Accepted Consensus Standards for Light-Sport Category Aircraft: Airplane, Glider, Powered Lift, and Gyroplane

Accepted Consensus Standards for Light-Sport Category Aircraft: Airplane, Glider, Powered Lift, and Gyroplane

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Comments Invited

The FAA invites you to submit any written data, views, or arguments about this notice. Comments should identify the consensus standard number and be sent to an address listed under ADDRESSES . The FAA will forward all comments received on or before the closing date to the ASTM F37 Committee on Light-Sport Aircraft for consideration, who may change the standard in light of the comments received. The FAA will address all comments received during its recurring review of the consensus standards and participation in the consensus standards revision process.

Background

Under the provisions of the National Technology Transfer and Advancement Act of 1995  ⁽²⁾ and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-119, "Federal Participation in the Development and Use of Voluntary Consensus Standards and in Conformity Assessment Activities," effective January 27, 2016, the FAA participates in the development of consensus standards for use as a means of carrying out its policy objectives where appropriate.

Consistent with the "Certification of Aircraft and Airmen for the Operation of Light-Sport Aircraft" final rule (69 FR44772, July 27, 2004) and the "Small Airplane Revitalization Act of 2013", ⁽³⁾ the FAA has been working with industry and other stakeholders through the ASTM F37 Committee on Light-Sport Aircraft (hereafter F37) to develop consensus standards as an MOC in certificating airplanes, gliders, powered-parachutes, weight-shift control, and lighter-than-air under §§ 21.190 and 21.191(i)(2) since 2004.

The Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) final rule (90 FR 35034), published on July 24, 2025, anticipated that beginning on July 24, 2026, new consensus standards would need to be developed as the MOC to the design, production, and airworthiness requirements of part 22 subpart B, including the performance expansions and new classes of aircraft allowed by this rule. With FAA participation, F37 has worked to publish a new framework of standards that could serve as MOCs to the changes provided by the MOSAIC final rule. In addition to the previously addressed categories of aircraft, these new standards also expand the applicability to new categories of aircraft such as gyroplane and powered-lift.

As stated in the MOSAIC final rule, the FAA would publish a notice of availability (NOA) of those consensus standards in the Federal Register when the Administrator accepts the consensus standards as an acceptable MOC. The FAA reviewed the published ASTM consensus standards developed by F37 as the basis for an MOC to §§ 21.190, 21.191(k), 21.193(h), and each section of part 22 subpart B except § 22.175. The Administrator accepts ASTM F3815-26a, F3836-26, F3840-26, and F3841-26 as an MOC for the requirements of §§ 21.190, 21.191(k), 21.193(h), and part 22 subpart B.

Consensus standards that have been FAA-accepted prior to the July 24, 2026, effective date of part 22 will:

• Still apply to:

○ Alterations and repairs of "light-sport aircraft" (the terminology of such aircraft prior to MOSAIC) certificated prior to July 24, 2026; and

○ Issuance of airworthiness certificates for the experimental purpose of operating light-sport category kit-built aircraft with a light-sport category aircraft statement of compliance (FAA Form 8130-15) signed prior to July 24, 2026.

• Not apply to:

○ Light-sport category aircraft certificated on or after July 24, 2026; or

○ Issuance of airworthiness certificates for the experimental purpose of operating light-sport category kit-built aircraft with a light-sport category aircraft statement of compliance (FAA Form 8130-15) signed after July 24, 2026.

Aircraft certificated as light-sport category aircraft or kit aircraft for the experimental purpose of operating light-sport category kit-built aircraft on or after July 24, 2026, must comply with part 22 and consensus standards that have been accepted by the FAA as an MOC to part 22.

Means of Compliance Accepted

F37 has structured their light-sport category aircraft consensus standards under an integration and functional standard framework. F37 has developed integration standards for specific categories of light-sport category aircraft ( e.g., airplane, glider, powered lift, and gyroplane). These integration standards identify a package of functional standards that are applicable to the specific light-sport category of aircraft addressed by that integration standard and that are intended to work together as a whole. Each underlying functional standard covers a specific topic such as structures, landing gear, propellers, engines, etc. Many functional standards are applicable to more than one category of light-sport aircraft and will be identified in multiple integration standards whereas other functional standards are only applicable to a specific light-sport category of aircraft and will only be identified in the integration standard applicable to that category. For each light-sport category of aircraft, a tailored integration standard identifies which functional standards are required to be the MOC to part 22 and certain portions of part 21.

The FAA accepts ASTM integration standards F3815-26a, F3836-26, F3840-26, and F3841-26 as an MOC for the airworthiness requirements of §§ 21.190, 21.191(k), 21.193(h), and part 22 subpart B, with the footnotes identified in Tables 1, 3, 5, and 7. This acceptance includes only the version of the functional standards referenced in the MOC summary tables in those integration standards. ⁽⁴⁾ If an underlying functional standard is revised, that standard is not accepted by the FAA until it is identified in a new revision of the integration standard that is accepted by the FAA. For ease of use, Tables 2, 4, 6, and 8 provide a side-by-side view, linking the applicable §§ 21.190, 21.191(k), 21.193(h), and part 22 subpart B regulations to the respective ASTM integration standard.

Guidance

This is a guidance document. Its content is not legally binding in its own right and will not be relied upon by the Department as a separate basis for affirmative enforcement action or other administrative penalty. Conformity with the guidance document is voluntary only, and nonconformity will not affect rights and obligations under existing statutes and regulations.

Section 21.190 requires FAA-accepted consensus standards as an MOC to requirements in §§ 21.190, 21.191(k), 21.193(h), and part 22 subpart B for issuance of special airworthiness certificates for light-sport category aircraft and light-sport category kit-built aircraft. The MOC accepted by this NOA provides one means, but not the only means, of complying with these requirements. Any consensus standards body may submit other consensus standards to the FAA for review and acceptance for this purpose.

Editorial, Reapproval, Revision, or Withdrawal

ASTM policy states that a consensus standard should be reviewed in its entirety by the responsible subcommittee and must be balloted for reapproval, revision, or withdrawal within five years of its last approval date. When an ASTM standard is reapproved, that reapproval is denoted by the year in parentheses ( e.g., F2427-05a (2013)). This date indicates the completion of a review cycle with no technical changes made to the standard. In addition, ASTM issues editorial changes denoted by a superscript epsilon in the standard designation ( e.g., F3235-17 ^{ε 1} ). This epsilon indicates information was corrected, and it did not change the meaning or intent of a standard. Since reapprovals and editorial changes do not change the technical content of standards, any standard that the FAA has accepted pursuant to this NOA that is later reapproved or editorially changed by ASTM will, unless the FAA has announced otherwise, be considered accepted by the FAA without the need for an updated NOA.

ASTM revises a standard to make changes to its technical content. Revisions are identified by a hyphen after the document number, which is followed by the last two numbers of the year of acceptance or of last revision. If the standard is revised again during the same year, this is indicated by adding an "a" for the second revision, "b" for the third revision, and so on for each revision. Since revisions change the technical content, revisions to consensus standards that are the basis for an MOC accepted by this NOA will not be automatically accepted and will require further FAA acceptance for the revisions to be an accepted MOC.

Availability

ASTM F3815-26a, "Standard Specification for Integration for Light-Sport Airplane," F3836-26, "Standard Specification for Integration for Light-Sport Glider," F3840-26, "Standard Specification for Integration for Light-Sport Powered-Lift and Multicopter," and F3841-26, "Standard Specification for Integration for Light-Sport Gyroplane," are available online at www.astm.org/READINGLIBRARY/. ASTM copyrights these consensus standards and charges the public a fee for service. Individual downloads or reprints of a standard (single or multiple copies, special compilations, and other related technical information), as well as information regarding membership, ASTM offices abroad, or Committee F37 on Light-Sport Aircraft, may be obtained online or by contacting ASTM by telephone: (610) 832-9585; facsimile: (610) 832-9555; or through email: [email protected].

⁽¹⁾  The ASTM Standard F3840-26 is intended to serve as an MOC for both powered-lift and multicopters, but at this time FAA is only accepting it as an MOC for powered-lift light-sport category aircraft.

⁽²⁾ Ref Public Law 104-113, as amended by Public Law 107-107.

⁽³⁾  Public Law 113-53.

⁽⁴⁾  The FAA previously accepted ASTM F2930-16, Standard Guide for Compliance with Light Sport Aircraft Standards (s ee 82 FR 16271, April 3, 2017). F2930-16 is not referenced in the F3815-26a, F3836-26, F3840-26, or F3841-26 integration standards and is not being accepted by this NOA. While F2930-16 is not required for compliance with the regulations discussed in this NOA, that standard may continue to be used for reference purposes only.

⁽¹²⁾  See the discussion in footnote 5.

⁽¹³⁾  See the discussion in footnote 6.

⁽¹⁴⁾  ASTM F3841-26, the integration standard for gyroplanes, unintentionally omitted F3835-25 as a functional standard for § 22.110 in Table A1.1. F3835-26 is part of the MOC for § 22.110.

⁽¹⁵⁾  The gyroplane integration standard, ASTM F3841, unintentionally listed F3737-25 as a functional standard for § 22.195 in Table A1.1. of that integration standard. F3737-25 is not required as part of the MOC for § 22.195.