July 2025 - JulietBravoFox Media

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 V_S1 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!

Integrating the pilot, the plane, and their phone in a singular ecosystem.

Garmin’s Smart Charts.

Cirrus IQ…Plus.

ForeFlight Dynamic Procedures.

Daher Me & My Kodiak.

There’s a common thread here. Each one helps add context and fluency to our daily flight ops, whether we fly for ourselves, professionally, or in pursuit of opportunity.

Making sense of all the data we carry in our pocket or purse (or just being able to find it when we need it, at the moment we need it)….this has been the holy grail, elusive to grasp even as we power up the devices we have access to.

Any aircraft owner or pilot flying a high performance airplane in the IFR system knows the intersection of documentation both operational and procedural. Tying all of it together has felt like pushing a boulder up a mountain—from planning the flight and ensuring the aircraft is ready (and legal) to executing a flight plan through the clouds, to recording it faithfully at the end (and getting credit for those approaches logged) and making appointments for the next inspections.

With the sequential release of Garmin’s Smart Charts and ForeFlight’s Dynamic Procedures, depending on which app you use in your planning and as a backup on the flight deck, you can now use the power of the database (Garmin proprietary for Smart Charts or Jeppesen for ForeFlight) to carve out the plan you expect, and then be able to change it on the fly—and only present the data (from NOTAMs to fixes and altitudes) relevant to the approach you plan to fly. Or the one ATC switches you over to (or you choose based on changing conditions).

You can then follow along as your blue ownship toodles through the course on your smart phone or tablet. Briefly. While flying the airplane IRL.

ForeFlight’s Dynamic Procedures reduces the info on the display (here shown on the iPad) and uses a unique sidebar to distill the information and put it into context. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

On the aircraft side, two recent updates to the airplane management app world continue to drive critical information into your device, and connect you remotely to your airplane, should you be lucky enough to own one of the new ones. The enabling technology underneath both the Cirrus IQ app and the Daher Me & My TBM (now in a Kodiak version) is Garmin’s GDL 60 datalink unit installed in the airplane.

It needs a connection in order to “go live” so, as it was mentioned in Daher’s press conference today, you need to make sure you park your TBM 960 or Kodiak 900 in a pot with LTE 4G service. Hopefully your hangar has this capability, to start with.

If so, you can wake up the airplane remotely, and find out the fuel, TKS, oxygen, and database status on your phone…before you call the FBO to truck you over some avgas or Jet-A. Pretty amazing stuff.

Cirrus’ Todd Simmons talks about the connected nature of the Cirrus Experience at its press conference at Oshkosh 2025. [Credit: Julie Boatman]

Plus, you can stay connected with your friends in the type association, comparing notes on landing prowess and efficiency. If you want. Or you can just assess your own performance and take note accordingly the next time you meet up with an instructor. Other OEMs have similar programs in development, but it’s cool to see Cirrus and Daher leading the pack here in creating the ecosystem that can serve you up the data you need. When you need it.

Stay tuned for more connectivity news as EAA AirVenture 2025 continues….now with charging stations everywhere, appropriately.

Month: July 2025

Oshkosh 2025 Day Two: MOSAIC Rule

Oshkosh 2025 Day One: Connected