Repairman (LSA) Inspection - Airplane

[turbopilot]

Stopped by the Sacramento FAA FSDO and picked up my Light Sport Inspection Rating today. The rating is issued limited to the ELSA that you own. They give you a "Temporary Airman Certificate" with the rating pending a permanent certificate which is mailed.

The rating expires when you sell your ELSA but can be added back if you get another ELSA.

One step at a time I am getting the FAA out of my life with the ELSA Carbon Cub. No medical, can do my own maintenance and now I can do the annual conditional inspection on my Carbon Cub.

[carlconti]

During the LSA expo at Sebring I spoke with Carol Carpenter (Rainbow) about a Carbon Cub specific course. She said there is some freedom to shorten the two stroke and Rotax sections to make room for our material.

Randy, is there any interest? If so, she can be reached at (530) 824 0644.

regards, Carl

[cityrancher]

Having attended the class that Rainbow Aviation puts on, I can say that it is worthwhile as is. That said, the Rotax aspect of the class was emphasized but not a major element. The entire course is a light overview on maintenance with a lot of compliance emphasis for the FAA. I think you should do a lot more research and study on your own and then tackle the maintenance you are comfortable doing. Rainbow has an approved syllabus they follow in order to comply with the FAA. When I attended there was a FAA supervisor from Oklahoma monitoring the program. If the course was taught at CC, I would expect (hope) a separate CC section taught by CC folks. They would have the knowledge of where to look for common issues and how to approach maintaining these areas. This brings up the ugly issue of liability. I can understand the reluctance of CC. Hopefully, something can be worked out to allow this. It's a shame our system is complicated. At least once you have the certificate, you can assume your responsibility for your own plane.

During the LSA expo at Sebring I spoke with Carol Carpenter (Rainbow) about a Carbon Cub specific course. She said there is some freedom to shorten the two stroke and Rotax sections to make room for our material.

Randy, is there any interest? If so, she can be reached at (530) 824 0644.

regards, Carl

[turbopilot]

Repairman certificate aside, the CC is a very simple machine to maintain. With a library of quality "how to" videos (like the SA0009 video), I think owner maintenance and inspection of the ELSA CC should be a strong selling point of the aircraft.

It is not just saving money on maintenance but the freedom to maintain and inspect your aircraft on your own schedule without moving it around for service.

Idea for CubCrafters store: a quality tool kit with all the tools needed to maintain the CC.

[stede52]

I've also taken the class and if you are expecting to learn how to actually maintain your aircraft, don't get your hopes up, it a very high level inspection process and log book techniques. As far as I was concerned they should call it, "How to log your repairs/inspections correctly" . I was extremely disappointed with the content of Rainbows two day class and felt it was a waste of time, however, the up side is that it gives the FAA blessing to inspect and maintain your own aircraft. I would really like to see CubCrafters develop a class specific to maintenance and repair for their aircraft, I think that would be a worth while venture.

[turbopilot]

I've also taken the class and if you are expecting to learn how to actually maintain your aircraft, don't get your hopes up, it a very high level inspection process and log book techniques.

Agree. In my class of 17 were 2 CC owners, the rest were a mix Rotax powered LSA's. Hard to have a 16 hour course to cover all these variations. The Repairman Inspection rating is specific to only the airplane you own, not all LSA's. I see no reason why FAA would not approve a "deviation" in the course curriculum to offer a course specific to the Carbon Cub, since as an owner it is the only airplane you can sign off.

[chipallen]

GREAT Idea, Bob - Re: Carbon Cub Tool Kit for the CCI Store!! David B, you listening?

[chipallen]

We have been in contact with Mike Huffman of Sport Aviation Specialties here in Atlanta regarding a LSA Repairman - Inspection course targeted strictly to the CubCrafters Sport Cub and Carbon Cubs.

Looks like Mike might have some availability to put on a course for us in April or May here in Atlanta. http://www.sportaviationspecialties.com/About_Us.htm

After hearing mixed reviews on the Rainbow course, I took Mike's course about a year and a half ago, and I was very impressed. Anyone in the southeast U.S. who would like to be notified of dates, please let me know.