Yes. You need a pilot’s license to fly an experimental aircraft, with one narrow exception for ultralights. The FAA does not issue a special experimental license; you hold a standard pilot certificate, typically Sport or Private, and fly an aircraft that carries an experimental airworthiness certificate. Which certificate you need depends on the aircraft’s weight, speed, and seating, not on the fact that it was homebuilt.
What “Experimental” Actually Means
Experimental is a specific FAA airworthiness category, not a loose description of a homebuilt airplane. The FAA issues experimental airworthiness certificates for defined purposes including research and development, exhibition, and air racing.1eCFR. 14 CFR 21.191 – Issue of Experimental Airworthiness Certificates The most common type is amateur-built, where someone constructs an aircraft for personal education or recreation. The aircraft’s airworthiness certificate is experimental; the person flying it still needs a regular pilot certificate under Part 61.
The One Exception: Ultralights
You can fly without any pilot certificate at all if the aircraft qualifies as an ultralight vehicle under Part 103. These single-seat, very light aircraft are exempt from pilot certification, aircraft registration, and airworthiness requirements.2eCFR. 14 CFR Part 103 – Ultralight Vehicles The moment the aircraft exceeds Part 103’s weight and speed limits, carries a passenger, or otherwise falls outside the definition, standard pilot certificate requirements apply. Most homebuilts that people casually call “experimental” are too heavy, too fast, or have too many seats to qualify as ultralights.
Which Pilot Certificate You Need
Two certificates cover the vast majority of experimental aircraft pilots.
Sport Pilot Certificate
A Sport Pilot certificate works for lighter experimental aircraft that fall within the light-sport performance limits. Traditionally that meant a maximum takeoff weight of 1,320 pounds for land planes and a top speed of 120 knots in level flight.3Federal Aviation Administration. Sport Pilot and Light Sport Aircraft Certification Sport pilots may carry one passenger (two seats total), and unless specifically authorized, flights must stay in daytime visual conditions.4eCFR. 14 CFR 61.315 – Privileges and Limits of Sport Pilot Certificate
The FAA’s MOSAIC final rule replaces the fixed weight limits with performance-based criteria, including a higher maximum stall speed of 61 knots, which substantially expands the range of aircraft a sport pilot can fly.5Federal Aviation Administration. MOSAIC Final Rule Check the current limits in 14 CFR 61.316 before you commit, since the envelope has shifted.
Private Pilot Certificate
A Private Pilot certificate is the standard choice for heavier, faster, or more complex experimental aircraft. It allows more than two seats, multiple passengers, and, with the right ratings, night and instrument operations. If your experimental aircraft exceeds the sport-pilot performance envelope, a private certificate is the minimum.6eCFR. 14 CFR 61.103 – Eligibility Requirements for Private Pilot Certificate
Getting the Certificate
Both Sport and Private applicants must be at least 17 and able to read, speak, write, and understand English.7eCFR. 14 CFR 61.305 – Age and Language Requirements for Sport Pilot Certificate Sport Pilot requires a minimum of 20 hours of flight time, including 15 hours of dual instruction and 5 hours of solo in a single-engine airplane.8eCFR. 14 CFR 61.313 – Aeronautical Experience for Sport Pilot Certificate Private Pilot requires at least 40 hours, including 20 dual and 10 solo.9eCFR. 14 CFR 61.109 – Aeronautical Experience Those are regulatory minimums. Most private pilot students actually take 60 to 75 hours to reach checkride standard. Both certificates require a written knowledge test and a practical test with an FAA examiner.
Medical Requirements
Medical fitness is often the real decision driver, and there are three paths.
Third-Class Medical Certificate
The traditional route. You see an FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner for a physical exam. If you pass, the certificate is valid for 60 months if you are under 40, and 24 months if you are 40 or older.
BasicMed
BasicMed skips the AME visit for most recreational flying. You complete an online medical education course and get a physical from any state-licensed physician. BasicMed applies to experimental aircraft, but the aircraft must be authorized for no more than six occupants and a maximum takeoff weight of no more than 6,000 pounds. You must stay below 18,000 feet, keep airspeed at or below 250 knots, fly within the United States, and carry no more than five passengers.10Federal Aviation Administration. Advisory Circular 68-1A – BasicMed Most amateur-built experimentals fit inside those limits.
Driver’s License Medical for Sport Pilots
Sport pilots can use a valid U.S. driver’s license instead of any FAA medical certificate. This is the most accessible path. You cannot use it if your most recent FAA medical was suspended or revoked, or if you know of a condition that would prevent you from safely operating the aircraft.11eCFR. 14 CFR 61.23 – Medical Certificates: Requirement and Duration For builders who cannot pass a formal FAA medical, this is often the whole reason they chose the Sport Pilot route.
Endorsements and Transition Training
Holding a certificate does not automatically qualify you to fly every experimental aircraft. The regulations carve out a limited exception: you do not need a type rating for an experimental when flying without passengers.12eCFR. 14 CFR 61.31 – Type Rating Requirements, Additional Training, and Authorization Requirements Separate endorsements still apply: tailwheel landing gear, high-performance engines (over 200 horsepower), and complex aircraft (retractable gear, controllable-pitch propeller, and flaps). Many operating limitations issued over the past decade explicitly require whatever endorsements 14 CFR 61.31 calls for. If your homebuilt has a tailwheel, you almost certainly need a tailwheel endorsement before flying it with passengers.
Beyond the legal requirements, transition training matters for safety. The FAA published Advisory Circular 90-109A specifically to guide pilots moving to unfamiliar aircraft, including experimentals with handling qualities that differ substantially from typical trainers.13Federal Aviation Administration. Advisory Circular 90-109A – Transition to Unfamiliar Aircraft Accident data consistently shows the first 50 hours on a newly built experimental are the most dangerous period.14Federal Aviation Administration. Advisory Circular 90-89B – Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook Dual instruction in a similar type before first flight is one of the smartest investments a builder can make.
Learning to Fly in Your Own Experimental
You might assume you can just hire a flight instructor to teach you in your homebuilt. It is not that simple. Because experimental aircraft cannot generally be used for compensation or hire, an instructor charging for lessons in your experimental needs a Letter of Deviation Authority (LODA) from the FAA.15Federal Aviation Administration. Advisory Circular 91-94 – Application and Issuance Process for a Letter of Deviation Authority The FAA generally limits LODAs to training that cannot be accomplished in standard-category aircraft, so not every request is approved. Many builders earn their certificate in a certified trainer first, then transition to the experimental after the build is complete.
How the Aircraft’s Operating Limitations Constrain You
Every experimental aircraft receives a unique set of operating limitations from the FAA. That document stays in the aircraft, and its rules are binding.
Phase I Flight Testing
Before your newly built aircraft can fly freely, it must complete a Phase I flight test period. The minimum is 25 hours if you installed a type-certificated engine and propeller combination, and 40 hours if either is not type-certificated or a certificated combination has been modified.14Federal Aviation Administration. Advisory Circular 90-89B – Amateur-Built Aircraft and Ultralight Flight Testing Handbook During Phase I you fly within a designated test area over sparsely populated terrain, daytime VFR only, and passengers are prohibited unless essential to the flight.16eCFR. 14 CFR 91.319 – Aircraft Having Experimental Certificates: Operating Limitations
Permanent Restrictions
Some limits last the life of the aircraft. Experimentals cannot carry people or property for compensation or hire in operations requiring an air carrier or commercial operator certificate. You cannot fly over densely populated areas or through congested airways unless specifically authorized.16eCFR. 14 CFR 91.319 – Aircraft Having Experimental Certificates: Operating Limitations Three rules apply every flight: tell each passenger before boarding that the aircraft is experimental; operate under daytime VFR unless the FAA has granted an exception; and notify ATC that the aircraft is experimental whenever you use their services, including at towered airports.
The Repairman Certificate Is Not a Flying Credential
A point that trips up new builders: the Repairman Certificate (Experimental Aircraft Builder) has nothing to do with flying privileges. If you are the primary builder of an amateur-built aircraft, you can apply for this certificate, which authorizes you to perform the annual condition inspection on that specific aircraft.17eCFR. 14 CFR 65.104 – Repairman Certificate – Experimental Aircraft Builder – Eligibility, Privileges and Limitations The FAA issues it to only one person per aircraft, the primary builder.18Federal Aviation Administration. Become an FAA-Certificated Repairman If you buy an experimental secondhand, you cannot get one, and annual condition inspections will need to be performed by an A&P mechanic with an Inspection Authorization or another qualified individual. Factor that ongoing cost in before you buy.