Sport Pilot Aircraft Eligibility Check

Check whether an airplane meets the aircraft requirements of 14 CFR 61.316 — VS1 at or under 59 knots CAS, four seats, unpressurized, fixed gear and propeller — from a catalog of 36 variants, each with the document its stall speed was read from.

14 CFR 61.316(a) Data checked 2026-08-17

Checks the airplane, not the pilot.

Which airplane?

Look up an aircraft Enter my own figures

Manufacturer

Model and variant

Eligibility belongs to the variant, not the model: the Cessna 210 is 57 knots in 1960 and 65 in 1972.

Aircraft: 172N Skyhawk (landplane)

Meets 14 CFR 61.316(a)

VS1 of 53.0 KCAS is 6.0 kt below the 59 KCAS ceiling of §61.316(a)(1), at 2,300 lb and the most forward CG.

Checked as: single engine · 4 seats · fixed gear · fixed pitch · unpressurized.

Planning tool. Verify VS1 against the FAA-approved AFM/POH for the specific serial number you intend to fly, and confirm with your instructor or FSDO before acting. This is not FAA guidance and does not replace 14 CFR 61.316.

VS1, calibrated

53.0 KCAS

6.0 kt under the 59 KCAS ceiling

At 2,300 lb, the most forward CG, flaps up, wings level, power off.

VS1 53.0 KCAS against the 59 KCAS ceiling of §61.316(a)(1)

Source: Cessna Aircraft Company, 172N POH figure 5-3, page 5-11 — 50 KCAS at the most aft CG, 1978-07-01. Tier A — a figure in knots CAS read from an FAA-approved manual, or stated in writing by the manufacturer. teensinflight.org

What §61.316 requires, clause by clause

Requirement	This airframe	Result
§61.316(a)(1) — VS1 of not more than 59 knots CAS, at maximum certificated takeoff weight and the most critical CG	53.0 KCAS	Meets
§61.316(a)(2) — a maximum seating capacity of four	4	Meets
§61.316(a)(3) — a non-pressurized cabin	No	Meets
§61.316(a)(5) — partial power loss must not spoil directional control, and the design must allow a controlled descent after a partial or total powerplant failure	Single-engine	Meets
§61.316(a)(8) — fixed landing gear, except as provided in (b)	Fixed gear	Meets
§61.316(a)(9) — a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller, except as provided in (b)	Fixed pitch	Meets
§61.315(c)(21) — no type rating required under §61.31(a)	None required	Meets

§61.316 also governs gliders, gyroplanes, helicopters, weight-shift-control aircraft, powered parachutes, balloons and airships, at 45 knots CAS and two seats; clauses (a)(4), (a)(6) and (a)(7) belong to those categories and are not modeled here. Separately, 14 CFR 22.100(a)(3) — light-sport CATEGORY certification — is 61 knots CAS VS0. Different number, different question: the type-certificated Cessna 172S in this catalog meets §61.316(a) and, under §22.100(a)(6), can never be an LSA.

What each answer means

Meets 14 CFR 61.316(a) — every aircraft requirement of the rule is satisfied by this variant as originally certificated. It says nothing about you: your certificate, medical basis, currency and endorsements are a separate question this page does not touch.
Meets — endorsement required — the airframe qualifies through paragraph (b), which is conditioned on the §61.331 training and endorsement for retractable gear or a manual controllable-pitch propeller. Without that endorsement in your logbook the airplane is outside your privileges.
Does not meet 14 CFR 61.316(a) — at least one aircraft requirement is not satisfied, and the clause that fails is named in the table above. No sport pilot may act as pilot in command of it, whatever their endorsements.
Not determined — the rule does not resolve this case. The facts are known and §61.316 does not say what they add up to. Twins, and an airplane certificated in miles per hour whose conversion lands a fraction of a knot over the ceiling, are the two real instances.
Not confirmed — data does not support a verdict. No stall speed in knots CAS has been read from an approved document for this variant. It is not a "probably yes": half this catalog is in that state, and the honest next step is Section 5 of your own manual.
Colour follows one rule everywhere on this page: green, amber and red mean the regulation resolved the case, and no colour at all means it did not.

What this page does not check

Your medical basis. A US driver's licence covers day operations under §61.303, subject to its four conditions. Night, under §61.329(b), needs either a part 67 medical certificate or the §61.113(i) BasicMed conditions, on top of three hours of night training and an endorsement.

Night, Class B, C and D airspace, towered airports, and an aircraft whose VH is above or below 87 knots CAS. §§61.329, 61.325 and 61.327 each require their own endorsement.

The twenty-one limits of §61.315(c): one passenger, no compensation or hire, no Class A airspace, no higher than 10,000 ft MSL or 2,000 ft AGL whichever is higher, at least 3 statute miles visibility, and visual reference to the surface at all times.

Whether the particular airplane is airworthy, and whether its own airworthiness certificate carries a limitation of its own.

Every pilot fact is a self-report and none of it is verifiable from here. A green answer to a question this page cannot ask would be worth nothing, so it does not ask it.

Finding VS1 in your own manual

Post-1975 Cessna POH: Section 5, Performance. The stall-speed table is usually Figure 5-3 on page 5-11 and prints KIAS and KCAS side by side at several bank angles. Take the 0° column and the most-forward-CG block.
Pre-1975 owner's manuals: Section 3, often around page 3-7, and often in miles per hour CAS. Convert at 1 kt = 1.15078 mph, and note that the mph figure is the certification basis.
Piper POHs of the 1990s publish the airspeed calibration as a graph rather than a table, so there is frequently no printed KCAS number to cite at all. A value read off the curve is not a citable figure.
"Most critical center of gravity" means the CG that produces the HIGHER stall speed. The FAA said so directly when NAFI asked about a late-model 182 that stalls at 54 KCAS aft and 56 KCAS forward: the 56 governs.
If the manual publishes no VS1 at all, AC 90-89C carries FAA-accepted methods for determining and documenting it by flight test.
An aftermarket STOL kit does not buy eligibility. §61.316(a) is tethered to the airplane "since its original certification", and the FAA states that an alteration taking VS1 from 61 to 59 knots does not qualify the airplane. Fit the kit; the certificated figure is still the one the rule reads.

The method note is Scott Kinney's, in the Cessna Flyer Association forum. The center-of-gravity and after-market readings are the FAA's own, in the preamble to the MOSAIC final rule.

Every variant in this catalog — 36 airframes, 8 of them tier A

Make	Model and variant	VS1	Seats	Gear and propeller	Status	Source
Cessna	120 1946–1948	Not read No manual read for this variant	2	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Cessna	140 1946–1951	Not read No manual read for this variant	2	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Cessna	150 (all years, including Aerobat) 1959–1977	Not read No manual read for this variant	2	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Cessna	152 (including Aerobat) 1978–1985	Not read The POH we found is an image scan with no text layer	2	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	Tier C · Long Island Aviators
Cessna	162 Skycatcher 2009–2013	45.0 KCAS	2	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Meets	Tier B · FAA
Cessna	170B 1952–1956	Not read No manual read for this variant	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Cessna	172N Skyhawk (landplane) 1977–1980	53.0 KCAS	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Meets	Tier A · Cessna Aircraft Company
Cessna	172N Skyhawk (floatplane) 1977–1980	50.0 KCAS	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Meets	Tier A · Cessna Aircraft Company
Cessna	172R Skyhawk 1996–2006	51.0 KCAS	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Meets	Tier A · Cessna Aircraft Company
Cessna	172S Skyhawk SP 1998 onwards	53.0 KCAS	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Meets	Tier A · Cessna Aircraft Company
Cessna	172RG Cutlass 1980–1984	54.0 KCAS Reported second-hand; the manual itself was not opened	4	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Endorsement required	No document read
Cessna	177RG Cardinal RG (1975) 1975	57.0 KCAS	4	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Endorsement required	Tier B · Cessna Flyer Association
Cessna	177RG Cardinal RG (later models) 1976–1978	59.1 KCAS Reported second-hand; the manual itself was not opened	4	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Does not meet	Tier B · Cessna Flyer Association
Cessna	177B Cardinal (fixed gear) 1970–1978	Not read No manual read for this variant	4	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Cessna	182 Skylane (182 through 182D) 1956–1961	Not read No manual read for this variant	4	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Cessna	182 Skylane (182P / 182Q) 1972–1980	Not read Four readings circulate, no two agree	4	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Not confirmed	Tier C · Four sources, in conflict
Cessna	182 Skylane (late model, variant not identified) unstated	56.0 KCAS The FAA did not name the variant this figure belongs to	4	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Endorsement required	Tier B · FAA
Cessna	R182 Skylane RG (1978) 1978	55.0 KCAS	4	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Endorsement required	Tier A · Cessna Aircraft Company
Cessna	210 Centurion (1960) 1960	57.0 The source does not say whether this figure is indicated or calibrated	4	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Not confirmed	Tier C · AOPA
Cessna	210 Centurion (1972) 1972	65.0 Decided on seats, not on speed	6	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Does not meet	Tier C · AOPA
Cessna	206 Stationair (206 / 206H) 1964 onwards	Not read Decided on seats, not on speed	6	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Does not meet	Tier B · FAA
Piper	J-3 Cub 1938–1947	Not read No manual read for this variant	2	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	Tier C · AOPA
Piper	PA-18 Super Cub 1949–1994	Not read No manual read for this variant	2	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	Tier C · AOPA
Piper	PA-24-180 Comanche 180 1958–1964	58.2 KCAS	4	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Endorsement required	Tier A · Piper Aircraft, via AOPA
Piper	PA-28-140 Cherokee 1964–1977	Not read Published in KIAS only	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Piper	PA-28-180 Cherokee (1974) 1974	68.0 MPH_CAS Certificated in mph; the knot value is a conversion	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not determined	Tier B · Piper Aircraft engineering
Piper	PA-28-161 Warrior 1976 onwards	Not read No manual read for this variant	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Piper	PA-28-181 Archer III 1994 onwards	50.0 KIAS Published in KIAS only	4	Fixed gear, Fixed pitch	Not confirmed	Tier C · Piper Aircraft
Piper	PA-28-235 Cherokee 235 1963–1977	60.8 KCAS	4	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Does not meet	Tier A · Piper Aircraft, via AOPA
Piper	PA-28R Arrow 1967 onwards	Not read No manual read for this variant	4	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Not confirmed	No document read
Piper	PA-32 Cherokee Six 1965 onwards	Not read Decided on seats, not on speed	6	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Does not meet	Tier B · FAA
Piper	PA-44 Seminole 1979 onwards	Not read Two engines	4	Retractable, Manual controllable pitch	Not determined	No document read
Maule	M-4 series (all variants) 1962–1975	54.0 KIAS A range across the variants of this series	4	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Not confirmed	Tier C · Maule Air, via AOPA
Maule	M-5-235C 1974–1983	Not read Published in KIAS only	4	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Not confirmed	Tier C · Maule Air, via AOPA
Maule	M-7 series (12 variants) 1984 onwards	55.0 KIAS Manufacturer states indicated equals calibrated	4	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Endorsement required	Tier A · Maule Air, via AOPA
Maule	M-9-235 2006 onwards	Not read Decided on seats, not on speed	5	Fixed gear, Manual controllable pitch	Does not meet	Tier B · Maule Air, via AOPA

Status is the airframe's own §61.316(a) status and ignores the endorsement switches above. Tier A is a figure in knots CAS read from an FAA-approved manual or stated by the manufacturer; tier B is a type club's or the FAA's reading of one; tier C is a row where no figure has been read at all, or where the only figure is indicated airspeed or carries no stated unit, and it never produces a verdict. Checked 2026-08-17.

Three classes of aircraft the catalog leaves out on purpose

Airplanes that already held a special light-sport airworthiness certificate — Van's RV-12iS, CubCrafters Carbon Cub, ICON A5, Flight Design CTLS, Tecnam P2008, Pipistrel. The pre-MOSAIC definition capped VS1 at 45 knots CAS, so every one of them is inside the 59-knot ceiling by construction and needs no per-airframe figure. The Cessna 162 row is the worked example.
Experimental and amateur-built airplanes. There is no factory manual: the builder determines VS1 himself, by the flight-test methods of AC 90-89C.
Anything that is not an airplane. §61.316 governs gliders, gyroplanes, helicopters, weight-shift-control aircraft, powered parachutes, balloons and airships too, at 45 knots CAS and two seats, with three clauses this page does not model.

Catalog edition 2026-08-17 · 36 variants

Rule text read from the eCFR issue of 2026-08-13. §61.316 was added by Amdt. 61-159, 90 FR 35215, 24 July 2025, effective 22 October 2025. The FAA has published no list of qualifying aircraft; AC 61-146 of 14 November 2025 restates the criteria only.

Sport pilot eligible aircraft check. Whether one airframe meets 14 CFR 61.316(a).

A sport pilot eligible aircraft check reads one airframe variant against the nine aircraft requirements of 14 CFR 61.316(a), starting with VS1. The rule caps VS1 at 59 knots calibrated airspeed at maximum certificated takeoff weight and the most critical center of gravity, and this page reports which clause decides, by how many knots, and which document the figure was read from.

Sport Pilot Eligible Aircraft: What §61.316 Requires, and the List Nobody Published

Sport pilot eligible aircraft is the phrase the community settled on for an airplane that satisfies the aircraft requirements of 14 CFR 61.316(a). Since 22 October 2025 those requirements turn on stall speed rather than weight: the 1,320-pound ceiling that used to define a light-sport aircraft is gone, and an airplane now qualifies on a VS1 of not more than 59 knots calibrated airspeed, measured at maximum certificated takeoff weight and the most critical center of gravity. Every other category the same section governs — gliders, gyroplanes, helicopters, weight-shift-control aircraft, powered parachutes, balloons and airships — sits at 45 knots CAS with two seats.

The rule arrived without a list of the airframes that qualify. AOPA reported on 11 December 2025 that "the agency has not yet produced a list of qualified aircraft based on the new criteria", and Advisory Circular 61-146, issued 14 November 2025, restates the criteria without naming an airplane. AOPA went to the manufacturers instead. Piper answered within days with calibrated VS1 figures to the tenth of a knot going back to the J-3 Cub. Textron Aviation, which owns Cessna, "declined to provide relevant information, or any information at all pertaining to out-of-production aircraft" — which covers most of the Cessna fleet flying today. That refusal is why a page like this one has to be built airframe by airframe, out of manuals. There is no roster to copy.

Speed decides most cases and it is one clause of nine. §61.316(a)(2) caps an airplane at four seats as originally certificated. (a)(3) requires a non-pressurized cabin. (a)(5) asks that the design allow a controlled descent after a partial or total powerplant failure. (a)(8) and (a)(9) require fixed landing gear and a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller, with paragraph (b) readmitting retractable gear and a manual controllable-pitch propeller for a pilot who holds the training and endorsement of §61.331. Clauses (a)(4), (a)(6) and (a)(7) belong to gyroplanes, helicopters and gliders. Underneath all of it, §61.315(c)(21) puts any airplane that requires a type rating outside the privilege entirely. The section took effect on 22 October 2025; sixteen amendatory instructions in the same final rule — the Part 22 half of it — waited until 24 July 2026.

Eligibility belongs to the variant, which is the part a model-level table cannot express. AOPA reports the Cessna 210 at 57 knots clean in its 1960 form and 65 knots in 1972, and the 1972 airplane is disqualified on seats rather than speed because the 210 grew two more of them in 1970. The Cardinal RG is 57 KCAS in 1975 and above 59 in later years on the same wing at the same maximum weight. A single number printed beside "Cessna 210" cannot be checked against anything, because the two airplanes it covers land on opposite sides of the ceiling.

The unit is the second trap and the one that manufactures false positives. §61.316(a)(1) is written in knots calibrated airspeed. The bottom of the green arc, and the number most owner's manuals print, is indicated. Position error at the stall is large and its sign is not fixed by convention, so an indicated figure can sit either side of the calibrated one. The Cessna 172N is the worked case: 47 KIAS and 53 KCAS at the same weight and the same forward center of gravity, six knots higher calibrated. This catalog therefore returns no verdict on an indicated figure, whatever its magnitude. The one exception is a written manufacturer statement that indicated equals calibrated for that model — which Maule made for the M-7 series and did not make for the M-4, and which is why two rows carrying the same unit end in different states.

One more number circulates and belongs to a different rule. 14 CFR 22.100(a)(3), which governs certification of the light-sport category, sets 61 knots CAS on VS0, the landing-configuration stall. VS1 is always the higher of the two on an airplane with flaps, so an airframe can sit under 61 on VS0 and over 59 on VS1. The two thresholds answer different questions, and §22.100(a)(6) bars any aircraft ever issued a standard airworthiness certificate from the category at all. The type-certificated Cessna 172S in this catalog meets §61.316(a) and, under that same paragraph, can never be a light-sport aircraft.

The catalog behind this page holds 36 airframe variants and returns a verdict on 19 of them: 5 meet §61.316(a) outright, 6 meet it through the paragraph (b) endorsements, 6 do not meet it, and 2 land in a state the regulation does not resolve. The remaining 17 read Not confirmed — data does not support a verdict, and that count is the product. Eight rows rest on a tier A figure, meaning knots CAS read from an FAA-approved manual or stated in writing by the manufacturer; nine on a tier B reading by a type club, an association or the FAA's own preamble. The other nineteen sit in tier C: fifteen of them carry no stall speed at all, and the four that do publish it as indicated airspeed or with no unit stated anywhere in the source. Tier C never carries the speed clause, so the honest answer for half the catalog is a pointer to the document to open.

Every answer has the airframe and the regulation as its subject. "Meets 14 CFR 61.316(a)" is a statement about an airplane as originally certificated, and it settles nothing about medical basis, endorsements, currency, or the twenty-one operating limits of §61.315(c). A false green on the aircraft side does not put anybody in a stall; it puts a pilot in command without the privilege, in front of an enforcement action and an insurer reading the same regulation afterwards. That asymmetry is why the fourth and fifth states exist.

Common Airframes, Their Calibrated VS1, and the Clause That Decides

Airframe and variant	VS1, calibrated	Against the 59 KCAS ceiling	Clause that decides	Result
Cessna 172N, 1977–1980	53.0 KCAS	6.0 kt under	§61.316(a)(1)	Meets
Cessna 172S, 1998 on	53.0 KCAS	6.0 kt under	§61.316(a)(1)	Meets
Cessna 162 Skycatcher	45.0 KCAS	14.0 kt under	§61.316(a)(1)	Meets
Cessna R182 Skylane RG, 1978	55.0 KCAS	4.0 kt under	§61.316(a)(8), gear	Endorsement required
Maule M-7 series	55.0 KCAS	4.0 kt under	§61.316(a)(9), propeller	Endorsement required
Cessna 182, late models	56.0 KCAS	3.0 kt under	§61.316(a)(9), propeller	Endorsement required
Cessna 177RG Cardinal, 1975	57.0 KCAS	2.0 kt under	§61.316(a)(8), gear	Endorsement required
Piper PA-24-180 Comanche	58.2 KCAS	0.8 kt under	§61.316(a)(8), gear	Endorsement required
Cessna 177RG Cardinal, later years	59.1 KCAS	0.1 kt over	§61.316(a)(1)	Does not meet
Piper PA-28-235 Cherokee 235	60.8 KCAS	1.8 kt over	§61.316(a)(1)	Does not meet
Cessna 210, 1972	None read in KCAS	Decided on seats	§61.316(a)(2)	Does not meet
Cessna 206 and 206H	None read in KCAS	Decided on seats	§61.316(a)(2)	Does not meet
Piper PA-28-180, 1974	59.0904 kt, from 68 mph CAS	0.0904 kt over	§61.316(a)(1)	Not determined
Piper PA-44 Seminole	None read in KCAS	Two engines	§61.316(a)(5)	Not determined
Cessna 182P and 182Q	None read in KCAS	Readings disagree	§61.316(a)(1)	Not confirmed
Piper PA-28-181 Archer III	KIAS only	Cannot be compared	§61.316(a)(1)	Not confirmed
Maule M-4 series	KIAS only	Cannot be compared	§61.316(a)(1)	Not confirmed

Six Airframes, Worked Against the Rule

The Cessna 172N: 47 knots on the dial, 53 in the regulation

The page opens on this airframe, so a complete answer is on screen before anything is touched. The verdict card reads Meets 14 CFR 61.316(a). The card beside it, VS1, calibrated, reads 53.0 KCAS with 6.0 kt under the 59 KCAS ceiling underneath, and the gauge puts its marker well to the left of the tick at 59.

The reason 53.0 is the governing figure and not the 50 KCAS the same airplane shows at its aft limit is written into the clause: VS1 is measured at the most critical center of gravity, and the FAA's preamble is explicit that the critical CG is whichever one produces the higher stall speed. The agency answered NAFI directly on this point about a late-model 182 that stalls at 54 KCAS aft and 56 forward — the 56 governs.

The indicated figure for the same airplane at the same point is 47 KIAS. Reading that number against a 59-knot limit produces a 12-knot margin that does not exist; the real margin is 6.0 kt. Six knots of position error, in the direction that makes the airplane look better than it is, is the entire argument for insisting on the calibrated column.

Eight tenths of a knot under, 1.8 over: the Comanche and the Cherokee 235

Both of these rows come from the list Piper produced for AOPA, quoted to the tenth of a knot from company records, so they are tier A and they are unusually precise for this subject.

The PA-24-180 Comanche stalls at 58.2 KCAS. That is 0.8 kt under the ceiling, so §61.316(a)(1) is satisfied and two later clauses take over: the gear retracts, which is (a)(8), and the propeller is manual controllable-pitch, which is (a)(9). Both of those rows in the rule table read Endorsement required — the cell paragraph (b) produces, and not a failure. The verdict card reads Meets 14 CFR 61.316(a) — endorsement required over a note naming both §61.331 endorsements.

Ticking only the §61.331(a) switch settles half of that. The verdict stays at Meets 14 CFR 61.316(a) — endorsement required and the deciding clause moves from (a)(8) to (a)(9); with both switches ticked it reads Meets 14 CFR 61.316(a). The airframe never moved: the switches describe a logbook, and the catalog's Status column ignores them.

The PA-28-235 Cherokee 235 stalls at 60.8 KCAS, 1.8 kt over, and returns Does not meet 14 CFR 61.316(a). Nothing recovers it: no endorsement addresses (a)(1), the figure is at maximum certificated takeoff weight already, and an aftermarket modification cannot re-open a clause tethered to original certification. It is also the airframe that a summary reading "most Piper Cherokees" quietly excludes without saying so, which is why a phrase like that cannot be checked against the airplane in front of you.

The Cessna 210 and the Cardinal RG: a model name is not a unit of eligibility

The 210's clean stall speed is reported by AOPA as 57 knots in 1960 and 65 knots in 1972, so one designation covers two airplanes that land on opposite sides of the ceiling. The 1972 airplane never reaches the speed clause in this catalog — no figure in knots CAS has been read for it either way — because the 210 gained two seats in 1970 and §61.316(a)(2) caps an airplane at four as originally certificated. The result reads Does not meet 14 CFR 61.316(a) with the clause named as (a)(2), and taking seats out changes nothing: capacity is fixed at certification, and the FAA names the Piper PA-32 and the Cessna 206 as its own examples in the preamble.

The 177RG makes the same point on speed alone. The 1975 airplane is 57.0 KCAS, 2.0 kt under, and reaches Meets — endorsement required through the retractable-gear clause. Later Cardinals on the same wing at the same maximum weight come in at 59.1 KCAS: 0.1 kt over, Does not meet. One tenth of a knot, and no visible difference between the two airplanes on the ramp.

This is the failure mode the catalog is built around. The tables in circulation print one figure per model, and this catalog carries two pairs of rows that share a model designation and end in opposite states.

68 mph CAS in 1974: the case the rule does not resolve

A 1974 PA-28-180 has its VS1 certificated at 68 miles per hour CAS, because that is the unit the airplane was certificated in. Converted at 1 mph = 0.868976241900648 knots, 68 mph is 59.0904 knots — over the ceiling by 0.0904 kt. Run it the other way and 59 knots is 67.896 mph, so the published figure sits about a tenth of a mile per hour above a threshold nobody wrote in miles per hour.

Piper's flight-test engineering answered an owner in writing: the airplane was not certified in knots in 1974, so any knot value is a conversion, and the certified VS1 in knots is 59. That is a first-tier statement from the type certificate holder, and it still does not settle the case, because neither §61.316 nor AC 61-146 says how to round between the two units.

The row therefore returns Not determined — the rule does not resolve this case, and names both figures. A calculator that answered this one would be inventing law.

What reaches the screen is rounded to a tenth. The VS1, calibrated card reads 59.1 KCAS with "0.1 kt over the 59 KCAS ceiling" beneath it, and the verdict line reads "The manual gives 68 mph CAS, which converts to 59.1 kt — over the ceiling by 0.1 kt." The exact 59.0904 belongs to the conversion, not to the card, which is why the later Cardinal RG shows the same 59.1 from a figure that genuinely is 59.1. The gauge puts the marker a hair past the tick, and the honest next step is a question to an FSDO; a web page cannot settle it.

The NO column that was computed against 54 knots

A YES/NO table of Cessna models has circulated in forums and group chats since 2023, and it is still being pasted into threads. It was compiled on 23 July 2023 by Scott Kinney for the Cessna Flyer Association, and it was computed against the 54 knots the NPRM proposed rather than the 59 knots the FAA adopted. Its NO column includes the 172RG, every 177, the 180, the 182E and later, the T182, the R182, the TR182, the 185, the 190 and the 205 and later.

Four rows of this catalog contradict it: the 172RG at 54.0 KCAS, from a specification page reported second-hand rather than a manual this project opened, the 1975 177RG at 57.0 KCAS, the late-model 182 at 56.0 KCAS, and the R182 at 55.0 KCAS — all inside the adopted limit, and all four by way of a §61.331 endorsement, which is how paragraph (b) admits them. When one of those airframes is selected, the page says so on screen instead of leaving the reader to reconcile two answers.

The list is not uniformly wrong, and pretending otherwise would be its mirror image. The later 177RG sits in its NO column and fails here too, on speed alone: at 59.1 KCAS it is above the 54 knots the list was computed against and above the 59 the FAA adopted, so its row carries no contradiction line at all. A table computed against a superseded proposal produces some right answers for the wrong reason, which is the hardest kind of error to notice.

The Cessna 182P and 182Q: readings that circulate, no two the same

This is what a Not confirmed row looks like from the inside. Four readings circulate for the 182P and 182Q, no two of them agree, and none is a stall-speed table read first-hand: the figures in play are 55.6, 59 and about 60 KCAS. SkyRecon's Phase 2 article is typical of the set — it publishes roughly 56 KIAS at gross for these two variants and corrects that to about 60 KCAS without naming the document the correction came from. One rung up from that, Gleim's stall-speed explainer prints 58 knots beside "the Cessna 182" with no variant attached at all, a single number for a designation this catalog has to split into three rows.

The three figures land in three different places: 55.6 clears the ceiling with room, 59 sits exactly on it and passes, and about 60 is over. The catalog's answer is Not confirmed — data does not support a verdict, the gauge disappears because there is no calibrated figure to place on it, and the source line under the cards reports the conflict instead of a verdict — four sources deep, tier C, which is the label that keeps any of those numbers out of the speed clause. Section 5 of the airplane's own manual is where the disclosure sends the reader next.

The same pattern repeats one level down, among owners. A Piper Owner Society thread on the PA-28-181 carries three readings of one POH: 59.3 KCAS taken off Figure 5-5, under 58 KCAS derived through the Figure 5-3 calibration, and 59 KCAS quoted from Section 2. One manual, three careful readers, and three numbers straddling the limit is why this catalog asks for a citable figure in knots CAS before it turns a row green.

Driving the Check: Two Modes and What Each Card Reports

There is no calculate button. Every control arrives filled in and the answer moves as the selections change.

1. Pick the mode with the segmented control at the top. Look up an aircraft is the default and reads from the catalog. Enter my own figures is for an airframe the catalog does not carry, or for a manual that is already open on the desk.

2. In catalog mode, set Manufacturer and then Model and variant. The second select is filtered by the first, and the variant list is where the work is: years and model letters are separate entries because they are separate answers.

3. In manual mode, type the Stall speed VS1 and — this is the control that decides the outcome — set the unit your manual prints it in. KCAS is compared against the ceiling. KIAS returns Not confirmed whatever the magnitude, and the reason line cites the 47/53 case of the 172N to explain why.

4. One block collapses and one appears on condition. Airframe configuration is the collapsible one and belongs to manual mode: it holds gear, propeller and pressurization, and its heading interpolates the whole state — "Airframe configuration — single engine · 4 seats · fixed gear · fixed pitch · unpressurized" — so a wrong assumption is readable without opening it. Endorsements you hold sits open whenever the gear retracts or the propeller is manual controllable, in catalog mode as well as manual, and its two switches map to §61.331(a) and §61.331(b).

5. Read the verdict card first and the speed card second. The verdict card carries the governing clause and figure in its subtitle, then its notes: the configuration it was checked as, a §61.331 note when an endorsement is needed, and a fixed safety line — verify VS1 against the FAA-approved AFM or POH for the specific serial number, and confirm with an instructor or FSDO before acting. Where the number came from is a separate lead line under the cards: publisher, document, date and source tier on a sourced row, plus the site it was read from on tier A and tier B. A row with no source at all gets the pointer to Section 5 instead. The VS1, calibrated card gives the figure, the signed margin against 59, and a copy button for pasting the number into a thread.

6. Below the cards, the gauge places the figure against the ceiling with a tick at 59 KCAS — and vanishes when there is no calibrated figure, which is the correct behavior for a row that has nothing to plot. The rule table then runs seven rows, one per requirement that applies to airplanes, with the deciding row highlighted, and the caption names the 45-knot figure for the categories this page does not model.

7. The full catalog is a collapsible list of all 36 variants, with make, model and variant over its years built, VS1 in the unit it was published in, seats, gear and propeller, status, and source tier with the publisher. It is never filtered by the selection: comparing the airplane you fly against the one you are thinking of buying is the whole point of having it there.

8. Four disclosures carry the fine print. Three of them sit between the rule table and the catalog, and the fourth — Three classes of aircraft the catalog leaves out on purpose — closes the page. What each answer means defines the five states. What this page does not check lists the pilot-side questions by regulation number. Finding VS1 in your own manual is the practical one: a post-1975 Cessna POH keeps the stall table in Section 5, usually Figure 5-3 on page 5-11, printing KIAS and KCAS side by side at several bank angles — take the 0° column and the most-forward-CG block. Pre-1975 owner's manuals put it in Section 3, often in miles per hour CAS. Piper POHs of the 1990s publish the airspeed calibration as a graph rather than a table, so for many of them there is no printed KCAS number to cite at all, and a value read off a curve is not a citable figure.

What This Check Does Not Answer

The page checks the airplane. Everything below is either a pilot question or an airframe class the catalog leaves out on purpose, and naming them is cheaper than letting somebody discover one after the fact.

No pilot privilege is computed, and none is implied. Medical basis sits outside this page: a US driver's license covers day operations under §61.303 subject to its four conditions, while night under §61.329(b) needs either a part 67 medical certificate or the §61.113(i) BasicMed conditions, on top of three hours of night training and an endorsement. Class B, C and D airspace needs the §61.325 endorsement. An airplane whose VH is above or below 87 knots CAS needs the §61.327 endorsement. And the twenty-one operating limits of §61.315(c) apply to every flight regardless of the airframe: one passenger, no compensation or hire, no Class A airspace, no higher than 10,000 ft MSL or 2,000 ft AGL whichever is higher, at least 3 statute miles of visibility, and visual reference to the surface at all times. Every one of those facts is a self-report that cannot be verified from here, so the page does not ask for them.

Half the catalog has no verdict, and every one of those rows says so on screen. Seventeen of 36 rows return Not confirmed because no stall speed in knots CAS has been read from an approved document for that variant. Those rows still name the airframe, say what unit the available figure is in, and point at the section of the manual that would settle it.

Airworthiness is not checked. Whether the particular airplane is airworthy, and whether its own airworthiness certificate carries a limitation, are questions for its logbooks and its certificate.

Only airplanes are modeled. §61.316 also governs gliders, gyroplanes, helicopters, weight-shift-control aircraft, powered parachutes, balloons and airships, at 45 knots CAS and two seats, with clauses (a)(4), (a)(6) and (a)(7) that this page does not evaluate.

Three classes of airplane are deliberately absent from the catalog. Airplanes that already hold a special light-sport airworthiness certificate — the RV-12iS, the Carbon Cub, the ICON A5, the CTLS, the P2008, the Pipistrels — need no per-airframe figure, because the pre-MOSAIC definition capped VS1 at 45 knots CAS and every one of them is inside the 59-knot ceiling by construction; the Cessna 162 row is the worked example of that shape. Experimental and amateur-built airplanes have no factory manual at all: the builder determines VS1 by the flight-test methods of AC 90-89C. And Part 22 light-sport category certification is a different rule with a different number, 61 knots CAS on VS0 under §22.100(a)(3), which this page states but does not compute.

Modifications are ignored on purpose. §61.316(a) is tethered to the airplane since its original certification, and the FAA states in the preamble that an alteration taking VS1 from 61 to 59 knots does not qualify the airplane. Fit the STOL kit or the vortex generators; the certificated figure is still the one the rule reads.

This is a planning tool and not FAA guidance. The rule text was read from the eCFR issue of 13 August 2026, and each stall speed was read from the document named beside it on the date the catalog carries. Published VS1 figures do not change. The regulation can, and §61.316 with AC 61-146 are the pair worth watching.

Where a Sport Pilot Eligibility Answer Goes Wrong

Reading the green arc against a KCAS limit. The bottom of the green arc is indicated airspeed and §61.316(a)(1) is written in calibrated. Position error at the stall is not signed by convention, so the correction can go either way: the 172N reads 47 KIAS and 53 KCAS at the same point, six knots higher calibrated. A comfortable-looking indicated margin is not a margin.
Treating the model as the unit of eligibility. "The Cessna 182 qualifies" is the error this catalog exists to avoid. The 210 is 57 knots in 1960 and 65 in 1972; the 177RG is 57.0 KCAS in 1975 and 59.1 later on the same wing. The answer belongs to a variant and a year, so a table printing one number per model has skipped the step that decides.
Using 61 knots as the sport pilot limit. That figure is §22.100(a)(3), VS0 in landing configuration: it certificates the light-sport category and grants no pilot privilege at all. The sport pilot number is 59 knots CAS on VS1, clean. Since VS1 is always the higher of the two on an airplane with flaps, mixing them up moves airframes across the line in both directions.
Trusting the YES/NO list that still circulates. The Cessna table compiled on 23 July 2023 was computed against the 54 knots the NPRM proposed, not the 59 the FAA adopted, so several airframes sitting in its NO column clear the adopted ceiling — the 172RG, the 1975 177RG, the late 182 and the R182 among them. A list dated before the final rule cannot be checked against the final rule.
Removing a seat to get under four. Seating capacity under §61.316(a)(2) is fixed at original certification, and the FAA names the PA-32 and the Cessna 206 as examples in the preamble. A 1972 Cessna 210 fails on seats before its stall speed is ever consulted.
Counting a STOL kit, vortex generators or any post-certification modification. The clause reads on the airplane since its original certification, and the FAA states that an alteration taking VS1 from 61 to 59 knots does not qualify it. The modification is real; its effect on this question is nil.
Taking the aft-CG stall speed because it is the lower number. "Most critical center of gravity" means the one that produces the higher VS1. A late-model 182 stalls at 54 KCAS aft and 56 forward, and the FAA confirmed directly that the 56 governs. Picking the friendlier column is the same error as picking the friendlier unit.
Reading Not confirmed as a probable yes. It means no figure in knots CAS has been read from an approved document for that variant — 17 of 36 rows here — and the next step is Section 5 of the airplane's own manual, not an estimate.
Reading Meets as permission. The literal is a statement about an airframe against §61.316(a). Medical basis, endorsements, currency and the twenty-one limits of §61.315(c) are a separate body of rules, and none of them is evaluated here. The cost of confusing the two is an enforcement action and an insurance policy that reads the same regulation afterwards.

Terms the Rule Uses, and What Each One Decides

VS1

Stalling speed, or minimum steady flight speed, in a specified configuration — for this rule, clean: flaps up, wings level, power off, at maximum certificated takeoff weight and the most critical center of gravity. It is the figure §61.316(a)(1) caps at 59 knots CAS for airplanes.

VS0

Stalling speed in the landing configuration, with flaps and gear extended. Always lower than VS1 on an airplane with flaps. It belongs to a different rule: §22.100(a)(3) caps it at 61 knots CAS for certificating the light-sport category, which is not a pilot privilege.

KCAS

Knots calibrated airspeed: the indicated reading corrected for the position and instrument error of the static system. The unit §61.316(a)(1) is written in, and the only unit that produces a verdict on this page.

KIAS

Knots indicated airspeed: what the airspeed indicator shows. Near the stall it can differ from calibrated by several knots in either direction, so it cannot be compared with a limit written in KCAS. The Cessna 172N is 47 KIAS and 53 KCAS at the same point.

Most critical center of gravity

Whichever CG position produces the higher stall speed, which for most airplanes is the forward limit. The FAA stated this directly when asked about a late-model 182 that stalls at 54 KCAS aft and 56 forward: the 56 is the figure the rule reads.

Maximum certificated takeoff weight

The weight the airframe was certificated to depart at, not the weight it happens to be at today. VS1 rises with weight, so the rule pins the measurement at the heaviest certificated case to keep the answer independent of how the airplane is loaded.

§61.331 endorsement

The training and logbook endorsement that §61.316(b) requires before a sport pilot may operate an airplane with retractable gear, under (a), or a manual controllable-pitch propeller, under (b). It converts a failing clause into "Meets — endorsement required"; the requirement is met through training, never waived.

AFM and POH

The FAA-approved Airplane Flight Manual and the Pilot's Operating Handbook. The stall-speed table lives in Section 5 of a post-1975 Cessna POH and Section 3 of most pre-1975 owner's manuals, and it is the only document that settles §61.316(a)(1) for a given serial number.

Source tier

The confidence label on each catalog row. Tier A is a figure in knots CAS from an FAA-approved manual or a written manufacturer statement. Tier B is a type club's, an association's or the FAA's reading of one. Tier C is a row where no figure has been read at all, or where the only figure is indicated airspeed or carries no stated unit; it never carries the speed clause.

MOSAIC

Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification, the FAA rulemaking published at 90 FR 35034 on 24 July 2025 that replaced the 1,320-pound weight test with the 59-knot stall speed test and added §61.316 by Amdt. 61-159.

Sport Pilot Aircraft Eligibility — Frequently Asked Questions

What aircraft can a sport pilot fly?

Any airplane that satisfies all of 14 CFR 61.316(a): VS1 of not more than 59 knots calibrated airspeed at maximum certificated takeoff weight and the most critical center of gravity, four seats or fewer as originally certificated, a non-pressurized cabin, a design allowing a controlled descent after a powerplant failure, fixed landing gear, and a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller. Retractable gear and a manual controllable-pitch propeller come back in through paragraph (b) with the §61.331 training and endorsement, and §61.315(c)(21) excludes anything requiring a type rating. Gliders, gyroplanes, helicopters, weight-shift-control aircraft, powered parachutes, balloons and airships sit at 45 knots CAS and two seats under the same section. Whether a particular pilot may act as pilot in command of an eligible airplane is a separate question governed by §61.303, §61.315 and the endorsement sections.

What is the sport pilot stall speed limit?

VS1 of not more than 59 knots calibrated airspeed for airplanes, and 45 knots CAS for every other category, measured at maximum certificated takeoff weight and the most critical center of gravity. That is §61.316(a)(1). Exactly 59.0 KCAS passes, because "not more than" includes the number.

Is there an official FAA list of sport pilot eligible aircraft?

No. AOPA reported on 11 December 2025 that "the agency has not yet produced a list of qualified aircraft based on the new criteria", and AC 61-146 restates the criteria without naming an airplane. The catalog on this page is a private compilation, sourced row by row.

Can a sport pilot fly a Cessna 172?

It depends which 172. The 172N built from 1977 to 1980 and the 172S built from 1998 onward both stall at 53.0 KCAS at the most critical center of gravity, 6.0 knots under the ceiling, and satisfy every other clause of §61.316(a) with fixed gear and a fixed-pitch propeller. That is a statement about those two airframes as originally certificated, and it says nothing about anyone's privileges. Worth separating from a second question people often merge into it: a type-certificated 172 does not become a light-sport aircraft, because §22.100(a)(6) bars any aircraft ever issued a standard airworthiness certificate from the category.

Can a sport pilot fly a Cessna 182?

The 182 is where the published readings part company. Late-model 182s in this catalog carry a VS1 of 56.0 KCAS, 3.0 knots under the ceiling, and fly behind a constant-speed propeller — so they clear (a)(1) and reach the propeller clause, (a)(9), only through paragraph (b), which puts the §61.331(b) endorsement squarely inside the answer. The 182P and 182Q return Not confirmed: four readings circulate for those two variants — 55.6, 59 and about 60 KCAS among the figures — no two of them agree, and none is a stall-speed table read first-hand, so the catalog declines to resolve them.

What is the difference between calibrated airspeed and indicated airspeed?

Indicated airspeed is what the airspeed indicator shows. Calibrated airspeed is that reading corrected for the position and instrument error of the static system. Near the stall the correction is large and its sign is not fixed by convention, so an indicated figure can fall on either side of the calibrated one. The Cessna 172N stalls at 47 KIAS and 53 KCAS at the same weight and center of gravity — six knots higher calibrated. §61.316(a)(1) is written in knots CAS, which is why an indicated figure produces no verdict here whatever its magnitude.

How do I find VS1 for my airplane?

1. In a post-1975 Cessna POH, open Section 5, Performance. The stall-speed table is usually Figure 5-3 on page 5-11 and prints KIAS and KCAS side by side at several bank angles. Take the 0° column and the most-forward-CG block. 2. In a pre-1975 owner's manual, look in Section 3, often around page 3-7, and expect miles per hour CAS. The mph figure is the certification basis, not a rounding of a knot value. 3. In Piper POHs of the 1990s, the airspeed calibration is frequently printed as a graph, not a table, so there may be no KCAS number to cite at all. A value read off a curve is a reading, not a citable figure. 4. If the manual publishes no VS1, AC 90-89C carries FAA-accepted methods for determining and documenting one by flight test.

Why is the sport pilot limit 59 knots when light-sport aircraft say 61?

Two different rules with two different jobs. §22.100(a)(3) sets 61 knots CAS on VS0, the landing-configuration stall, for certificating an aircraft in the light-sport category. §61.316(a)(1) sets 59 knots CAS on VS1, the clean stall, for a sport pilot's operating privilege. VS1 is always higher than VS0 on an airplane with flaps, so an airframe can be under 61 on one measure and over 59 on the other.

Can a sport pilot fly a retractable-gear airplane or one with a constant-speed propeller?

The airframe is not disqualified by either feature. §61.316(a)(8) and (a)(9) require fixed gear and a fixed, ground-adjustable or automated controllable-pitch propeller, and paragraph (b) readmits retractable gear and a manual controllable-pitch propeller for a pilot holding the corresponding §61.331 training and endorsement. Rows in that state read "Meets 14 CFR 61.316(a) — endorsement required", and the clause concerned shows "Endorsement required" in the rule table instead of a failure. The R182 at 55.0 KCAS and the PA-24-180 Comanche at 58.2 KCAS need both endorsements, since both airframes combine retractable gear with a manual controllable-pitch propeller; the Maule M-7 at 55.0 KCAS needs the propeller one. No row in this catalog needs the gear endorsement on its own.

If the airplane has four seats, can a sport pilot carry three passengers?

No, and the two rules are easy to merge by accident. Four seats is an aircraft requirement under §61.316(a)(2), describing what the airframe may have been certificated with. The passenger limit is a pilot limitation in §61.315(c), and it is one passenger, whatever the airplane holds. This page evaluates the first list and states the second without computing it.

The result says Not confirmed. What does that mean and what comes next?

It means no stall speed in knots CAS has been read from an approved document for that variant, so §61.316(a)(1) — which is decided on that figure and nothing else — cannot be evaluated. Seventeen of the catalog's 36 rows are in that state, and it is not a soft yes. The next step is the airplane's own manual: Section 5 of a post-1975 Cessna POH, most-forward-CG column; the calibration table or graph in the same section if the manual prints only indicated; or a written statement from the type certificate holder in knots CAS, which is what promoted the Maule M-7 rows and never arrived for the M-4.

The result says Meets. What is settled and what is not?

Settled: that airframe, as originally certificated, satisfies the aircraft requirements of §61.316(a), and the clause-by-clause table shows which figure carried each one. Not settled: medical basis, endorsements, currency, the twenty-one operating limits of §61.315(c), whether that individual airplane is airworthy, and whether its airworthiness certificate carries a limitation of its own. The practical next step is to verify VS1 against the FAA-approved AFM or POH for the specific serial number and confirm with an instructor or FSDO before acting on it.

Can a sport pilot fly at night?

Not through anything on this page, which checks the airframe only. Night is a pilot privilege under §61.329, requiring three hours of night flight training and an endorsement, plus either a part 67 medical certificate or BasicMed — so a driver's license alone does not reach it. Class B, C and D airspace needs the §61.325 endorsement, and an airplane whose VH is above or below 87 knots CAS needs the §61.327 endorsement. None of the three is computed here.

Can a sport pilot fly a twin?

The catalog returns Not determined for a twin, for two separate reasons that both matter. The rule text does not resolve it: the FAA declined to define "controlled descent" in §61.316(a)(5), which is the clause a twin would have to satisfy. And the privilege does not exist: §61.313(a)(1) offers only single-engine land and sea class privileges, and the FAA states that a sport pilot cannot obtain multiengine privileges in the current, proposed or adopted framework. The PA-44 Seminole row carries both lines.

Does a STOL kit or vortex generators make an airplane eligible?

No. §61.316(a) reads on the airplane since its original certification, and the FAA states in the preamble to the final rule that an alteration taking an airplane from 61 to 59 knots does not qualify it. The kit changes how the airplane flies; the certificated figure is still the one the regulation reads.

How accurate is this eligibility check?

The arithmetic is exact and small: the margin is 59.0 minus the calibrated figure, reported to one decimal, and the clause ladder runs in a fixed order so the reason given is always the first clause that actually decides. The limits are in the data. Eight of the 36 rows rest on a tier A figure and nine on tier B; the other nineteen are tier C — fifteen with no stall speed read at all, four whose only figure is indicated or carries no stated unit — and tier C never carries the speed clause. The rule text was read from the eCFR issue of 13 August 2026; published stall speeds do not change, but §61.316 can be amended.

Is this sport pilot aircraft eligibility check free to use?

Yes. All 36 catalog variants, the clause-by-clause rule table, both input modes and the source cited on every row are open to anyone, with nothing to sign up for, and the tool can be embedded on another site. It remains a planning tool: verify VS1 against the FAA-approved AFM or POH for the serial number you intend to fly, and confirm with your instructor or FSDO. It is not FAA guidance and does not replace 14 CFR 61.316.

Sources & References

Content verified by the Smart Calculators Team