“MOSAIC ready” is not a certification basis: what a statement of compliance tells you

Imagine you are shopping for a new light-sport airplane and the manufacturer’s announcement says the model is “MOSAIC ready.” What should you ask to see before you rely on that? The phrase describes how the aircraft is being marketed, not how it is certificated. For a new light-sport category aircraft, or an applicable light-sport kit, the document that carries the certification story is the manufacturer’s statement of compliance, along with the standards behind it. Other kinds of aircraft are certificated by other routes and need their own documentation.

What a statement of compliance is

FAA Form 8130-15, the Light-Sport Category Aircraft/Kit Statement of Compliance, is the manufacturer’s written declaration that an aircraft meets the light-sport requirements. When someone applies for a light-sport special airworthiness certificate under 14 CFR 21.190, it is the first item the rule lists among what they must give the FAA.

The rule is specific about what the statement says. It must be signed by the manufacturer’s authorized representative, who has been trained and certified on issuing it. It must identify the aircraft by make, model, serial number, class and date of manufacture. And it must name the consensus standards used, which have to be ones the FAA has accepted or approved, and state that the aircraft meets the Part 22 eligibility, design, production and airworthiness requirements under them. The manufacturer also commits to run a continued operational safety program for in-service problems and to give the FAA access to its facilities and data on request.

Who completes it, and what the FAA does

Only the manufacturer may complete and sign the statement. The FAA defines the manufacturer narrowly: the person who designs and produces the aircraft and has the personnel and documentation to show compliance with the applicable requirements of parts 21 and 22. The FAA does not issue design or production approvals for light-sport aircraft. It certifies individual aircraft by issuing airworthiness certificates, after inspecting each one. Manufacturers typically give the FAA notice before delivering the first aircraft of a new model so a first make/model audit can be scheduled.

So the statement is the manufacturer’s declaration, not an FAA endorsement of the design. An audit of a new make and model depends on FAA resources, so do not assume one has happened.

When it applies, and when it doesn’t

The statement belongs to the light-sport routes: factory-built aircraft certificated under 21.190, and kits for the experimental purpose in 21.191(k). Other routes rest on different provisions. An amateur-built aircraft is certificated under 21.191(g), and a standard airworthiness certificate for a new aircraft built under a type certificate is handled under 21.183. Those routes need their own documentation, so ask for what that route calls for. An aircraft a sport pilot may fly was not necessarily certificated as a light-sport aircraft, either.

Keep three questions apart. Certification is about the aircraft. Pilot eligibility is about the person: 14 CFR 61.316 sets performance and design limits for aircraft a sport pilot may fly, and 61.315 sets the privileges and limits of the certificate. Permission for a particular operation is a third matter. For example, 14 CFR 91.327 limits a light-sport category aircraft’s use for compensation or hire to certain activities, and towing and aerial work must be specified in both the aircraft’s handbook or limitations and its statement of compliance. A “MOSAIC ready” label answers none of these.

A hypothetical example

Imagine a manufacturer announces that a new model is “MOSAIC ready,” and you are the buyer. First, ask which certification route is intended: a factory-built light-sport aircraft, a light-sport kit, or something else. If it is a light-sport aircraft or kit, ask for the signed statement of compliance for the specific aircraft or kit you would receive, and check that it names that aircraft. Read which consensus standards it cites and the date it was signed, because the FAA lists one set of accepted standards for statements signed on or after July 24, 2026 and another for earlier ones. The announcement cannot tell you any of this, nor whether you may fly the aircraft or whether a planned use is allowed. Those need the documents, the regulations and your own certificate.

What to ask for

This part is advice, not a requirement. The FAA’s purchasing guidance suggests researching the safety record of the make and model and requesting the manufacturer’s training records and audit reports to verify compliance with the applicable standards. Manufacturers must conduct internal audits, and the FAA encourages, but does not require, third-party audits. The phrase “MOSAIC ready” does not appear in the text of 21.190 or in the FAA’s manufacturing FAQ, so treat it as marketing and rely on the documents instead.

Before you commit, get the statement of compliance, the standards it cites, and the manufacturer’s audit evidence in hand, and check pilot eligibility and your intended use separately.