August 13, 2008

Re: Docket No. FAA 2007-29015 -- Certification of Aircraft and Airmen
for the Operation of Light-Sport Aircraft: Modifications to Rules for
sport Pilots and Flight Instructors With a Sport Pilot Rating

Please accept the following comments.

General Comment: The decision in 2004 to omit Sport Pilot and Sport
Pilot Instructor aircraft category and class privileges from
certificates has led to considerable confusion. CFR 61.5(b) and 61.317
are contradictory; 61.5(b) states category and class privileges will
appear on certificates while 61.317 states they won't. The correction is
obvious and simple -- issue new certificates that show category and
class. A computer search of airman records will reveal those pilots who
have *Sport Pilot Privileges Not Printed on Certificate.* Those
instructors who have administered proficiency checks should be required
to verify that those privileges they authorized have been properly
recorded by checking the FAA online airman database and then taking any
necessary corrective action.

The requirement for Sport Pilots and Sport Pilot Instructors to carry
their logbooks on all flights should be immediately eliminated. A copy
of their pilot and instructor *Privileges Not Printed on Certificate*
can be printed from the FAA online airman database and carried with
their certificate until new certificates are issued.

*Proposal II.B.3. II.B.3. Remove current provisions for the conduct of
proficiency checks by authorized flight instructors and include
provisions for the issuance of category and class ratings by designated
pilot examiners (Sec. 61.413)*

Comment:

Four years after enacting the Sport Pilot regulations there are still
very few weight-shift examiners and flight instructors. This has proven
to be a deterrent for weight-shift control pilots who often must travel
many hours for flight instruction and may have to travel out of state to
the nearest examiner. The PTS document provides clear instructions for
conducting proficiency checks. The FAA document *Proficiency Check
Procedures for Obtaining Additional Category/Class Sport Pilot
Privileges*, available online, provides additional instruction for
completing and processing FAA Form 8710-11. Significant confusion has
arisen because Sport Pilot privileges are not printed on pilot
certificates. Correcting this will provide a clear link between
proficiency check/Form 8710-11/revised pilot certificate listing added
privileges. Form 8710-11 should be corrected so that necessary
information is reported properly. The form doesn't include essential
instructions or include space for some required information. The Record
of Pilot Time grid should be corrected by shading boxes that are not
applicable and by collecting aeronautical experience obtained in
ultralight aircraft.

The FAA could do a better job of communicating its concerns about
proficiency checks and subsequent documentation directly to flight
instructors, indirectly through organizations such as NAFI, EAA, and
AOPA, or through postings on the FAA Sport Pilot pages.

FAR 61.321(b) requires a Sport Pilot to successfully complete a
proficiency check from an authorized instructor but neither FAR 61.193
nor FAR 61.413 authorize flight instructors to perform proficiency
checks (unless identical language in 61.193(h) and 61.413(g) also
authorize flight instructors to perform practical tests). This error
should be corrected and the authority of flight instructors to perform
proficiency checks should be explicitly stated in the regulations.

Until there are sufficient examiners throughout the country,
weight-shift control Sport Pilot Instructors should retain the authority
to conduct proficiency checks.

*Proposal II.B.16. Remove expired ultralight transition provisions and
limit the use of aeronautical experience obtained in ultralight
vehicles.*

Comment:

As a professional CFI for weight-shift control aircraft (trikes) I
strongly believe that aeronautical experience obtained in ultralight
trikes should continue to be applicable toward the aeronautical
experience requirements for any weight-shift control pilot certificate
and that the requirements of 61.52(c)(1) should be dropped. Many of my
students have completed some or all of their solo flight training in
ultralight trikes. This experience has been, without exception,
significant and useful training toward certification. Please consider
the following points:

1.  **Safety** -- The lower speeds and lighter weights of ultralight
    trikes make them easier for students to land safely. A two-seat
    trike will climb significantly faster and steeper when flown solo.
    This can be a problem and has been the cause several tragic
    accidents involving students transitioning to solo flight. The
    transition from flying two-up in a trainer to flying solo in an
    ultralight trike is easier. As a student gains solo proficiency the
    additional speed and power of higher performance trikes rapidly
    becomes more manageable. I have had several students that spent a
    few hours flying ultralight trikes before transitioning to their own
    high performance aircraft. This has proven to be a successful
    stepping stone.

2.  **Training Efficiency** -- Students will be able to solo earlier in
    their training and will be able to practice and perfect basic skills
    on their own. Students improve their proficiency rapidly during
    early solo practice. The additional dual training necessary to
    achieve the higher level of proficiency necessary to safely solo in
    a faster, more powerful, and heavier trike can be tedious and
    frustrating. Students may give up during this additional training
    without soloing even though they were proficient enough to fly an
    ultralight trike.

3.  **Cost** -- Training will cost less for those students who can solo
    earlier and continue to build time in an ultralight trike. A student
    purchasing a trike for solo training can buy a better ultralight
    trike (in terms of condition and reliability) for a given price.

4.  **Certification of ultralight pilots** -- Pilots flying ultralight
    trikes should be encouraged to obtain proper training and
    certification. Eliminating credit for ultralight trike solo time
    will discourage ultralight pilots from completing training beyond
    the minimum necessary to take-off and land their trikes and more
    pilots will turn to self-instruction. There is virtually no
    incentive for a student to obtain solo endorsements, to take a
    written test, or to prepare for a checkride if their ultralight time
    doesn't count toward certification. While no training is required to
    pilot an ultralight trike most students would be interested in
    completing a formal program that recognizes their training. I
    currently recommend that all my ultralight students strive for their
    Sport Pilot certificate.

5.  **Availability of aircraft for solo training --** When I learned to
    fly an airplane I soloed in the same flight school airplane I had
    been training in. That was and continues to be standard practice.
    This is not the case, however, in virtually any trike instruction
    program. For one reason, the nature of trike flying means the risk
    of aircraft damage is higher. Second, the financial risk is high
    because hull insurance is generally unavailable. Trikes suitable for
    training are much more expensive than they were just a few years
    ago. Changes in airworthiness certification requirements have driven
    the prices up and have removed most models from the market. Next
    year all flight schools will be required to fly SLSA trikes. I will
    be required to replace the trainer I have used with great success
    for several years with a new aircraft that will cost more than
    double and will be less well suited to the purpose. Unfortunately,
    students will be far less likely to solo in this new trainer.
    Finally, even if the training aircraft could be used by a solo
    student, it may not be available at the optimal times for solo
    practice because these are also the best times for primary flight
    instruction. Use of an ultralight trike for solo training may be the
    only feasible option for many students.

6.  **Encourage transition of ultralight pilots --** Some ultralight
    trike pilots will want to obtain FAA pilot certificates and fly
    certificated trikes after they have become proficient pilots of
    ultralight aircraft. Hopefully, this will be a continuing trend as
    new pilots find that ultralight trikes are an affordable way to
    enjoy recreational flight. While it is true that no dual instruction
    has been given under the ultralight training exemptions since they
    expired last January it is also true that ultralight pilots continue
    to build significant aeronautical experience. Section *II.B.16.* of
    the NPRM includes the following statement:

> *The FAA originally adopted the provisions of current §61.52 to
> facilitate the process for operators of ultralight vehicles to obtain
> airman certificates established by the 2004 rule and to meet the
> requirements of §61.69. The FAA did not intend for these transition
> provisions to be indefinite in duration. Since operators of ultralight
> vehicles should have transitioned to the new airman certificates prior
> to the date of this proposal, or have used their aeronautical
> experience to meet the provisions of §61.69, the FAA believes that
> retaining the provisions for the use of aeronautical experience in
> §61.52 is no longer warranted.*
>
> Obviously, it is not correct that a person who becomes a pilot of
> ultralight aircraft today or in the future should have transitioned to
> an FAA certificate prior to this NPRM. Hopefully, the FAA really
> intends that the transition period will endure at least as long as
> ultralight flight is allowed.

It may be reasonable for FAA to require that aeronautical experience
obtained in ultralight trikes and used to satisfy certificate
requirements must be supervised or otherwise accepted by a CFI. It might
also be reasonable to require the ultralight pilot to obtain an FAA
Student Pilot certificate and to obtain a certificate and logbook
endorsement for solo flight before obtaining aeronautical experience
used to satisfy certificate requirements. In any case, the flight
instructor will evaluate a student's abilities and proficiency before
recommending him for a checkride.

This FAA in this proposal and subsequent regulations should distinquish
between dual flight instruction received under a training exemption and
solo flight experience obtained in an ultralight aircraft. The Airman
Certificate and/or Rating Application -- Sport Pilot form (FAA Form
8710-11) should be corrected to capture aeronautical experience obtained
in ultralights used to satisfy certificate requirements.

The current requirements of 61.52(c)(1) should be eliminated because
ultralight pilot registration programs ended with the expiration of
ultralight training exemptions. The continuing requirement to join an
organization and enroll in their non-functional training program is a
senseless burden.

Sincerely,

Douglas Donaldson

Golden State Trikes

180 Oakmont Court

Valley Springs, CA 95252

Ddonald247@aol.com