Sport Pilot Talk

deltafox · Joined: 06 Apr 2010 Posts: 89

I am an instrument Rated pilot. Can I file an IFR flight plan in an LSA if I stay in VFR conditions?

ArionAv8or · Joined: 20 Mar 2010 Posts: 271

deltafox wrote: I am an instrument Rated pilot. Can I file an IFR flight plan in an LSA if I stay in VFR conditions?

Check out the home page of ByDanJohnson.com. He addresses this very issue in all it's complexity.

A Raging Debate... IFR, IMC, VMC, and LSA

http://www.bydanjohnson.com/

bryancobb · Posted: Tue Aug 31, 2010 9:01 am Post subject: OF COURSE

If you have an instrument rating, and the aircraft has enough avionics to comply with ATC instructions, why not!

It's basically just using VFR Flight Following Services.

The only difference in VFR Flight Following, and IFR under VFR conditions, is ... The controller MUST give you services if you are IFR.
They only give you VFR Flight Following if their workload permits.

Correct me if I am wrong.

P.S. YOU CAN NEVER ENTER THE CLOUDS or POOR VISIBILITY, EVER!

ArionAv8or · Joined: 20 Mar 2010 Posts: 271

bryancobb wrote: P.S. YOU CAN NEVER ENTER THE CLOUDS or POOR VISIBILITY, EVER!

I am not positive on this Brian but I believe there were a few LSAs that were equipped and allowed to enter IMC. I do not think it affects any LSA approved under earlier standards. The ASTM committee is trying to prohibit the use of a SLSA for flight into IMC but it has yet to be accepted. I know I have seen a couple of videos showing LSAs in IMC conditions and when I questioned the same thing this was the response I was given.

tadel001 · Joined: 12 Mar 2007 Posts: 251

The plane and pilot must be IFR compliant.

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1387 Location: Lock Haven PA

ArionAv8or wrote: The ASTM committee is trying to prohibit the use of a SLSA for flight into IMC but it has yet to be accepted.

The ASTM just dropped that shoe today. No new S-LSA allowed to file or fly IFR. LSAs previously certificated for IFR are grandfathered. See EAA website, or bydanjohnson.com.

drseti · Joined: 28 Nov 2009 Posts: 1387 Location: Lock Haven PA

September 2, 2010 — EAA has received a number of calls and e-mails regarding an AVWeb story on Thursday (since clarified) that may have caused some confusion about the limits of special light-sport aircraft (S-LSA) operations in instrument weather conditions.

A subcommittee for ASTM International, which administers the consensus standards for light-sport aircraft, has taken action that would provide better notification to LSA buyers and owners regarding use of the aircraft in instrument conditions. It requires consumer notification that S-LSA do not comply with any design standard for instrument flight operations.

At this time, no Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC) design standards have been developed by the ASTM subcommittee. Thus, S-LSA would carry a placard indicating that flight into IMC is prohibited. The placard would not be required or could be removed of the aircraft complied with FAA or ASTM design standards that allowed it to be operated in IMC.

This is not the same as IFR and IFR training operations in these aircraft, which are generally allowed as long as those operations do not take place in IMC. For instance, a pilot could fly an S-LSA under an IFR flight plan, in simulated instrument conditions (under the hood). All IMC flight operations can also be prohibited if the S-LSA manufacturer does not permit it.

“Light-sport aircraft standards were not developed with a specific goal of instrument-weather operations,” said Earl Lawrence, EAA’s vice president of industry and regulatory affairs. “Until such an ASTM standard is written and approved, such operations would not be endorsed by EAA or the governing ASTM committee for light-sport aircraft.”

ASTM standards for S-LSA aircraft do not apply to amateur-built aircraft or experimental light-sport aircraft (E-LSA), and do not affect Experimental category operations.

Light-sport aircraft standards were created through ASTM International for use in conjunction with the sport pilot certificate approved by FAA in 2004. Sport pilot offers a simplified pilot certificate for recreational, daytime VFR flying through a basic and safe training program.