Over 704,000 attended AirVenture this year!

Sorry, this is way overdue. I finally got around to it. Here are some highlights of my recent trip to the annual aviation gathering, in Oshkosh, WI, aka AirVenture! Aviators from around the world travel to this. 🙂 Also, this year marked another record-setting attendance. It’s estimated that over 704,000 were there! It was, as usual, a very busy, FUN week for me! 🙂 And I volunteer for 2 organizations, which keeps me busy, but it is all FUN!! Read on…

As was announced at a press conference at AirVenture, on Tuesday, July 22, that I was able to attend; after many years of hard work, EAA, the FAA and other organizations have worked hard to create what is called MOSAIC. This is short for the ‘Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification’.

Think of this as Sport Pilot 2.0, and LSA 2.0. With this ruling, pilots who have been flying in the Light Sport Category, which was previously limited to 2 seat aircraft weighing no more than #1,320#, will have options. Under MOSAIC, they will now be able to fly larger single engine aircraft, like the Cessna 182 Skylane, that will now qualify for Light Sport. However, the new MOSAIC ruling still limits a Sport Pilot to only 1 passenger, even in a 4-seat airplane. As it says on the EAA website, about 75% of the general aviation fleet will now be accessible for Sport Pilots.

And, next year, on July 24, 2026, newer, modern aircraft will be entering the general aviation fleet with minimal certification costs, according to EAA. Some will be from manufacturers outside the US. This will be exciting to see what new designs foreign aircraft manufacturers come up with, to compete in the US general aviation marketplace.

All of this is spelled out on the EAA’s website, https://www.eaa.org/eaa/advocacy/top-issues/mosaic-aircraft-certificate. So I am not going to comment on all of that, here.

Also, there are 2 sides to MOSAIC; first, as it applies to pilot certification, and second, to aircraft certification. The pilot side becomes effective in mid-October 2025, and the airplane certification rules take effective next summer, in July 2026.  Stay tuned for more information on this!

One more thing; if you are in need of an experienced instructor to work with you, in YOUR AIRPLANE, to improve your knowledge base, your piloting skills,  provide avionics training, or anything else, I AM available! Contact me for more information.

Fly safely,

John