The Sport Pilot Regulations Allowed 2-Place Exempted Ultralight Trainers To Be Converted To E-LSA Certification, But How Do You Know That’s Been Done?

This story is a little unusual because we heard about it from an A&P mechanic who is friend of ANN. An acquaintance of the mechanic was interested in purchasing an E-LSA, ultralight style, 2-place airplane that he found on a popular buy and sell website. It’s a good thing he asked for advice.

The ad on the website represented the airplane as being an E-LSA and advertised that it had been assigned an N-number. The mechanic was asked to make a call and help determine if this would be a good purchase. The mechanic made the call and verified through photographs that the aircraft did have an N-number, but when he asked about its certification status, the seller did not understand the question.

As it turned out, this aircraft had never really been certified as an E-LSA and was not even legal to fly. This airplane was registered, but not certified, which leads to the question of; what is the difference between the terms registration and certification?

Prior to an aircraft being certified, it must be registered. All aircraft certified under the ultralight transition allowed up until January 2008 for “fat ultralights” had to be registered first and then certified to become an E-LSA. This aircraft had completed the first step but not the second step.

The registration part of the procedure is easy to accomplish and is the process of receiving the N-number. However, simply placing N-number decals on an airplane is only part of the process toward certification.

The second part of the process is to have the aircraft inspected by the FAA, or an FAA designated airworthiness representative (DAR), and to be issued an airworthiness certificate. At the end of this process the owner of the E-LSA aircraft should possess a white registration certificate and a pink airworthiness certificate. Without both, the plane may be suitable as a lawn ornament, but it is not legal to fly.

When in doubt, check with someone that knows…it’s a good thing our buyer called our mechanic friend before writing the check.

(Image from File)

FMI: www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/