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Dan Brown wrote:
> I have been actively
searching for a LSA qualified older ship.
> What are modifications
that take a LSA qualified 415-C or 415-CD
> out of the legal LSA
definition?
>
> Ron Harden wrote in
response to my posting about a potential
> purchace of a 415-C
with a C-90 engine:
> > "I am
almost 100% sure this plane would not be LSA. The LSA
> > rule will not
allow any plane that has ever modified from it's
> > original manufactured
specification to be LSA. And, it can not be
> > modified
back to it's original specification and be qualified as LSA."
Dan,
The actual definition, cut and pasted from the rule is
below.
As you’ll see, it only has certain things
listed. Included among them is the restriction on gross weight.
There are NO restrictions based on changes in the
aircraft other than those listed. If you’d changed to a jet engine
then back, it’d be disallowed. If you changed it to be a
3-passenger then back, it’d be disallowed. If you’d put in
such a big engine that it had Vh faster than 120 kts, then changed it back it’d
be disallowed.
But, if you put in a bigger reciprocating engine that
does NOT make it go faster than 120 kts, there’s no problem. For
example, a larger engine could have been installed without changing the model
or gross weight by getting a field approval via form 337.
(I don’t think you could mount an engine in an
Ercoupe or Forney airfram that’d get you to 120 kts – the power
required would be prohibitive. The guy who put a 135 hp engine in a Coupe
didn’t go much faster but he climbed really well, he said.)
If you changed the aircraft model to be a D for any
reason (such as for the O-200 STC), then changed it back, it would NOT be
eligible because the plane had, for the time it was a D, a gross weight higher
than allowed by the regulation.
Actually, there are lots of improvements that can be
made to a C or CD Coupe that would not affect the gross weight.
But, if you changed (limited) the elevator up travel,
that’d be in violation of the Aircraft Specification A-718 which
specifies what the up travel must be. Perhaps someone could have gotten
that change approved via form 337 but who’d be crazy enough to do it
without changing the gross weight? The change to model D as laid out in
A-787 specifies the changes that must be included – but it doesn’t
prohibit most of those changes to be done to a C or CD via form 337.
So, in summary, the key thing to watch for is a change
to a later model such as D or higher because those models had the higher gross
weight.
Did I make this clear? Please ask questions if I
didn’t.
http://edburkhead.com
ed -at-
edburkhead???.com (change
-at- to @ and remove "???")
Light-sport aircraft means an
aircraft, other than a helicopter or powered-lift that,
since its original certification, has
continued to meet the following:
(1) A maximum takeoff weight of not more
than––
(i) 660 pounds (300 kilograms) for lighter-than-air
aircraft;
(ii) 1,320 pounds (600 kilograms) for
aircraft not intended for operation on water;
or
(iii) 1,430 pounds (650 kilograms) for an aircraft
intended for operation on water.
(2) A maximum airspeed in level flight with maximum
continuous power (VH) of
not more than 120 knots CAS under standard atmospheric
conditions at sea level.
(3) A maximum never-exceed speed (VNE) of not more
than 120 knots CAS for a
glider.
(4) A maximum stalling speed or minimum steady flight
speed without the use of
lift-enhancing devices (VS1) of not more than 45 knots
CAS at the aircraft’s maximum
certificated takeoff weight and most critical center
of gravity.
356
(5) A maximum seating capacity of no more than two
persons, including the
pilot.
(6) A single, reciprocating engine, if powered.
(7) A fixed or ground-adjustable propeller if a
powered aircraft other than a
powered glider.
(8) A fixed or autofeathering propeller system if a
powered glider.
(9) A fixed-pitch, semi-rigid, teetering, two-blade
rotor system, if a gyroplane.
(10) A nonpressurized cabin, if equipped with a cabin.
(11) Fixed landing gear, except for an aircraft
intended for operation on water or
a glider.
(12) Fixed or repositionable landing gear, or a hull,
for an aircraft intended for
operation on water.
(13) Fixed or retractable landing gear for a glider.
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