I came across an ad in Barnstormers where a person in Florida is advertising a business for sale consisting of an ELSA on floats , apparently giving rides to tourists near a major hotel. The aircraft is a Quicksilver. Now I have often thought that that type of business would be a fun way to earn a few cents during the summer, but I can see no legal way of doing this. As a E-LSA it's experimental, therefore you cannot use it for hire or compensation.
I suppose the whole concept would be to give people a fun, ultralight-type experience and I know it goes on in some countries, but as far as I can tell, in the US it is impossible to legally make money using anything that does not have a full, normal category airworthiness certificate.
Now factory-built LSA's can be used for training and you can charge people, but can you legally carry a passenger who is paying you for a joyride? (Assuming one had the appropriate CPL , insurance etc.)
Am I missing something? I had a good look through the FAA website and can't find anything specific relating to this. Not that it might not be there, but they don't make it easy to find.
I suppose the whole concept would be to give people a fun, ultralight-type experience and I know it goes on in some countries, but as far as I can tell, in the US it is impossible to legally make money using anything that does not have a full, normal category airworthiness certificate.
Now factory-built LSA's can be used for training and you can charge people, but can you legally carry a passenger who is paying you for a joyride? (Assuming one had the appropriate CPL , insurance etc.)
Am I missing something? I had a good look through the FAA website and can't find anything specific relating to this. Not that it might not be there, but they don't make it easy to find.
