Light Sport Aircraft （軽飛行機スポーツ免許）
アメリカには飛行機免許に軽飛行機スポーツ免許という（LSA）短時間で取得できる特殊な免許があります。乗客数とか飛行範囲等の制約がありますが、飛行場が居住地域にたくさんあるアメリカですから、お手軽に空中散歩ができます。
What It's Like to Fly the Vashon Ranger R7
その名をVashon Ranger R7（バションレンジャーR7）とは？
The Jeep of the light-sport aircraft category makes a surprise entrance.
軽スポーツ飛行機類のジープと言われるR7は驚きの入門機です。
When the light-sport aircraft rules were released in 2004, the aviation industry was excited about the prospect of brand-new airplanes becoming more affordable.
LSAと呼ばれる法規化が2004年に成立した時、航空機業界は手軽に手に入るほどの新型の新規の需要で沸き立ちました。
With the cost and complexity of Part 23 certification and the introduction of advanced cockpit technologies, factory-new certified airplanes were outside the budget of many pilots.
航空法規Part23の費用と複雑化、進化形操縦席の技術改良の導入が、新型機の購入を多くのパイロットの予算オーバーで、購入を難しくしていました。
The LSA category was expected to breathe new life into the declining industry, making flight training and flying for fun more affordable. LSAs were expected to go out the door for around $100,000 apiece.
LSAカテゴリーは後退する業界の新しい息吹を吹き込むと期待され、訓練やもっと飛行を楽しめるようなされたものです。LSAは一機約10万ドルくらいを見越していました。
（以下は簡単な英文ですからチャレンジしてみて下さい。訳す必要はありません、イメージで意味を汲み取るようにやってみることをお勧めいたします。）
Many airplane manufacturers envisioned a return to general aviation’s glory days, when airplanes were pushed out of the factories by the thousands, as they were from the 1950s through the 1970s. From well-established giants like Cessna and Piper to budding plane-makers near and far, companies tried their hand at building airplanes to successfully fit the new category. But designing a safe airplane for $100,000 or less within the LSA restrictions, particularly the 1,320-pound takeoff weight limit, has proved more challenging than originally thought. With more than 100 different LSA models introduced, no company has succeeded in achieving mass production at the targeted price point. Cessna and Piper have dropped out of the market completely. The cost of some LSAs, such as the Icon A5 light-sport amphibian at almost $400,000, has even surpassed that of larger Part 23-certified airplanes.
