Rotax vs Tempest Oil Filter

[drseti]

A further inconsistency in the FARs: a Sport Pilot can change the oil (and other PM) on an SLSA he or she owns, but not on a certified LSA like a Cub, Champ, Luscomb, or T-craft. For those, the owner needs to be a Private Pilot or above. Where in the PP training do we teach the additional skills needed to chang oil in a Continental (which, by any objective measure, is simpler than changing oil in a Rotax)?

[3Dreaming]

Good Doctor, unless you are reading something different than me the answer is NO. An applicant should know how the oil system works, but they are not required to know how to change oil or filters. However they should know that they can change oil and filters, and in the case of a sport pilots which aircraft they can perform preventive maintenance on.

I think you missed my cynical point, Tom. Of course there is no requirement that the applicant know how to change oil. The irony is that, after the Practical test, the newly minted Sport Pilot is empowered by the FARs to change oil, and do other preventive maintenance on a plane he or she owns. The previous day, the FARs forbade the same aircraft owner from doing so. So, obviously, there was something in the passing of the Practical test that magically endowed the applicant with the requisite skills, no?

I guess I should have looked more closely at the smiley. What I find odd is that a private pilot could legally perform preventive maintenance on a Lear jet owned by them, while a sport pilot can not change oil on a Piper Cub owned by them.

[drseti]

What I find odd is that a private pilot could legally perform preventive maintenance on a Lear jet owned by them, while a sport pilot can not change oil on a Piper Cub owned by them.

That's precisely why EAA makes the distinction between SLSA, ELSA, E-AB, and what they dubbed SPEA. (Yes, Tom, I know you don't like that term). From a pilot's perspective, an LSA is an LSA, as defined in FAR 1.1. But from a Maintenance perspective, unfortunately not all LSAs are created equal.

[3Dreaming]

What I find odd is that a private pilot could legally perform preventive maintenance on a Lear jet owned by them, while a sport pilot can not change oil on a Piper Cub owned by them.

That's precisely why EAA makes the distinction between SLSA, ELSA, E-AB, and what they dubbed SPEA. (Yes, Tom, I know you don't like that term). From a pilot's perspective, an LSA is an LSA, as defined in FAR 1.1. But from a Maintenance perspective, unfortunately not all LSAs are created equal.

You are right I don't like those terms. All they did was create confusion, and they continue to do so to this day. In this case the way the FAA broke it down is much better than the EAA's over simplified way of trying to describe it. IMO their description was an injustice to the light sport community.

In my previous post I should have been more specific in that a private pilot can perform preventive maintenance on a aircraft owned by them that they can't even legally fly, while a sport pilot can not perform preventive maintenance on all the aircraft they can legally fly.

[drseti]

Good clarification, Tom.