Changing Airworthiness Certificate

[SMangini]

If a Kitfox series 5-7 is for sale and has been certificated as "Light Sport" with a weight limit of 1320lbs. Can it be recertified by a new owner under factory weight limit of 1550lbs? I am a newbie of course and needing to be informed as much as possible in order to pull the trigger when the right plane comes up for sale. My thought process for needing all 1550lbs. is as follows: Dry weight of plane 850lbs. + 280 (me) + 150 (passenger) + 100 (Baggage) + 20 (Coolant/Oil) + 100 (~4hrs fuel) = 1500lbs. The above weight scenario would be a typical cross country trip with the wife. Thanks in advance! Your knowledge and advise is much appreciated.

[avidflyer]

Yes, you have to notify the FAA of the change, do phase 1 flight testing to verify the safety of the changes. You can't go the other way though. JImChuk

[aviator79]

If you dig around on the forums here, you'll find a few discussions on this. JImChuk has summed it up pretty concisely, but I'll expand just a little bit.

If the airplane is certified as amateur-built, you can increase the gross weight. The advantage is obvious: you'll be able to come in under gross when loaded as you describe. The disadvantage is that the airplane will never again be a Light Sport Aircraft, even if you change the max gross weight back to 1320. The result is that Sport Pilots and other pilots that are flying under the light sport rules would not be able to fly it (legally, anyhow). Some suspect that this may reduce the resale value because you reduce the potential buyer pool. In the current market, I doubt it matters what the gross weight is, but I thought I'd point out the resale as something for you to consider.

[fastfred]

Someone told me that the Faa might Increase the LSA weight to 1550. Anyone else heard that?

[Danzer1]

Steve there is confusion here - please clarify - you wrote "certificated as "Light Sport" - is it currently an S-LSA, E-LSA or E-AB? Makes a big difference on what you can do.

Also a "Sport Pilot" may legaly fly any aircraft that meets LSA requirements regardless of the certification class (even Std. class aircraft) - it has nothing to with the aircraft certification class, just the aircraft meeting the requirements (when flown).

Greg

[dcsfoto]

Note: when you do a Phase one flight testing and make an aircraft record entry going to 1550 there is no going back.

if the aircraft is certified as SLSA or ELSA no 1550,


David Kelm
FAA DAR-T,F

7SS 912iS

[aviator79]

Also a "Sport Pilot" may legaly fly any aircraft that meets LSA requirements regardless of the certification class (even Std. class aircraft) - it has nothing to with the aircraft certification class, just the aircraft meeting the requirements (when flown).

Greg

It's true that it has nothing to do with the certification class, but it must have met the LSA requirements continuously since original certification. If it has ever been modified outside of the LSA requirements, it will never again meet the definition of an LSA, even if you switch it back to its original configuration.

[fastfred]

So if My KF is registered at 1550 I can legally fly it with a light sport license if I keep the actual the weight below 1320? Better double check that I think under a prior owner an incident caused it to be changed to 1550 . I would have to pull the documents from my history. It seems like a gray area