capability, adequate cruise
speeds, etc., the sport category airplanes far exceed most "certified"
airplanes, not to mention the need for greater close-in piloting skills,
i.e, landing, take-off, and near the ground flying that most sport pilots
have to master.
 Of the things FAA has done right in supporting general aviation,
approving the "light sport category" aircraft designation was one of
their better ones, and EAA was much involved with this effort.   There is a
place for ultra-lights and LSA types, just as there is a place for certified
aircraft, both utility and high-performance type.

 As far as pilot training is concerned, I would say that staying with
the "tried and true" good certified airplanes, like the Cessna 150's,
Cessna 172's, Diamond Katana's, etc., are the way to go.  These are much
more amiable to training type flying scenarios.

T.C. Hall

Who really cares?
From the point of view of the rotary they are all irrelevant.
Putting weight and performance restriction on an aircraft goes against the
grain of aircraft development and improvement.

The main rotary advantage is power to weight ratio. If you cannot
design and aircraft to take advantage of that what is the point? It is
like putting a minimum weight restriction on a racing car.
 C. Smith is absolutely right! LSA are a toy one soon loses interest in.

So what! It flys but only up to an arbitrary speed. Where is the
creative challenge in that?

 Paul Lamar

Unless the option is to quit flying altogether.  The target audience may
have been misdirected as far as LSA's are concerned.  Young pilots, those
who stay with the sport, tend to keep advancing, so Light Sport is simply a
stepping stone, if it gets stepped on at all.  They can't afford to purchase
it, and they would rather spend their money renting
bigger, better, faster.

The true target audience for LSA is the older generation; those afraid of
not passing their next medical, gained a little weight, who have the money
to afford an LSA, and lack the strength to levitate their body mass with arm
strength alone out of a Cirrus or a Corvalis, or the agility to navigate
even trickier ingress (Tri-pacer anyone).

It's a small niche, to be sure.

Chris Cosman

Chris

I view this as the same sort of market distortion created by the government
in the used car market.  They offer a rebate to get people to trade in their
used cars for new, force the used cars to be destroyed before their useful
life was up.  I was reading locally that many automobile car parts stores
lost big money on parts they held in inventory, and have sold since for
scrap, mechanics lost repair business, and people whom buy used cars had to
pay premiums for purchases to this day.

Taking similar conclusions to aviation, civil aviation lost by this move,
some invested in the LSA aircraft, taking away rentals for training from
current general aviation aircraft owners, mechanics lost repairs since many
of the LSA airframes and engines require less efforts, an excess of aircraft
in the market cause some older, normally fixer aircraft to remain unsold, or
under utilized, not to speak of parts that will be dumped in scrap bins,
never to be available to older aircraft repair.

GFCurtis Jr.