I’m aiming to keep this relatively free of politics, and hopefully focused on likely outcomes.

I’m passingly familiar with the Federal rule making process. I know the proposed rule in question has been through at least one public comment period, etc.

Given that the inauguration will be prior to the 2025Q1 expected final rule dates I’ve seen from various sources, I’m curious what the collective community thinks is likely to happen with the final rule.

If the proposed rule is likely to be issued as expected, I may delay starting training until that point - I read the proposed rule as opening up a wide variety of additional aircraft under LSA and it may benefit me to start in one of those additional allowed a/c.

If it will be tied up as an unknown for months or years, then starting under the current rules makes sense to me.

I’ve been considering this for a number of years. Light Sport, restrictions and all, suits my mission well -No need to stress over the medical, and I get to take some fairly capable planes into the sky. Travel is secondary and perhaps irrelevant - I’m 180lbs, and my wife is somewhat more, so in addition to a minima useful load beyond us, there are possible CG and balance issues as I understand it.

We don’t seem to have anyone giving lessons truly locally, but that’s fine. Let’s say I’m based near Chambana, IL. So far, available A/C look like this:

• Lots of Evektors
• one school has a Remos GX and Flight Design CTLS
• There’s a single Aeroprakt A22.

The latter is of some interest for me for personal reasons, and also seems a touch slower, but none of them give me pause, really.

I expect to use speed as a tool for enjoying being in the air, not because I’ve any need to quickly get from A to B.

I’ve looked over the generalities of ground school content - it’s not familiar to me already, but I can put in the necessary time and energy to learn it. I’ll be on disability for 4+ weeks soon following a minor surgery, so study time isn’t a problem.

Any instructor and plane will require a bit of a trip, which I’m fine with.

Several schools have caught my eye as at least worth a second look - curious if anyone has insight on any of these folks (or the airports they operate from):

• SRT Aviation Mt Vernon, IL
• CityWings.net Schaumburg, IL
• Jet Access Indianapolis, IN (and others)
• Sport Pilot Chicago Newark, IL
• St Charles Flying Svc St Charles, MO

They are all roughly equidistant from me, save the last one being a bit farther.

Also, how do I interview an instructor, aside from qualifications? I’m going in with minimal enough knowledge that I don’t know at least some of the obvious questions to ask.

For what it’s worth, LSA is a goal unto itself for my mission - no intention to use as a stepping stone to PPL, etc.

Thanks

Was planning on going south of the mountains, but was happy to do so due to the hurricane.

cross-posted from: https://pilotsonline.net/post/174

My entire personality isn't being a pilot. For example, sometimes when talking to people I will look up at airplanes instead of just flying them.

It's an issue that needs greater visibility, so I hope this kind of reporting is a step towards reform.

PPG pilot here. Part 103.17 states that class B, C, D, and the lateral area of E to the ground are prohibited. But PASC shows an Ultralight Activity Warning symbol right in the middle of a Class E to the ground. How is this possible? Maybe the class changed and the symbol was just left on the map? Commercial 737-ish [and larger cargo] planes have been flying in and out of this place every day for nearly 50 years. I can't imagine it wasn't a class E to the ground with that level of traffic any time after the 80s. Any ideas?

From CFR:

§ 103.17 Operations in certain airspace.
No person may operate an ultralight vehicle within Class A, Class B, Class C, or Class D airspace or within the lateral boundaries of the surface area of Class E airspace designated for an airport unless that person has prior authorization from the ATC facility having jurisdiction over that airspace.

Alaska Airlines pilot takes shrooms and tries to pull fire handles in flight.

Really tragic news. Richard was an excellent voice for aviation safety and the greater industry, his interviews and presentations were top notch. Heart goes out to his family and that of the unamed other person in the plane.

Really sad, sounds like lots ot planes lost including an entire training fleet.

I missed 2/60 questions for a 97%:

• IR.V.B.K1: Elements related to ATC routes, including departure procedures (DPs) and associated climb gradients; arrival procedures (STARs) and associated constraints.

• IR.I.C.K3a: Calculating: a. Time, climb and descent rates, course, distance, heading, true airspeed, and groundspeed

I took an online home-study ground school course with Aviation TrainingCenter (www.aviationtrainingcenter.org). I had bought a lifetime membership when I was doing my PPL originally with them under another company name, so I was grandfathered in before their annual subscription pricing hit. I completed the course in about 3 weeks in my spare time (I have a wife, 2 young children & a 60+ hr/wk non-aviation career).

After I completed the home-study course, I went the Sheppard Air study resource route and bought their IRA study kit. I spent around 30 hours going through that. People say it's just rote memorization. You could use it that way, but to be honest, I found it easier actually understanding the concepts and principles, and reading the provided explanations to better understand things. A few things in the explanations for the exam contradicted what the home-study course ground instructor said, so I found that extra helpful. The Sheppard Air study resource also points out questions on the FAA exam that the exam computers are scoring incorrectly. I saw one of those on my exam and trusted the Sheppard Air guidance to pick the wrong answer on purpose: it panned out as that wasn't one of the categories I missed. But having learned the right and wrong answer (and how to find the right one) from the Sheppard Air study resource, I'd 10/10 use that resource again. Well worth it.

I rushed the studying piece and did all the 30 hours this week (my wife is amazing and really supportive), so I'd get the test in before the FAA changes it, which is scheduled for this Monday, July 31, 2023. They're reducing the allowed time to 120 minutes (from 150); but I only needed 33 minutes to complete all 60 questions in the test. They also announced they're adding 5 "unscored" questions, and supposedly they take this kind of update timeframe as an opportunity to reword and change up questions, so I'd allow the testing and study resources to settle a little if you're planning the IRA exam after 7/31/2023 -- give it a few weeks at least.

I've got about 38 hours XC already, so now the fun begins: Flying with a CFII and maybe a safety pilot to complete the aeronautical experience requirements while preparing for the oral exam and checkride!

Any recommendations from IR pilots for a PPL-rated IR student?

My take is that it's a good start and important step towards fully de-leading the fleet fuel. There was a good article on AVweb breaking down the difference between the STC and ASTM approaches and the work that still need to be done:

https://www.avweb.com/uncategorized/eagle-and-gami-not-a-transparent-process/

If you own a plane, do you intend to buy the GAMI STC for it?

Do you have access to G100UL at your airport or in your area?

Some history: https://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=59375