Oshkosh 2025 Day Two: MOSAIC Rule

After 17 years of personal frustration with the hits and misses of the light sport aircraft category and sport pilot certificate, relief lies in plain sight. In fact, in about 3 months, I’ll have the ability to fly both airplanes I frequent—a Lockwood AirCam and a Cessna 182 under the FAA’s revised sport pilot privileges—announced with the confirmation of the MOSAIC final rule on Tuesday at EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

That means (since I currently hold a higher level of pilot certificate) I can fly those aircraft with a valid driver’s license, rather than a medical certificate. This is a game changer for a lot of folks—and not just the senior cadre of flying friends I’ve accumulated over the years.

Table 9 Summary of Changes to Sport Pilot Privileges released by the FAA this week with the confirmation of the MOSAIC final rule. [Courtesy of the FAA/EAA]

Aircraft certification rules also open up with the launch of MOSAIC, including removing the weight limit imposed by the original LSA classification (1,320 pounds for land-based airplanes), no limit on number or horsepower of engines, and the expansion to four seats (though the pilot flying under sport privileges must stick to just one passenger). The upper limit for the stall speed for airplanes also expands, to a VS1 of 59 knots CAS, opening up not only the Skylane but a host of other single- and light twin-engine airplanes I have in my logbook.

I’ll write more on these memories at a later date, but the removal of the weight limit would have allowed Cessna much more flexibility in the design of the Skycatcher, and I argue would have made it an even better airplane, performing far better in the marketplace.

A host of already CS 23 certified airplanes (under EASA) are poised for deployment into the U.S. market too as a result, including the Elixir two-seat training airplane that also announced Part 23 certification this week (understanding that with that milestone passed, it can be flown by private pilots ahead of MOSAIC implementation).

The playing field just opened up significantly, with the cost to entry lowered substantially at the same time.

I cannot overstate how critical these changes will be in assuring the health and accessibility of general aviation as we integrate new technologies and ways of flying into the mix. I’ll see you in these new, blue skies!

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