Would installing a jump seat in the baggage compartment make my airplane ineligible for sport pilot operations?
A. You didn’t say for sure, but I’m guessing that your homebuilt is a two-seat aircraft. If this is the case, installing a “third seat” in the baggage compartment would make the aircraft forever ineligible for operation by sport pilots. This is because the LSA definition specifically calls out a maximum seating capacity of two seats, including the pilot’s seat. Any aircraft that has a third seat installed, even temporarily, would fall outside the LSA definition. Since the definition specifically requires that the aircraft fall within the definition continuously after its original certification, any installation of a third seat would disqualify the aircraft forever. Q. I am just beginning to train for my private pilot certificate, with the long-range plan of building and flying my own homebuilt someday. The local flight school has an SLSA that rents for less than their other training aircraft, and it handles more like a homebuilt to boot. Can I take private pilot training in the SLSA? A
