The final version of the long-awaited MOSAIC (Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification) rule is here.
The announcement was made at a press conference held at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2025, by U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy, along with officials from the FAA and the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA).
“This is one of most significant rule packages for general aviation in the past 75 years,” said Jack J. Pelton, EAA CEO and Chairman of the Board. “This creates what can be called Sport Pilot 2.0, as it builds on the safety and momentum established by that rule two decades ago and opens tremendous possibilities for current and future pilots, flight schools, manufacturers, and many others.”
In the works for more than 10 years, MOSAIC’s biggest change to the Sport Pilot and Light-Sport Aircraft rules is that LSA will no longer be classified by weight, but by stall speed.
Under MOSAIC, a sport pilot can fly most aircraft that have a stall speed up to 59 knots. Pilots holding a private pilot certificate or above can fly most aircraft that have a stall speed up to 61 knots.
This change means as much as 70% of the current general aviation fleet — including legacy airplanes such as the Cessna 172 — will be able to be flown by sport pilots.
Other changes include:
- Allowing for new types of propulsion and modern avionics
- Allowing aerial work with LSA, such as infrastructure and forest inspections, photography/filming, and agricultural surveillance
- Reducing regulatory requirements by expanding the types of aircraft that qualify as LSA and the types of aircraft pilots can fly under Sport Pilot privileges.
The changes take effect 90 days after the final rule publishes, with the changes for LSA certification being phased in over the next year.
According to FAA officials, the agency created the LSA category and the Sport Pilot certificate in 2004 “to enable the manufacture and use of safe and economical aircraft for recreation and flight training.”
“The solid safety record of LSAs showed that the FAA could safely expand this aircraft category,” agency officials said.
After years of review and input from the general aviation industry and community, the FAA proposed the MOSAIC rule in July 2023, receiving more than 1,300 public comments on it.
“The agency made key changes based on the comments, including higher stall speeds for LSA, higher stall speed limits for Sport Pilots, and voluntary manufacturer compliance with FAA noise standards,” FAA officials noted.
General aviation advocates, as well as FAA and other government officials, say the new rule has the potential to transform general aviation.
“For over a decade, pilots around the country, including myself, have been advocating for MOSAIC to become a reality,” said U.S. Representative Sam Graves (R-MO), Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and a long-time pilot. “This is a huge win that will fundamentally transform general aviation. It will ensure light sport aircraft are more versatile and accessible, foster innovation in the light sport aircraft category, and make it easier for more people to become pilots. That’s why I included a requirement in the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024 for the FAA to issue this final rule.”
“I can’t think of a better place than at the largest general aviation airshow in the U.S. to announce that we’re unleashing American ingenuity,” added Duffy. “This new rule will promote better designs, safer materials, and upgraded technology in the recreational aviation sector. Our recreational pilots and plane manufacturers have correctly noted outdated regulations were inhibiting innovation and safety. No more. Let’s bring this industry into a new age.”
“By expanding the kinds of aircraft sport pilots can fly — including many popular four-seat legacy aircraft — and by simplifying certification pathways, we are opening the door for more people to experience the freedom and joy of aviation,” said Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association CEO Darren Pleasance.
Now that the final rule has been released, general aviation advocacy groups say the next step is to review it “in depth.”
EAA officials added that after that review, the association will “create programming to meet the possibilities now available.”
You can read the entire final rule at FAA.gov.
Be careful here……The LSA requirements are 20 hours of flight 15 dual and 5 solo of which 2 hours need to be x-country…
Flying our legacy aircraft will require more flight time……and as an instructor I will not sign off anyone to these minimum requirements for safety reasons…..
Let’s not cause the accident rate to increase as the FAA will probably require legally more time….
LSA pilots with higher flight time should be able to solo our legacy aircraft with a good check out.
If anything the insurance carrier may require a certain amount of flight time by A CFI to solo 4 place aircraft…..like the 172, piper warrior or Beech Sundowner…..
BTW Thank you FAA for finally doing this…..
regards All
“LSA requirements are 20 hours of flight….”–
I think you are mixing up “sport pilot” and “light sport aircraft”.
They are two separate issues.
Sport Pilot is about pilots,
LSA is about aircraft certification.
This has always been a bit confusing for many people,
this new Mosaic regulation just seems to make it more confusing–
for example, differing stall speed limits for SP & LSA.
So, we waited how many years and listened to all the hype and this is all there is? I’m not impressed. Why didn’t we simply adopt European Ultralight (our LSA) and Microlight (our UL) rules, which seem to have worked well for many years over there? And also their focus on good old ethanol-free mogas as the primary fuel for future piston aircraft.
If my information is correct, those rules allow for the use of wing flaps when determining the stall speed limit. That is something that our regulators just cannot seem to concede so they just keep upping the no flaps stall speed. Now that would be welcomed relief from the regulators and more representative of the way aircraft are actually operated.
I lik3 landing without using glaps most of the time.
I like landing without the use of flaps most of the time.
Will we have to have our planes recertified?
So a 4 seat Cherokee or 172/182 will qualify as an LSA…..excellent. Now, why limit a Sport Pilot to only one passenger in a four seat aircraft? Maybe that’s an improvement coming in Mosaic 2.0.
Why are LSA’s going to have a higher stall speed that what a Sport Pilot can fly? Seems like that is going to cause a lot of confusion.
59 knots is only the upper limit. Most aircraft will be below that number, many significantly.