A builder or buyer who has lined up paid transition training in an instructor's own RV, Rebel or warbird for December should ask one question now: does the instructor's letter of deviation authority (LODA) come from the new rule? Every LODA issued under the old 14 CFR 91.319(h) ends on December 1, 2026. After that date an instructor who supplies both the experimental airplane and the training needs a LODA issued under 14 CFR 91.326.
What ends, and why now
The FAA rewrote the rule in a final rule published October 2, 2024, effective December 2, 2024. It moved the LODA for flight training, checking and testing in experimental and limited category aircraft out of 91.319(h) and into a new section, 91.326. Paragraph (d) of 91.326 let LODAs issued under 91.319(h) before December 2, 2024, keep working until December 1, 2026.
The FAA's Notice N 8900.762, effective January 13, 2026, tells its inspectors the rest. They may not renew, amend or "grandfather" an old LODA or its training program. A holder who wants to keep training after December 1 submits a new application under 91.326(b), following Advisory Circular 91-94, and is issued a new LODA, A115 (HQ Revision 010). The notice says the new requirements will likely mean changes to training programs that were approved before, including removing elements no longer allowed. EAA reported the deadline to its members on November 5.
Who needs one, and who doesn't
Nothing changes for the most common case. Under 91.326(c)(1), carried over from the 2023 defense authorization act, an authorized instructor, registered owner, lessor or lessee needs no LODA when:
- the instructor isn't providing both the training and the airplane;
- nobody advertises or broadly offers the airplane for training, checking or testing; and
- nobody is paid for the airplane's use on the training flight beyond the expenses of owning, operating and maintaining it, and never for profit.
Paragraph (c)(2) adds that no LODA is needed when nobody is paid for the training or the airplane at all. So an owner who hires an instructor to fly the owner's own airplane is not affected. The deadline reaches the instructor or school that supplies its own experimental airplane with the instruction.
What the new LODA asks
Section 91.326(b) lists what goes in the application and the conditions that come with the letter. Among them:
- Sixty days. The request goes in at least 60 days before the intended operations. December 1 is less than 60 days away.
- A written program. A detailed, aircraft-specific flight and ground training program. Demonstration, discovery and experience flights, and other flights outside the program, are not authorized.
- Inspections. Unless the airplane is on an FAA-approved inspection program, an annual, 100-hour or condition inspection equal in scope and detail to part 43 appendix D within the preceding 100 hours time in service.
- Airworthiness directives. For experimental airplanes, the holder evaluates the ADs that apply to the same make and model with another kind of airworthiness certificate, or to any article installed, records which were evaluated, and records the method of compliance for those it judged necessary. Hangar Flying's Directive Search finds ADs by make, model or part.
- Records and paperwork. A training record for each trainee, signed by the instructor and kept 36 calendar months; a copy of the LODA on board.
- Who is aboard. The instructor, examiner, trainee and anyone essential to the flight, plus up to two people enrolled in the same airplane's course as observers.
The notice's sample letter to holders adds one more point. Old LODAs, it says, in effect gave relief from some operating limitations, and the new ones don't. An airplane whose operating limitations say "Carriage of persons or property for compensation or hire is prohibited," or something like it, needs an amended airworthiness certificate before a LODA under 91.326 can be issued.
What isn't known
The FAA hasn't said how many old LODAs are still active or how long new applications are taking. EAA keeps a list of LODA holders by state; it carries no date, so a student should ask the instructor directly which rule the letter was issued under.
Hangar Debrief's article on transition training covers why it matters, Van's syllabus and the FAA's advisory circular on unfamiliar aircraft.
On Hangar Flying: Test & Validation writes a Phase 1 flight test plan from AC 90-89C.
Sources
- FAA, Notice N 8900.762, Termination of LODAs Issued Under 14 CFR § 91.319(h) and Introduction of New LODA Regulation 14 CFR § 91.326(b), effective January 13, 2026, paragraphs 1, 4, 6, 7 and 10 and Appendix A. Read November 6, 2026.
- 14 CFR 91.326, Exception to operating certain aircraft for the purposes of flight training, flightcrew member checking, or flightcrew member testing, paragraphs (a) to (d), read at Cornell's Legal Information Institute November 6, 2026.
- FAA, Advisory Circular 91-94.pdf), Application and Issuance Process for a Letter of Deviation Authority Issued in Accordance With 14 CFR § 91.326 (named in the notice; not read today).
- EAA, Legacy LODAs End December 1, Replaced Under Updated Rule, November 5, 2026, the first report seen; and its Letters of Deviation Authority Holders list.
- FAA Aircraft Registry, N24047 and N430BZ, read November 6, 2026.
- Photo: Van's RV-10 (N959RV, cn 40637) (1-26-2025)_(1-26-2025).jpg) by ZLEA, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. The registration was checked against the FAA registry.