Experimental Aircraft Association chairman and CEO Jack Pelton praised the work of members of the U.S. House of Representatives in crafting the FAA Reauthorization Act but thinks the legislation could likely die when it reaches the Senate due to disagreements over airline-related issues, including mandatory retirement age and minimum hour standards for flight crew. “I don’t think it is going to get through the Senate, but I was very pleased the way the House managed it,” Pelton said. “They put everything we asked for in it and then some.”
Pelton also was effusive in his praise for the FAA’s recent Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certificates (Mosaic), noting that light sport aircraft will now be qualified based on performance as opposed to weight and can include aircraft with maximum speeds of up to 250 mph and be equipped with retractable landing gear and a constant-speed propeller.
“It’s absolutely more than anyone ever dreamed of and constitutes a new offering in the light sport category,” he said. Pelton noted that the EAA will push the FAA to increase the allowable stall speed under the proposed rule to the equivalent of Part 23 standards from the proposed 54 knots and also oppose the requirement for a night vision examination.
With regard to EAA AirVenture this week in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Pelton noted the dedication of a bronze statue of the late EAA president Tom Poberezny in the organization’s museum and his anticipation for record or near-record attendance for the 2023 event based on early aircraft and camping arrivals. “Our goal is to turn no one away and we think we are going to be tested this year. It is a good problem to have,” he commented.
Pelton said show highlights for the week include a rotating exhibit of aircraft from the U.S. Air Force Education and Training Command, a restored Lockheed Constellation once used by U.S. Army Gen. Douglas MacArthur, a formation flight of Corsairs, the presence of numerous Vietnam-era aircraft, and the arrival of an honor flight of U.S. veterans on Friday. In noting that 2023 is the EAA’s 70th year, Pelton pointed to the importance of advanced air mobility to the future of aviation and what he hoped would eventually become “another part of EAA.”