19 January 2012 Apologies from the Technical Manager for errors in some LSA material in the January 2012 edition of Sport Pilot

I must apologise to members. I made a couple of errors in my Tech Talk article (page 46). In the second paragraph I referred to CASR 21.136; sorry, but this regulation doesn't exist, it should be 'CASR 21.186'. That is where you will find the requirements for issue of Special Certificates of Airworthiness for light sport aircraft (LSA).

I also mistakenly wrote that a kit built or experimental light sport aircraft didn't require a certificate of compliance [CoC] or statement of compliance [SoC], from the aircraft manufacturer. What I meant was that all LSA must have a CoC/SoC issued by the aircraft manufacturer in the case of a production LSA or by a LSA kit manufacturer. An additional requirement in Australia is that, for a kit LSA to be registered, there must be a production model flying which has a Special C of A. Read the bold highlighted text in 'CASR 21.191 'Experimental certificates' and CASR 21.193 'Experimental certificates: general'. All LSA must have a CoC/SoC and a Special or Experimental Certificate of Airworthiness before they can be flown.

I also wrote that once the C of A was issued for an light sport aircraft you could carry out the test flight; what I meant was a post-assembly check flight. The CoC/SoC for a LSA must state that the aircraft has had a test flight performed at the factory, (you should ask for a copy of the test flight report) but in many cases for imported aircraft the aircraft is disassembled for export, it is then reassembled by the manufacturer's Australian representative and is issued a Special C of A if it complies; but in many cases a check flight is required after the reassembly, so this can be performed in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions after the Special C of A is issued. Any problems encountered during this flight, or flights, must be reported to the manufacturer, and the aircraft must not be flown until the problem is rectified using the manufacturer's instructions.

If you want information on what is required or how to contact a person who can issue the Special C of A contact me first.

The new registration numbers mentioned in the last issue won't be implemented for some time; we will let you know in the future.

Did you know that if a light sport aircraft is experimental, it should have a capital E before the first 2 numbers, so for an experimental LSA trike, for instance, the registration number should be E32-XXXX and an experimental fixed wing aircraft the number should be E24-XXXX? Using this may mean that there is no need to change our registration numbers at all.

That is enough about light sport aircraft for now, I'm sure you are glad that I can stop going on and on about these aircraft. The problem is that there is a great deal of information coming from several sources and which is at best misleading and at worst just plain wrong. So please contact me if you have any questions about LSA.

Steve Bell, Technical Manager

30 December 2011 Junior membership

The e-mail concerning the cancellation of the Junior Membership sent to all junior members on 23 Dec 11 is hereby rescinded. It was sent out due to a miscommunication between the board and staff of RA-Aus. However, all members are to be aware that this category of membership is under review and will be discussed and decided upon at the February Board meeting. Once a decision has been made all Junior Members will be informed of the outcome.

14 November 2011 To all members: updating of aircraft hours and pilot hours.

The collection of RA-Aus pilot and aircraft 'annual hours flown' statistics is a requirement under the CASA/RA-Aus Deed of Agreement, thus to help in ensuring continuation of current member privileges it is required that the aircraft hours flown are updated when aircraft registration is renewed and that pilot hours are updated when membership is renewed.

When you receive your registration renewal form, please update the data on the form and ensure that you write the hours flown during the last 12 months beside the old number and update both the total hours flown and the landings section.

The same applies to the hours you have flown when you renew your membership. If you haven't flown at all this year please write 'nil' hours flown.

Currently we are also wasting valuable RA-Aus staff resources in having to contact members to obtain missing aircraft and pilot information. So please save us all money, time and annoyance by providing all hours required when completing the renewals.

Thank you
Steve Bell
Technical Manager