FAA Orders Can Change Things And Catch You By Surprise.

A change to FAA order 8130.2 could prohibit passenger carrying in certain experimental airplanes that include Experimental Light Sport and any airplane that is electrically powered.

Here’s the full story -- so far...

The FAA issues lots of regulations that go through a well-known approval process. However once those regulations become law documents known as FAA orders issue the instructions for how the regulations are to be carried out. While these FAA orders are not secret or hidden, they are not generally well known by the flying public that doesn’t work with them every day.

Any aircraft that is issued a Special Airworthiness Certificate (that’s the pink colored certificate) is also issued FAA mandated Operating Limitations. Experimental aircraft carry a Special Airworthiness Certificate therefore, the Operating Limitations can cover many areas of operation that have nothing to do with the actual operating of the aircraft itself. There are nine classes of experimental aircraft and Operating Limitations are customized to each one of these classes. The issuance procedures for these Operating Limitations are specified in FAA order 8130.2.

FAA order 8130.2 is being revised and we at ANN undertook the job of reviewing over 300 pages of revisions. It’s a daunting task that is not yet complete but we have stumbled across a few disturbing issues. It looks like the operating limitations for some aircraft will prohibit passenger carrying that has not been addressed before.

These aircraft are:

• Experimental light sport aircraft that formally held a special light sport aircraft airworthiness certificate.
• Electric powered aircraft.
• Warbirds
• God Only Knows What Else...

There are other aircraft that may be affected by the Operating Limitations changes in this revision, but these few are the ones that got our attention.

It’s important to understand that these potential changes are because of a rewrite of an FAA order, not because of any rule change. For example the regulations have always allowed a factory built special light sport aircraft (S-LSA) to change certification to an experimental light sport aircraft (E-LSA). It’s the operating limitations that will be issued for the experimental light sport aircraft that will impose the no passenger carrying limit.

We are still checking into the details about this revised FAA order. It’s a complex issue and we will keep you posted on what we find out after checking with sources inside and outside the FAA.

FMI: craig.holmes@faa.gov, http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs/orders/, http://www.faa.gov/aircraft/draft_docs/media/DRAFT_Order_8130.2.pdf