In a relatively quiet but uncharacteristically quick administrative action the White House Office of Management and Budget, OMB, approved the revised Sport Pilot Proposal and sent it back to the Department of Transportation, DOT, before the beginning of the Christmas Holidays.

According to Alison DuQuette, FAA, Public Affairs, the remaining executive coordination leading to the public release of the proposal should only take a few weeks from the beginning of the New Year when DOT publishes it as a Notice of Proposed Rule Making, NPRM, in the Federal Register.

Ultralight enthusiasts should see the proposed rule that is expected to make sweeping changes to the sport, by the end of January or so! At this time the public will be invited to comment on the proposed rule for a period to be specified at the time it is published. Then, subject to further revision by FAA, the long-awaited final rule could be promulgated.

On its website, ,USUA will publish helpful guidelines for members to use in formulating their comments to the FAA.

According to Tom Gunnarson, USUA Executive Vice President, "We are prepared to assist our members with all their concerns about the proposal. Anyone interested in obtaining first hand information about the Sport Pilot Proposal should come to the Convention in Ontario, California and attend the "Meet the FAA" Forum on February 9, 2002. We see it as very fortuitous that the proposal may hit the street at a time that coincides with our annual convention where top-level FAA officials will be on hand to field questions and provide clarifying information to those attending."