Sport Pilot Talk

In another post I reference a local flying club that owns a Zenith 750 Cruzer with a Continental O200D engine. Looking on the Zenith site for data has me a little confused. They show an LSA gross weight of 1320 and a DESIGN gross of 1440?

Which weight is used to determine if this is a Light Sport that I 'could' fly with Sport Pilot license?

It is all based on how the plane was registered when it was built. No matter if it was SLSA ELSA or EAB if it was built with a gross weight of 1320lbs or less it is legal as Sport Pilot, if built with an airworthiness of over 1320 then it is not legal for sport pilot.

They are advertising the plane as Light Sport which suggest it was registered as such so I think you will be good.

Now, the fact that the plane is physically capable of handling higher gross is really a bonus - to me , it is basically question of , if I overload this plane a bit over Light Sport limits , yes I am technically breaking a few rules but , but none of these are physical rules ...

Warmi said:

Now, the fact that the plane is physically capable of handling higher gross is really a bonus - to me , it is basically question of , if I overload this plane a bit over Light Sport limits , yes I am technically breaking a few rules but , but none of these are physical rules ...

I agreed that you would probably be safe physically up to the Design Gross Weight, but what about insurance? If it's registered as a Light Sport would you void your insurance if you flew it over 1320 lb.? I wouldn't want to have an accident and have the insurance company refuse to pay because I was a few pounds over the Light Sport limit. I don't know if I would take the chance.

Warmi said:

Now, the fact that the plane is physically capable of handling higher gross is really a bonus - to me , it is basically question of , if I overload this plane a bit over Light Sport limits , yes I am technically breaking a few rules but , but none of these are physical rules ...

I agreed that you would probably be safe physically up to the Design Gross Weight, but what about insurance? If it's registered as a Light Sport would you void your insurance if you flew it over 1320 lb.? I wouldn't want to have an accident and have the insurance company refuse to pay because I was a few pounds over the Light Sport limit. I don't know if I would take the chance.

Rusty Pilot, Indiana

Sorry about the double post.

Rusty Pilot, Indiana

As I've discussed in other threads, the more heavily loaded an airplane is, the less survivable an accident becomes. This is discussed at some length in my EAA wt/bal webinar at:

http://www.eaavideo.org/detail/video/4020456687001

So, legalities or insurance notwithstanding, there are safety considerations, regardless of what the designer might call the design weight.

People need to stop advocating violation of FAR's/CFR's. People posting on this site should be advocating adherence to FAR's/CFR's and aircraft/pilot certification limitations. If you don't want to follow the rules, please don't encourage others to follow suit.

+1000