This is far from true.
FAA issued the first exemption allowing two-place ultralights (yes, they are
ultralights because of the exemption) to be used for flight instruction in
the spring of 1983; only 9 months after the issuance of ultralight regulation
itself (part 103). Since then there has been an uninterrupted series of
renewals and grants of additional exemptions to this day, 19 years later.
Those who ignore or deny that there have been two-place ultralights are
wrong. Two-seaters have been with us since the beginning.
When FAA says that NPRM 11133 will not change ultralight operations (part
103), it is hiding the reality that requiring all existing ultralight flight
instructors to begin all over in a different set of regulations does indeed
change ultralight operations as they have been for almost 2 decades.
FAA reports in NPRM 11133 that two-place ultralight exemptions for flight
training began "in 1995 when it [FAA] issued the first exemption from part
103 for training"
United States Ultralight Association
104 Carlisle Street, Gettysburg, PA 17325
Tel: (717) 339-0200 Fax: (717) 339-0063
Email USUA Email webmaster