USUA EVP Dale Hooper and Director Jim Sweeney, just concluded 4 days of meetings with FAA and industry leaders in Oklahoma City. Discussed were the Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft rule implementation procedures. This resulted in clarification of key points and it provided insight that will be helpful to USUA members desiring to transition into this new realm of aviation. On hand with USUA, were representatives of industry heavy-weights such as King Schools, Jeppeson, and Adventure Productions, as well as organization representatives from AOPA, ASC, EAA, NAFI, and manufacturers' representatives from Powrachute, Air Creation and others. The interaction between these groups provided FAA the industry perspective needed to begin the finalization process of program administration. There was an overwhelming sense of cooperation from all involved (including FAA), indicating the commitment of each entity to lay aside individual differences and create an appropriate and adequate program.

Key issues discussed and worked on included elements of the Sport Pilot Knowledge and Practical tests. Industry involvement at this level, proved to be critical, and provided much needed guidance to FAA in creating the appropriate questions and tasks used in testing pilots of these less complicated and lower performance aircraft. From a pool of Sport Pilot Knowledge test questions, USUA and other industry representatives were able to eliminate many questions deemed inconsistent with the piloting skills required for the the safe operation of Light Sport Aircraft. These questions and tasks were replaced with knowledge and safety questions approved by general consensus as appropriate.

The details of the Sport Pilot instructor and examiner programs were also discussed, and clarification given to some of the finer points that have been the object of some recent concern. USUA will be publishing detailed guides for members who wish to participate in the DAR and DPE programs.