MOSAIC is the FAA's Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification final rule, published in the Federal Register on 24 July 2025 and effective on 22 October 2025, with a further set of provisions taking effect on 24 July 2026. It does two separate things that are constantly confused with each other: it rewrites what a sport pilot may fly, through Amendment 61-159 to 14 CFR part 61, and it creates a new certification path for aircraft, through the brand-new 14 CFR part 22. The first change already applies to every sport pilot flying today. The second changes what manufacturers may build and certificate.
This page separates the two halves, gives the dates, and says plainly what each one means for somebody learning to fly. If you want the certificate itself rather than the rule, our sport pilot license guide is the place to start, and sport pilot license requirements is the current checklist as it now stands.
The Dates That Matter
Dates are the first thing most articles about MOSAIC get wrong, usually by repeating the publication date as though it were the effective date. They are not the same.
| Event | Date | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Published in the Federal Register | 24 July 2025 | Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification, 90 FR 35034 |
| Amendment to 14 CFR part 61 | Amendment 61-159 | Docket FAA-2023-1377 |
| New 14 CFR part 22 | Amendment 22-1 | 90 FR 35208 |
| General effective date | 22 October 2025 | Including the sport pilot privilege changes in subpart J of part 61 |
| Delayed provisions | 24 July 2026 | A specified set of amendatory instructions in the rule |
All of those dates are now behind us, so the rule is in force in full. What that means practically is that any sport pilot article dated before late 2025 describes a regime that no longer exists, and a surprising number of them are still the top results for basic questions. Check the date on anything you read about sport pilot privileges, including this page.
The Pilot Half: What Changed In Part 61
Before MOSAIC, sport pilot privileges were bolted to the regulatory definition of a "light-sport aircraft", which carried a hard 1,320-pound maximum gross weight for landplanes and a two-seat limit. If an airframe was over that weight it was out of reach, regardless of how docile it was to fly. That is the rule almost everyone still has in their head.
The pilot rules no longer contain a weight test at all. 14 CFR 61.316 now asks about performance and design instead.
| Test | Before | Now, Under 14 CFR 61.316 |
|---|---|---|
| Weight | 1,320 lb maximum gross weight for landplanes | No weight limit in the pilot rules |
| Stall speed | Part of the light-sport definition | VS1 without lift-enhancing devices not more than 59 knots CAS for airplanes, 45 knots CAS for other aircraft, at maximum certificated takeoff weight and most critical center of gravity |
| Seats | Two | Up to four for airplanes, two for other aircraft |
| Cabin | Non-pressurized | Non-pressurized, if it has a cabin |
| Landing gear | Fixed | Fixed, unless you hold the 61.331 endorsement |
| Propeller | Fixed or ground-adjustable | Fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch, unless you hold the 61.331 endorsement |
| Night flying | Prohibited | Permitted with the 61.329 endorsement and a medical certificate or the 61.113(i) alternative |
The Four-Seat Change Is Narrower Than It Sounds
A sport pilot may now fly an airplane with four seats. A sport pilot may still carry one passenger, under 14 CFR 61.315(c), which limits the certificate rather than the aircraft. The two back seats stay empty. This is the single most misunderstood consequence of the rule, and it is worth being blunt about it: MOSAIC widened the hangar, not the cabin.
The Speed Limit That Actually Binds
61.316 sets the design limits, but 61.315(c) separately prohibits a sport pilot from operating an aircraft that exceeds the speed limits in the section without the appropriate endorsement. The relevant figure is VH, the maximum speed in level flight with maximum continuous power. A sport pilot without further endorsement is limited to aircraft with a VH of 87 knots CAS or less; the endorsement in 61.327(b) removes that ceiling after ground and flight training in an aircraft above it, with a proficiency endorsement from the instructor. In practice VH is the number that decides whether a given airplane is available to you, far more often than stall speed or seat count.
Night Flying Exists Now, With A Catch
Night flight is genuinely available to sport pilots for the first time, under 14 CFR 61.329, after three hours of night flight training including a night cross-country and ten night takeoffs and landings, with an instructor endorsement. The catch is that it also requires a medical certificate issued under part 67 or the alternative in 61.113(i). If you chose the sport pilot route specifically to avoid the medical, night flying remains closed to you. That is not a loophole to be worked around; it is the trade the rule makes.
Everything Else That Stayed
The other limitations in 61.315(c) are unchanged and are easy to lose sight of in the excitement about aircraft: no flying for compensation or hire, no furthering a business, no Class A airspace, no Class B, C or D airspace or towered airports without the 61.325 endorsement, no flight above 10,000 feet MSL or 2,000 feet AGL whichever is higher, no flight with less than three statute miles visibility, no flight without visual reference to the surface, no towing, no type-rated aircraft and no multi-pilot crew operations.
The Aircraft Half: The New 14 CFR Part 22
The second half of MOSAIC is about airplanes rather than pilots, and it is where the rule earns its name. 14 CFR part 22, "Design, Production, and Airworthiness Requirements for Non-Type Certificated Aircraft", is new, created by Amendment 22-1 at 90 FR 35208. Its subpart B covers light-sport category aircraft, running from § 22.100 through § 22.195 and covering eligibility, controls, structure, environmental conditions, instruments, propulsion and fuel systems, fire protection, visibility, emergency evacuation, placards, quality assurance and compliance verification.
The eligibility criteria in § 22.100 are where the manufacturer-facing limits now live.
| Criterion | Limit |
|---|---|
| Seating capacity | Not more than two persons including the pilot, except airplanes, which may seat up to four including the pilot |
| Stall speed | 61 knots CAS VS0 for an airplane, 45 knots CAS VS0 for a glider, or 45 knots CAS without lift-enhancing devices |
| Maximum level-flight speed | 250 knots CAS VH with maximum continuous power |
| Cabin | Non-pressurized, if equipped with a cabin |
| Certification history | Must not previously have been issued a standard, primary, restricted, limited or provisional airworthiness certificate |
| Design standards | Consensus standards accepted or approved by the FAA |
| Inspection | Inspected by the FAA and found in a condition for safe operation |
Why The Two Halves Do Not Line Up, And Why That Matters
Put the two tables next to each other and the gap is obvious. Part 22 lets an airplane be certificated in the light-sport category with a stall speed up to 61 knots CAS VS0 and a maximum level-flight speed up to 250 knots CAS. Part 61 lets a sport pilot fly aircraft with a stall speed of 59 knots CAS VS1 or less, and caps VH at 87 knots CAS unless endorsed.
The two sets of numbers answer different questions. Part 22 asks what an aircraft may be certificated as. Part 61 asks what a sport pilot may fly. It is entirely possible for an airplane to be a light-sport category aircraft and still be beyond a sport pilot's privileges, and as manufacturers build to the new part 22 limits, that overlap will become more common rather than less. A private pilot may fly those airplanes without difficulty. A sport pilot must check the specific airframe against 61.316 and 61.315 and hold the endorsements that match.
The practical rule that follows is simple and worth remembering. The phrase "light sport aircraft" is no longer a reliable shorthand for "an aircraft a sport pilot may fly". Ask for the numbers, not the label.
How To Check Whether You May Fly A Particular Airplane
Because the label no longer settles it, here is the sequence to work through for any specific airframe, in the order that rules things out fastest.
- Find VH. The maximum speed in level flight with maximum continuous power. If it is above 87 knots CAS, you need the 61.327(b) endorsement before anything else on this list matters.
- Find VS1 at maximum certificated takeoff weight and the most critical center of gravity. Airplanes must be at 59 knots CAS or less. Note that this is VS1, the clean stall speed, not the VS0 figure quoted in most marketing material.
- Count the seats. Four or fewer for an airplane.
- Look at the gear and the propeller. Fixed gear and a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller, unless you hold the 61.331 endorsement for the feature in question.
- Check the cabin is unpressurized, and check the aircraft is not type-rated. Type-rated aircraft are prohibited to sport pilots outright under 61.315(c).
Every one of those figures comes from the aircraft's own approved documentation for that serial number, not from a model page or a broker's listing. Two airframes of the same model can differ, particularly where weight increases or propeller changes have been made, and it is the paperwork for the airplane in front of you that governs. If the numbers are ambiguous, treat that as a reason to ask an instructor rather than a reason to assume.
Why The FAA Rewrote It This Way
The structure of the rule tells you the intent. The old light-sport definition used a single crude proxy for risk, maximum gross weight, and that proxy did two unhelpful things at once: it excluded gentle, slow, well-behaved airplanes that happened to be heavy, and it pushed designers toward shaving structure to stay under a number. Replacing it with performance and design criteria, principally stall speed, means the rules now ask how an aircraft behaves rather than how much it weighs.
The second design decision was to split the question in two. Aircraft certification moved into its own new part, 14 CFR part 22, built around consensus standards that the FAA accepts or approves rather than around prescriptive design rules written into the regulation itself. Pilot privileges stayed in part 61 and were written to a tighter set of limits. Separating them lets each side move at its own pace, which is why the two tables on this page do not match and were never intended to.
For a student pilot, the useful summary of all that is short. The FAA has decided that a sport pilot certificate should be judged on the handling qualities of the aircraft rather than on a weight sticker, and that certificating aircraft and licensing pilots are different jobs with different limits.
What MOSAIC Did Not Change
- The one-passenger limit. 61.315(c) is unchanged on this point and no endorsement lifts it.
- The medical rule. 14 CFR 61.23(c) still allows a valid US driver's license in place of a medical certificate for sport pilot privileges, with the same exclusions for a refused application, a suspended or revoked certificate, a withdrawn special issuance Authorization, or a known disqualifying condition.
- The 20-hour minimum. 14 CFR 61.313 still requires 20 hours for airplane single-engine land, including 15 dual, 5 solo, 2 hours of cross-country training, 10 full-stop landings and a 75-nautical-mile solo cross-country.
- The airspace endorsement. 61.325 is unchanged, and at a Class D field under Class B airspace it remains the endorsement that decides whether you can leave the airport.
- The private pilot rules. Nothing in MOSAIC alters 14 CFR 61.109 or the privileges of a private pilot certificate.
What It Means If You Are Learning To Fly In Los Angeles
Four things, in order of how much they will affect you.
First, the decision between a sport pilot certificate and a private pilot certificate is closer than it used to be, because the aircraft argument for private has weakened. It has not disappeared. The passenger limit, the altitude ceiling, the visibility floor and the requirement to keep the surface in sight are all untouched, and they are what most often cancel a flight. Our sport pilot vs private pilot comparison works through the whole decision with current numbers.
Second, if you are shopping for an airplane to buy or rent on sport pilot privileges, the check has become more technical rather than less. You are now looking up VS1, VH, seating, gear and propeller type for a specific airframe and serial number, not reading a category name off a listing. Bring the numbers to an instructor before you commit money.
Third, if you already hold a sport pilot certificate, MOSAIC did not re-issue it or expand it automatically. Your privileges widened to the extent that 61.316 now admits more aircraft, but every endorsement-gated item still needs the endorsement: the speed endorsement under 61.327(b), the gear and propeller endorsements under 61.331, the night endorsement under 61.329 with its medical requirement, and the airspace endorsement under 61.325. Adding one is a short piece of training with an instructor rather than a new checkride, and it is worth doing deliberately rather than discovering the gap on a ramp somewhere.
Fourth, nothing about how you train has changed. The syllabus, the endorsements, the knowledge test and the practical test are the same. Our sport pilot students still train in the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, which sat comfortably inside the old definition and sits comfortably inside the new one.
Three Misreadings Worth Correcting
"Sport Pilots Can Now Fly Four People"
No. Four seats, one passenger. The aircraft limit and the pilot limit are different rules.
"MOSAIC Took Effect In July 2025"
The rule was published on 24 July 2025. It took effect on 22 October 2025, with a further set of provisions on 24 July 2026. Publication and effect are different events, and the distinction matters when you are reading an article and trying to work out whether it was written before or after the change.
"Any Light Sport Aircraft Is Fair Game For A Sport Pilot"
No, and this is now the most consequential error of the three. Part 22 certificates aircraft; part 61 licenses pilots. The two sets of limits are different by design, and the gap between them will widen as new designs appear.
Related Reading
- Sport pilot license — the certificate in full, updated for the current rules.
- Sport pilot license requirements — every requirement, with its regulation.
- Sport pilot vs private pilot — the decision, with the post-MOSAIC numbers.
- Sport pilot medical requirements — the driver's license rule and its exclusions.
- Types of pilot licenses — where the sport certificate sits among the rest.
- Cessna 162 Skycatcher — the trainer our sport pilot students fly.
FAA MOSAIC Rule FAQ
What Is The FAA MOSAIC Rule?
MOSAIC is the Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification final rule, published by the FAA on 24 July 2025 at 90 FR 35034. It amended 14 CFR part 61 as Amendment 61-159 and created a new 14 CFR part 22 as Amendment 22-1, changing both what a sport pilot may fly and how light-sport category aircraft are certificated.
When Did MOSAIC Take Effect?
The general effective date was 22 October 2025, three months after publication, with a specified set of amendatory instructions taking effect on 24 July 2026. Both dates have now passed, so the rule applies in full.
What Aircraft Can A Sport Pilot Fly Under MOSAIC?
Under 14 CFR 61.316, an aircraft whose stall speed without lift-enhancing devices is no more than 59 knots CAS for airplanes, with up to four seats for airplanes, a non-pressurized cabin, fixed landing gear and a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller. 14 CFR 61.315 separately caps the aircraft's maximum level-flight speed at 87 knots CAS without the 61.327(b) endorsement.
Can A Sport Pilot Carry Three Passengers Now?
No. 14 CFR 61.315(c) still limits a sport pilot to one passenger, whatever the aircraft's seating capacity. The four-seat allowance in 61.316 is a limit on the airframe, not on the pilot.
Can A Sport Pilot Fly At Night After MOSAIC?
Yes, with the endorsement in 14 CFR 61.329, which requires three hours of night flight training including a night cross-country and ten night takeoffs and landings. It also requires a medical certificate under part 67 or the alternative in 61.113(i), so it does not combine with the driver's-license route.
What Is 14 CFR Part 22?
Part 22 is the new set of design, production and airworthiness requirements for non-type-certificated aircraft, created by MOSAIC as Amendment 22-1 at 90 FR 35208. Its subpart B covers light-sport category aircraft, with the eligibility criteria in section 22.100.
Is A Light-Sport Aircraft Always Flyable By A Sport Pilot?
No, and this is the most important consequence of the rule. Part 22 allows a light-sport category airplane with a stall speed up to 61 knots CAS and a maximum level-flight speed up to 250 knots CAS, both of which exceed what 14 CFR 61.316 and 61.315 permit a sport pilot to fly. Check the specific airframe against the pilot rules rather than the category label.
Did MOSAIC Change The Private Pilot Certificate?
No. The private pilot aeronautical experience in 14 CFR 61.109 and the privileges in 61.113 are unchanged. MOSAIC is a sport pilot and aircraft certification rule.
Work Out What It Means For You
Rules read better with an airplane in front of you. A discovery flight is $229 for 60 minutes, you fly it from the left seat with an instructor, and it logs as dual instruction toward a sport or private certificate. If you have a specific airplane in mind and want to know whether a sport pilot may fly it, book a free consultation and bring the numbers. Call (818) 330-1318 any day between 9 AM and 9 PM. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Van Nuys, CA 91406, on Van Nuys Airport.