A little late for April 1; but I heard the FAA is going to put a
weight limit on each pilot!.......................joking.
On Apr 9, 2009, at 9:29 AM, A.J. Demarzo wrote:
Come on, guys. Throughout March, Zoom was warning that the April
Fools Edition was coming. Besides, it's not politically correct to
attack us fat old Ercoupe drivers.
----- Original Message -----
From: heavensounds
To: Gordon Smith ; Glenn Putnam
Cc: Ercoupe Flying ; Ercoupe Tech
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 9:21 AM
Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] LSA weight Limit Lifted
Can't find it anywhere else, so it must be April fool's joke.
A cruel one...
Eliacim
----- Original Message -----
From: Glenn Putnam
To: Gordon Smith
Cc: Ercoupe Flying ; Ercoupe Tech
Sent: Thursday, April 09, 2009 9:14 AM
Subject: Re: [ercoupe-tech] LSA weight Limit Lifted
Is thia real or an april fools joke? Glenn
On Apr 1, 2009, at 11:29 AM, Gordon Smith wrote:
'Old Pilots Are Usually Fat, Too'
<image.tiff>ANN APRIL 1st "SPECIAL" EDITION: The Federal Aviation
Administration announced Wednesday a major shift in policy in
regards to the nearly five-year-old Sport Pilot category, affecting
light sport aircraft. The agency will soon issue a Notice of
Proposed Rulemaking, stating the maximum gross weight restriction
for aircraft certificated as LSA will be raised to 1,800 lbs.
"Let's face it... older pilots are the primary beneficiaries of the
Sport Pilot rating at this point, and old pilots are usually fat,
too," said Acting Administrator Lynne Osmus.
"In addition to that reality, a number of European-sourced sport
aircraft are certified in their home markets for gross weights of
up to 1,700 lbs; for them, the US 1,320 lb. restriction for land-
based aircraft is only a line on a piece of paper. Why should we
subtract usefulness in the name of bureaucracy?"
Of course, in addition to raising the allowable useful loads for a
number of existing light sport aircraft, the eased weight
restriction should also theoretically make available a number of
older aircraft designs in the LSA category; namely, the Cessna 140
and 152 lines.
"We realize how unpopular the agency's original decision in regards
to LSA weight was with some," Osmus said. "It's taken a long time,
but the FAA is starting to come around."
FAA Administrator-Designate Randy Babbitt is also said to be in
favor of the plan.
