NOTICE OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT (NPA) NO 2008-07

[Gary M]

http://www.easa.europa.eu/ws_prod/r/doc ... 008-07.pdf
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Creation of a Certification Specification for Light Sport Aeroplanes:
This Certification is envisaged to allow such aeroplanes that are currently produced in Europe to be sold and used in Europe, which is currently not the case. The definition of Light Sport Aeroplane is slightly different from the one used in the USA based on the experience of European industry. However the airworthiness code is the ASTM International standard F2245 that is also used in the USA and other countries for the airworthiness approval of such aeroplanes.
The envisaged certification specification incorporates by reference this standard. This standard has been chosen because it is used without adverse service experience in several countries.
The Agency intends to participate in the ASTM International standard development process to ensure the standard provides an adequate level of safety. The Agency reserves the right to complement this standard in the CS-LSA when justified by service experience.
Light Sport Aeroplanes would become one of the aircraft categories covered by the ELA process.
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ii. Economic
General Aviation represents a significant activity with direct and indirect benefits for the economy. There are in Europe about 35 manufacturers of GA aeroplanes, sailplanes and balloons. Most European based manufacturers selling their products in Europe are faced with a current situation of small market numbers. In turn, the investment risks for developing new products are high and this is driven partly by the substantial front-end costs including regulatory compliance which have to be recovered over relatively low volumes.
In addition, for 2006 approx. 75% of the Light Sport Aircraft type aircraft sold in USA are produced in Europe outside of Part-21. Unfortunately, these aircraft cannot be flown within the EU. There is a risk of transfer of this activity outside the EU.
There are approximately 300,000 private pilots and 80,000 such aircraft in Europe. However this only represents 25% of the General Aviation aircraft registered in the USA that has a comparable population and economy to Europe. Furthermore, in recent years, these numbers have been decreasing in the European General Aviation sectors whose operations are regulated in a stringent manner. It should be noted that the development of certain activities such as microlights and sailplanes in some countries (e.g. France, Czech Republic, and Germany) has been closely linked to the less stringent regulation of the activity in those countries."