Are you ready for MOSAIC? Let’s be crystal clear. You have no time left to comment on the FAA’s proposed rule. However, we won’t see MOSAIC LSA for many months yet. In this article, we look at G750, a 2+2 seat MOSAIC LSA candidate.
MOSAIC as a completed regulation is still 16 months away, according to the FAA’s oft-repeated statements about how long it needs after comments have closed. The agency has a lot of work remaining on this proposed regulation.
After a group of maintenance organizations asked for more time, the FAA extended the comment period to January 22. After that, the FAA begins huddling internally to review all comments and make other changes.
Besides the FAA, ASTM’s LSA committee also has its hands full creating industry consensus standards needed to allow acceptance of these airplanes. If you have any capacity or interest to help, they’d love you to join them. You do not need to be an engineer or technical expert.
Many LSA producers are hustling hard to develop existing models into larger, more capable mLSA designs. A few brands are already flying, and I have reported on several of these.
Go Get Some Air
This Slovenian GoGetAir G750 design is a new-to-the U.S. aircraft, though it has a decade of history in Europe.
GoGetAir’s G750 evolved from an aircraft I had seen earlier in Europe called One. A stylish design, One used a sports car approach, with two rear seats of limited carrying capacity. One Aircraft was designed by Iztok Šalamon after he founded that company in 2014. One Aircraft shut down operations in 2019 when GoGetAir was established.
“GoGetAir is the only aircraft in the category that features large forward-and-upward-hinging doors for easy entry,” said the Šalamos, referring to them as “Lamborghini-style doors.” They added, “Pilot and passengers are protected with a Formula-1-like full-carbon roll cage with Kevlar protection.
“In addition, every G750 is equipped with a BRS parachute system designed around a solid-fuel rocket housed in the front fuselage that pulls the parachute to full deployment within seconds.”
Europe-based light aviation journalist Marino Boric wrote, “GoGetAir’s G750 aircraft from Slovenia is one of very few 2+2 aircraft with an MTOW of 750 kilograms [1,650 pounds], which on first glance looks like a smaller version of Cirrus’ piston SR series.”
A Cirrus SR20 weighs about twice as much as G750 but has a roomy aft seat. Though the term is no longer common, “2+2” indicates a second row of seats with a lesser amount of leg room.
Even though you cannot fill G750 with four large adults, this is an ideal MOSAIC LSA for sport pilot certificate holders. Those pilots will not be allowed to take four persons aloft, but might enjoy the extra cabin space.
G750 Performs
Offered first with the 100-horsepower Rotax 912, a 115-horsepower Rotax 914 turbo engine enables more robust performance with take-off in less than 500 feet and a climb rate more than 1,000 feet per minute
Now, GoGetAir offers the turbocharged, intercooled Rotax 915iS for a performance boost up to altitude. See the nearby chart to compare engines and performance.
GoGetAir is reasonably fast, a nice bump from today’s LSA, offering cruise at 138 knots, or 159 miles per hour. Other MOSAIC LSAs may strive for higher speeds but may be more compact to reduce drag. The G750 is intended for comfortable cross country travel.
With Rotax 915, the G750 takes off in less tha 400 feet of ground roll and can climb at 1,500 feet per minute. The G750/915 will burn 6-7 gallons per hour cruising at altitude. Under ideal conditions, full tanks of 35 gallons offer a range of nearly 1,000 nautical miles.
“Due to its huge flaps, [the] G750 is easily operated on [a] 1,500 foot runway,” said GoGetAir. Stall speed for all three engine sizes is a modest 43 knots, or 49 miles per hour. With proposed MOSAIC stall speed limits coming in at 54 knots (or possibly faster) the G750 is well within MOSAIC parameters.
GoGetAir G750 Safety Features
- Rocket-propelled emergency airframe parachute
- 4-mm-thick certified glass front windshield for bird and other object penetration protection
- Passenger compartment roll safety cage; designed and tested cabin construction with car-style crash resistance
- Doors designed to be opened in case of a roll-over
- Full Kevlar cabin interior for protection from object penetration
- Single-spar design—both spars overlap and are bolted together to the fuselage, adding to construction stiffness and safety
- Panel retracts in case of crash
- Three hinges on every moving surface; four on the flaps
- Glide ratio of 17.5:1 for lower fuel consumption and higher safety in case of engine failure.
GoGetAir in the U.S.
Shannon Hankins & Alan Jackson from Scissortail Aerosport represent G750 to North America. “Scissortail is the authorized North American Completion Center for the GoGetAir’s G750. We offer full in-house support during final assembly at our facility located in Tulsa, Oklahoma [KRVS].” Of course, its reference to assembly is before MOSAIC when the company could deliver a fully-built G750.
The timing of Scissortail and GoGetAir is excellent, with only 16 months or so before MOSAIC is released. In the meantime, the FAA has registration categories such as experimental exhibition that allow import of a small number of fully-assembled aircraft to test the market.
By the second quarter of 2025, MOSAIC should become official regulation and then G750 will easily fit the mLSA category assuming the company chooses to pursue and declare compliance with ASTM standards.
G750 is a costlier choice as will be many mLSA. At $270,000 to $340,000, depending on optional equipment and finishes, G750 is helping to define a price point for MOSAIC LSA. Extra seats and extra capabilities cost real money.
While we all wait on MOSAIC, Scissortail can refine its operation and deliver a few experimental exhibition aircraft to earn feedback from U.S. pilots. Contact Hankins or Jackson for more or to arrange a flight demo.
