Disclaimer: I built, tested and now fly a Van's kit so I'm biased. I don't think the FAA is trying to "kill" experimental, at least not with MOSAIC. In fact, my understanding is that there was quite a bit of behind the scenes work between EAA and the FAA on MOSAIC.
MOSAIC doesn't add really enough to the LSA category that would change my mind and "push" me toward it. If I had to make the choice again, I'd still build and operate a kitplane. To me, the major benefits of the E/AB category are: 1. the builder's permission to perform his own annual condition inspections, 2. the owner's permission to perform major maintenance and make modifications, 3. access to bleeding edge avionics and safety systems not available on certified or LSA. I don't think the MOSAIC rulemaking adds any of this to the LSA category[1].
If anything, MOSAIC helps LSAs eat into the market of Part 23 personal aircraft. If I wanted a fairly beefy airplane, didn't want to build, and was trying to decide between a LSA and FAR23 aircraft, I would lean much farther towards the LSA post-MOSAIC.
1: EDIT: Actually, it looks like it's more complex than I thought, and I'm probably wrong. There are actually pathways for folks to obtain repairman certificates for both ELSA and SLSA aircraft. Interesting topic I'll have to dig more into!
MOSAIC doesn't add really enough to the LSA category that would change my mind and "push" me toward it. If I had to make the choice again, I'd still build and operate a kitplane. To me, the major benefits of the E/AB category are: 1. the builder's permission to perform his own annual condition inspections, 2. the owner's permission to perform major maintenance and make modifications, 3. access to bleeding edge avionics and safety systems not available on certified or LSA. I don't think the MOSAIC rulemaking adds any of this to the LSA category[1].
If anything, MOSAIC helps LSAs eat into the market of Part 23 personal aircraft. If I wanted a fairly beefy airplane, didn't want to build, and was trying to decide between a LSA and FAR23 aircraft, I would lean much farther towards the LSA post-MOSAIC.
1: EDIT: Actually, it looks like it's more complex than I thought, and I'm probably wrong. There are actually pathways for folks to obtain repairman certificates for both ELSA and SLSA aircraft. Interesting topic I'll have to dig more into!