I am thinking of taking the 2 day 16 hour LSA Repairman’s Inspection Course which will be offered in Pennsylvania this fall.

This is not the more comprehensive 16 day 120 hour Maintenance Course which was discussed a few years ago in another thread by Mister701

https://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/taking-the-lsa-repairman-s-training-15113

I am looking for comments or feedback from anyone who is familiar with or has taken this shorter much more limited course.

Annual Inspections or Conditionals can be expensive and a pain, and not everyone is blessed to have built their own plane and earned a repairman’s certificate. If you own an ELSA, or SLSA converted to ELSA plane, you can take a 16 hour Repairman’s Inspection Course over a 2 day period and then be able to do your own annuals (conditional inspections) on your own ELSA airplane.

Has anyone taken the 2 day course?

How was it? Comments?

Any recommendations on how to prepare for it?

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http://www.rainbowaviation.com/seminar_schedule.htm

The Repairman course is a two-day class. The training consists of lectures, slide shows, and Power Point presentations, as well as hands-on experience. On the first day the subjects discussed are aircraft systems, airworthiness issues, regulations, and inspection procedures.

On the second day, the students review aircraft theory of flight and spend the afternoon in the hangar for hands-on training. At the end of the course there is a review and written test. The FAA requires a passing score of at least 80% on the multiple-choice exam.

I took it 5 or 6 years ago. Carol and Brian Carpenter got someone to teach it for them.
As I recall, the course was about 12 hours of classroom and 4 hours hands on.
The classroom talked about FAA regs, resources, doing paperwork and so forth.
The hands on was show and tell about how to conduct a condition inspection.

I don't think there is anything special to prepare for. Bring your questions. I'd use the time to focus on the bookwork side, as you have more resources to learn the maintenance side.

The course does not make you a repairman. It exposes you to the paperwork side. My suggestion is to plan to use your resources to learn how to do the inspection and maintenance. They don't have the time to do that and the airplane they use for training may have little to do with your plane.

As an aside, if you are comfortable having an experienced A&P or other builder work with you, you can now do the sign-off. Sometimes people will be more willing to help if they don't have to sign anything.

Perhaps someone who has taken the course more recently can give a more up-to-date report.

I took the course back in 2006 or 2007. Back then LSA was a very new concept and the course was really focused on the fat ultra-lights out there. They touched on two stoke engines a little but the majority of the class is learning how to properly document the work you do. I took the class at Rainbow Aviation in Corning, Ca. They offered a good class with some course materials and books that I still refer to today. If you have no aircraft maintenance experience and didn't build your airplane than I would have to say this course will not be enough to teach you to do your own maintenance, however legally you will be able to. What I suggest is taking the course and getting the repairman certificate, but doing your first two condition inspections with an A&P. Learning your airplane and the inspection process will be more valuable than the course.

Kitfox5 wrote:I took the course back in 2006 or 2007. Back then LSA was a very new concept and the course was really focused on the fat ultra-lights out there. They touched on two stoke engines a little but the majority of the class is learning how to properly document the work you do. I took the class at Rainbow Aviation in Corning, Ca. They offered a good class with some course materials and books that I still refer to today. If you have no aircraft maintenance experience and didn't build your airplane than I would have to say this course will not be enough to teach you to do your own maintenance, however legally you will be able to. What I suggest is taking the course and getting the repairman certificate, but doing your first two condition inspections with an A&P. Learning your airplane and the inspection process will be more valuable than the course.

I would say +1 to all of this. I took the 120 hour plus trikes and powered parachutes courses as you mentioned but even that program only teaches principles of inspection and repair. There is no way that all of the various LSA aircraft could be covered in so short a time. In 16 hours you will get nothing specific to your airplane but you will learn how to find the proper documentation to familiarize yourself with the one you've bought. I think it's a fantastic program.

I think taking the course is a good idea, as it gives you the ability to sign off the annual/conditional inspection on an LSA. Evenif you dont learn much, as long as you know what you don't know, it's a license to learn just like a new PP license is.

The 16 hour class allows you to apply for the Light Sport Repairman's License for an E-LSA that you own.

This class and license does not cover S-LSA or Experimental Amateur Built, LIght Sport compliant aircraft.

I appreciate the feedback.

My intention is strictly to be legally able to perform an annual "conditional inspection" on my own ELSA. I don't have any delusions of learning all about repair and maintenance in 16 hours. That's a lifetime challenge. It would probably not be too hard getting a "real" A&P to "unofficially" do an inspection if you are not asking for any sort of signature or statement. It would give me peace of mind, and a second set of eyes looking over things can't hurt.

I could then "officially" do my own annual "conditional inspection" and be legal.

I wish kit manufacturers offered more "ELSA aircraft kits". There would be no big sweat about the 51% rule re doing annual conditional inspections if one had completed the 16 hour LSA Repairman's Inspection Course. I wish there were ELSA kits for say the Zenith CH750, Rans S7 & S20, and the Bearhawk LSA. The Van's RV-12 I believe can be had as an ELSA kit.

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http://www.kitplanes.com/issues/29_3/builder_spotlight/Understanding_Experimental_Light_Sport_Aircraft_20376-1.html

But most of the 400+ kits sold are being licensed as ELSA RV-12s, and there may be a resale advantage to that. Original and subsequent ELSA owners can take an FAA-approved 16-hour inspection course that leads to a Repairman Certificate allowing the owner to do the annual condition inspection on his or her aircraft. The close equivalent for people who build EAB kits is that they can get the Repairman Certificate to do the inspection on the aircraft they have built. But unlike the ELSA owner, no subsequent owner can get the Repairman ticket. The new owner will have to hire an A&P mechanic to do the annual check.

In order to have an E-LSA now, the kit manufacturer needs to have a certificated S-LSA.

This is still a very high financial burden for most kit companies.