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14 CFR part 22 · Van Nuys Airport
Light Sport Aircraft Rules After MOSAIC: What LSA Means Now
The definition of “light-sport aircraft” in 14 CFR 1.1, with its 1,320 lb weight limit, was deleted on 22 October 2025. Light-sport still exists as an airworthiness category under 14 CFR 21.190, now built on the new 14 CFR part 22, but it no longer decides what a sport pilot may fly.
14 CFR 1.1 definition deletedPart 22 in force 24 Jul 2026Privileges set by 14 CFR 61.3165.0 ★ · 85 Google reviews
22 Oct 2025the 14 CFR 1.1 light-sport definition was deleted
24 Jul 202614 CFR part 22 took effect, Amendment 22-1
1,320 lbno longer a regulatory limit anywhere in part 61
5.0 ★85 Google reviews
The change
Is there still such a thing as a light sport aircraft?
Yes, but it means something narrower than it used to. Light-sport is now an airworthiness category and nothing more. 14 CFR 21.190 still issues a special airworthiness certificate for a light-sport category aircraft, and since 24 July 2026 the design and production standards behind that certificate live in the new 14 CFR part 22.
What it is no longer is a pilot privilege. Before MOSAIC, sport pilot privileges pointed at the light-sport aircraft definition in 14 CFR 1.1, which set a 1,320 lb maximum takeoff weight (1,430 lb on floats), two seats, and a 45 knot CAS stall speed. That definition was deleted from 14 CFR 1.1 on 22 October 2025. Look the section up now and there is no entry beginning “Light-sport” and no mention of 1,320 pounds.
What replaced it is 14 CFR 61.316, which sits in part 61 with the pilot rules rather than in part 1 with the definitions. That relocation is the point of the whole exercise: the FAA moved the test from the aircraft's paperwork to the aircraft's performance.
The practical consequence is that two questions people used to treat as one are now separate. What airworthiness certificate does this aircraft hold? And may a sport pilot fly it? Those can now have different answers in both directions.
Then and now
What changed and what did not
MOSAIC rewrote the aircraft side and the pilot side in one rule, 90 FR 35034, published 24 July 2025. The pilot half took effect 22 October 2025 and the aircraft half on 24 July 2026.
| Question | Before MOSAIC | Now | Rule |
|---|---|---|---|
| Where is “light-sport aircraft” defined? | 14 CFR 1.1 | Nowhere in 14 CFR 1.1 — the definition was deleted | 90 FR 35034 |
| What decides which aircraft a sport pilot may fly? | The 14 CFR 1.1 definition | 14 CFR 61.316, a performance and design test | 14 CFR 61.316 |
| Maximum takeoff weight | 1,320 lb, or 1,430 lb on floats | No weight criterion exists | 14 CFR 61.316 |
| Stall speed | 45 kt CAS | 59 kt CAS for airplanes at max certificated takeoff weight; 45 kt CAS for other categories | 14 CFR 61.316(a)(1) |
| Seats | 2 | Up to 4 for airplanes; 2 for other categories | 14 CFR 61.316(a)(2) |
| Does the light-sport airworthiness category still exist? | Yes | Yes, under 14 CFR 21.190, now referencing 14 CFR part 22 | 14 CFR 21.190 |
| Can a standard-category airplane be flown by a sport pilot? | Only if it happened to meet the 14 CFR 1.1 definition | Yes, if it meets 14 CFR 61.316 | 14 CFR 61.316 |
| Night flying | Prohibited outright | Permitted under 14 CFR 61.329 with training, an endorsement and a medical or BasicMed | 14 CFR 61.329 |
| Sport pilot medical basis | US driver license under 14 CFR 61.23(c)(1) | Unchanged — still a US driver license under 14 CFR 61.23(c)(1) | 14 CFR 61.23(c)(1) |
The row that matters most for buyers is the seventh. Airworthiness category and pilot privilege are now separate questions. Our MOSAIC aircraft eligibility page walks through how to check a specific airframe.
Part 22
What is 14 CFR part 22 and who does it affect?
14 CFR part 22 is titled “Design, Production, and Airworthiness Requirements for Non-Type Certificated Aircraft”. It was added by Amendment 22-1 at 90 FR 35208 and took effect on 24 July 2026, a year after the pilot half of MOSAIC.
It is a manufacturer's rule, not a pilot's rule. If you are learning to fly, part 22 will never appear in your logbook and will not be on your knowledge test in any form you need to memorise. What it does is set the standards a manufacturer has to meet to get a light-sport category airworthiness certificate under 14 CFR 21.190 for an aircraft that does not hold a type certificate.
The reason it matters to a student anyway is supply. The old consensus-standard regime was built around the 1,320 lb ceiling, and it shaped what manufacturers built for twenty years. Part 22 is written for a world where the pilot-side test is a stall speed, which means the aircraft that get built for this market can be larger, heavier and better equipped than the ones that came before.
We are not going to speculate about which models arrive or when. Anyone telling you confidently what the 2027 training fleet looks like is guessing. What is already true is that the certificate is no longer defined by the aeroplane, which is a much better position for a student to be in.
Terminology
Six terms people mix up, and what each one now means
Most of the confusion about this rule is vocabulary rather than substance. These six words are doing different jobs from the ones they did before October 2025.
1
Light-sport aircraft (LSA)
An airworthiness category under 14 CFR 21.190, built on 14 CFR part 22 since 24 July 2026. It describes how the aircraft was certificated. It no longer describes what a sport pilot may fly.
2
Sport pilot
A pilot certificate under 14 CFR part 61 subpart J. Its aircraft privileges come from 14 CFR 61.316 and its operating limits from 14 CFR 61.315.
3
14 CFR 61.316
The performance and design test that decides eligibility: 59 knots CAS VS1 for airplanes, up to four seats, unpressurised, fixed gear and a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller.
4
Standard category
An aircraft holding a type certificate and a standard airworthiness certificate. Since MOSAIC, a standard-category airplane that meets 14 CFR 61.316 is available to a sport pilot — which was largely not the case before.
5
VS1 and VS0
VS1 is the clean stall; VS0 is the landing-configuration stall and is always lower. 14 CFR 61.316(a)(1) asks for the speed without lift-enhancing devices, so VS1 is the figure that decides eligibility.
6
Experimental light-sport (E-LSA)
A separate special airworthiness certificate under 14 CFR 21.191, not the same thing as light-sport category under 21.190. As with everything else, whether a sport pilot may fly one is decided by 14 CFR 61.316, not by the certificate it holds.
For owners
What this means if you own or are buying an aircraft
Four practical consequences, in the order they tend to come up. None of them requires a lawyer; all of them require the flight manual.
01
Your airworthiness certificate did not change
MOSAIC did not reissue anybody's airworthiness certificate. An aircraft in the light-sport category on 21 October 2025 was still in it on 23 October 2025. What changed is what that category implies about who may fly the aircraft.
02
Check VS1 once, and write it down
The published VS1 at maximum certificated takeoff weight and most critical centre of gravity, in knots calibrated airspeed. If it is 59 or less and the airplane has four seats or fewer, fixed gear and a fixed or ground-adjustable propeller, a sport pilot may fly it.
03
Modifications will not help
14 CFR 61.316(a) requires the aircraft to have met the criteria since its original certification. This is the sentence that stops an owner from buying eligibility with an STC, and it is worth reading before you spend money on one.
04
Maintenance rules follow the airworthiness certificate, not the pilot
Whether an aircraft can be maintained by a light-sport repairman, and what inspections it needs, follows from its airworthiness certificate and its category. Do not assume that because a sport pilot may fly it, light-sport maintenance rules apply to it.
05
Insurance asks a different question again
An insurer asks what certificate the pilot holds and what the aircraft is. Those two answers now interact differently from how they did before October 2025, so tell your broker rather than assuming.
06
Bring it to us if you want a second read
We will open the flight manual and the type certificate data sheet with you at a free consultation. Half an hour, no obligation, and you leave with the number written down.
The fleet
What we operate, and which category each aircraft sits in
We own and maintain the fleet. Sport training here is flown in the two-seat Cessna 162.
The Cessna 162 is the aircraft most sport students learn in, and its 1,320 lb maximum takeoff weight is a fact about that airframe rather than a regulatory ceiling. What a sport pilot may fly is decided by 14 CFR 61.316 — see the MOSAIC rule pillar for the whole picture.
Redbird MCX
The simulator does not care which category you fly
FAA-approved, fully enclosed, and it moves. Procedures, radio work and emergencies transfer to whatever aircraft you end up in, which is a useful property when the fleet is about to change.
Simulator hours are built into every programme we run. A standalone Redbird session is $189.
Your instructor
Instructors who read the rule rather than the summary of the rule
Every instructor here holds a commercial or ATP certificate plus a CFI and a current medical, and the instructor is legally pilot in command on every flight you take with them. Eleven of them.
This particular rule change has produced an unusual amount of confident nonsense, most of it repeated second-hand. We briefed the whole instructor group on 14 CFR 61.316, 61.329 and part 22 from the text rather than from a trade summary, because the failure mode is an instructor endorsing a privilege the regulation does not grant.
What people say
5.0 ★ · 85 Google reviews
Three things come up again and again in what people write about training here, and none of them is the price.
★
The debrief, not the flight
The most repeated compliment in our reviews is not the aeroplane and it is not the ramp. It is that somebody sat down afterwards and explained what happened.
★
Lessons that actually happen
Eleven instructors and a fleet we own and maintain ourselves. Reviewers mention scheduling more than anything else, which tells you what most schools get wrong.
★
The number does not move
What you enrol at is what you finish at. On an $8,400 package that promise is the entire point, and people write about it because it is not universal.
Programmes and prices
What it costs, and both ways to start
Book it now if you are ready, or book a free consultation and talk to a human first. Financing runs from $2,500 down through Stratus Financial and our own in-house plans.
Start here
Sport Pilot Certificate
$8,400 / complete
The full FAA sport pilot certificate at $8,400, flown on a valid US driver license under 14 CFR 61.23(c)(1) in an aircraft meeting 14 CFR 61.316.
Standard Private Pilot
$10,900 / 40 hrs logged
No 14 CFR 61.316 aircraft restriction at all, three passengers, no 10,000 ft ceiling and night flying inside the certificate. Needs a third-class medical certificate before solo.
Comprehensive Private Pilot
$15,900 / 60 hrs logged
Our most chosen private pilot programme. 55 hours single-engine, 5 hours in the Redbird and 10 hours of ground school, which is roughly the national average built into the price.
Solo Certificate
$5,500 / to first solo
For people whose whole ambition is the moment the instructor climbs out. Not a certificate to carry passengers, but every hour counts toward sport or private afterwards.
Discovery Flight For One
$229 / 60 min
A real lesson. You fly the aircraft, the time is loggable dual instruction, and the full $229 is credited against any programme if you enrol within 24 hours.
Redbird Simulator Session
$189 / session
An hour in the full-motion Redbird MCX with an instructor. A cheap way to find out whether you can handle radio work before you spend anything on an aeroplane.
$500 off any private pilot programme this summer. Standard $10,400 · Comprehensive $15,400 · Premium $22,000. Ask when you enroll. The sport pilot package stays at $8,400.
Next step
The rule changed. The way to find out if you like flying did not.
A $229 discovery flight is a real lesson and the hour is loggable dual instruction. If you would rather talk through what MOSAIC means for an aircraft you own, the consultation is free.
Discovery Flight For One
$229
60 minutes · you fly the aircraft · credited in full on enrolment within 24 hours
MOSAIC and the new rules
The MOSAIC rule and what it changedDoes my aircraft qualify under 14 CFR 61.316?Sport pilot night flying under 14 CFR 61.329Sport pilot endorsements explainedSport pilot medical requirementsSport pilot license cost in Los Angeles
FAQ
Light Sport Aircraft After MOSAIC: The Questions We Get Asked
No. The definition of light-sport aircraft in 14 CFR 1.1, with its 1,320 lb maximum takeoff weight, was deleted effective 22 October 2025. Light-sport survives as an airworthiness category under 14 CFR 21.190, but what a sport pilot may fly is now decided by 14 CFR 61.316.
Design, Production, and Airworthiness Requirements for Non-Type Certificated Aircraft, added by Amendment 22-1 at 90 FR 35208 and effective 24 July 2026. It sets the standards behind a light-sport category airworthiness certificate issued under 14 CFR 21.190. It is a manufacturer's rule, not a pilot's rule.
Yes. It lived in the 14 CFR 1.1 definition that MOSAIC deleted. 14 CFR 61.316, which replaced it for pilot-privilege purposes, contains no weight criterion at all.
No, not since 22 October 2025. A standard-category airplane that meets 14 CFR 61.316 is available to a sport pilot, and a light-sport-category aircraft that does not meet 61.316 is not.
LSA describes how an aircraft was certificated — an airworthiness category under 14 CFR 21.190. 14 CFR 61.316 describes what a sport pilot may fly, using a stall speed and design test. Since MOSAIC these are two separate questions.
The rule package covered light-sport repairman certification and LSA maintenance alongside the pilot and certification changes, all under 90 FR 35034. Maintenance requirements follow the aircraft's airworthiness certificate and category, not the certificate held by the pilot flying it.
No. Experimental light-sport is a special airworthiness certificate under 14 CFR 21.191; light-sport category is issued under 14 CFR 21.190. Whether a sport pilot may fly either is decided by 14 CFR 61.316.
The final rule was published at 90 FR 35034 on 24 July 2025. Most of it, including the sport pilot changes, took effect on 22 October 2025. The amendments covering aircraft certification, including part 22, took effect on 24 July 2026.
Yes. Sport training at LA Flight School is flown in the two-seat Cessna 162 Skycatcher at Van Nuys, and the complete package is $8,400. MOSAIC widened what the certificate reaches; it did not narrow it.
No. 14 CFR 61.23(c)(1) still allows sport pilot privileges on a valid US driver license, subject to the conditions in 14 CFR 61.303(b). The paragraph now refers to aircraft meeting 14 CFR 61.316 instead of the deleted light-sport definition.
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SAFETY FIRST
DISCOVERY FLIGHT
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I recently had the chance to take my first-ever discovery flight, and it was nothing short of amazing! From the moment I stepped into the cockpit, the...
SUNSET CIRRUS
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It was a great flight! I did a sunset flight and Alex let us fly an awesome. Website was easy to book, and the plane itself was really fun to fly...
FLYING LESSON
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We had a great flying lesson with Ralph and came away with a much better understanding of both the aircraft and the principles of flight. Ralph is a...
KIDS LUXURY FLIGHT
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I got 2 luxury discovery flights for my kids. I wanted them to have the experience of flying. Our instructor Alex was amazing he made sure they feel...
HONEYMOON SURPRISE
★★★★★
Last minute booking to surprise my wife on our honeymoon. She had no experience with flying and was scared of flying, but Alex was very easygoing and knew...
FULL-MOTION SIM
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Amazing flight school in van nuys airport. I have been a student here for the past few months and i could not be happier. I started doing a lot of...
DISCOVERY FOR TWO
★★★★★
I booked a Discovery Flight for Two for my girlfriend's birthday and it was the perfect gift for her. She couldn't have been more excited to get to...
SIMULATORS
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Very professional and great airplanes. I love the flight simulators. The pricing is very fair compared to any other flight school
TEEN FIRST LESSON
★★★★★
We gifted our teenage son his first flying lesson. He was so excited! Alex greeted us and gave a reassuring brief that made us all feel comfortable and at...
FIRST-TIME FLYER
★★★★★
Flying is my husband's hobby and I was incredibly anxious and apprehensive about the discovery flight. However, I felt completely safe and at ease once we...
SAFETY FIRST
★★★★★
Very safety and detail oriented. Pre-flight briefing explained everything there was. To my knowledge, this flight school is exceptional in their ability.
DISCOVERY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I recently had the chance to take my first-ever discovery flight, and it was nothing short of amazing! From the moment I stepped into the cockpit, the...
SUNSET CIRRUS
★★★★★
It was a great flight! I did a sunset flight and Alex let us fly an awesome. Website was easy to book, and the plane itself was really fun to fly...
FLYING LESSON
★★★★★
We had a great flying lesson with Ralph and came away with a much better understanding of both the aircraft and the principles of flight. Ralph is a...
KIDS LUXURY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I got 2 luxury discovery flights for my kids. I wanted them to have the experience of flying. Our instructor Alex was amazing he made sure they feel...
HONEYMOON SURPRISE
★★★★★
Last minute booking to surprise my wife on our honeymoon. She had no experience with flying and was scared of flying, but Alex was very easygoing and knew...
FULL-MOTION SIM
★★★★★
Amazing flight school in van nuys airport. I have been a student here for the past few months and i could not be happier. I started doing a lot of...
DISCOVERY FOR TWO
★★★★★
I booked a Discovery Flight for Two for my girlfriend's birthday and it was the perfect gift for her. She couldn't have been more excited to get to...
SIMULATORS
★★★★★
Very professional and great airplanes. I love the flight simulators. The pricing is very fair compared to any other flight school
TEEN FIRST LESSON
★★★★★
We gifted our teenage son his first flying lesson. He was so excited! Alex greeted us and gave a reassuring brief that made us all feel comfortable and at...
FIRST-TIME FLYER
★★★★★
Flying is my husband's hobby and I was incredibly anxious and apprehensive about the discovery flight. However, I felt completely safe and at ease once we...
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