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Thread: I am a flight 'virgin' no more!

  1. #31

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    Okay, let's clarify some things:

    1) Dale is correct on both counts. Yes, it must be a CFI rated to train for a Private Pilot ticket. And yes, finding a CFI that holds only a Sport Pilot license is about as rare as the Yeti in Kansas. I wonder if there actually are any Sport Pilot only CFI's at all. It's so rare I didn't mention it.

    2) As he said, the check ride must be in an LSA compliant aircraft. Training, however, can be in anything. I had two hours in a C172, for example, and it counted towards my total. Likewise, my biannual flight reviews were in aircraft too heavy to be LSA (a decathalon and a C172).

    3) Renter's insurance! It's pretty cheap and when one is flying solo they'd be covered, as at that point one is renting the aircraft. And yes, they sell it to student pilots.
    Last edited by Frank Giger; 09-13-2017 at 08:25 PM.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  2. #32

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    This thread has got me thinking about a sport license also. If I go flying, I like low and slow to see the scenery. Don't need to be anywhere in a hurry. Many, many years ago I was ready to solo in a 150 until the flight school closed its doors and took everyone's money. Unfortunately I no longer have my log book.

  3. #33
    DaleB's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frank Giger View Post
    1) Dale is correct on both counts. Yes, it must be a CFI rated to train for a Private Pilot ticket. And yes, finding a CFI that holds only a Sport Pilot license is about as rare as the Yeti in Kansas. I wonder if there actually are any Sport Pilot only CFI's at all. It's so rare I didn't mention it.
    I gotta be honest... that right there may be the biggest reason I am still tempted to do it. That, and I tried landing my -12 from the right seat a coupe weeks ago. That was spooky, it was about the closest I have ever come to bending an airplane. The thought of mastering that is another reason I'm thinking of doing it. Just gotta find the time.

    Hmm. I wonder... If I had a SP CFI ticket and multiple personalities, could I sign off my own flight review?
    Measure twice, cut once...
    scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.

    Flying an RV-12. I am building a Fisher Celebrity, slowly.

  4. #34

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    Quote Originally Posted by Mike B View Post
    This thread has got me thinking about a sport license also. If I go flying, I like low and slow to see the scenery. Don't need to be anywhere in a hurry. Many, many years ago I was ready to solo in a 150 until the flight school closed its doors and took everyone's money. Unfortunately I no longer have my log book.
    It all comes down to the type of flying one wants to do.

    For me, it's all about "fun flying;" that is to say I just want to go low and slow over field and dale, looking at cows and the sun glinting off of streams and ponds in great weather for a couple hours. I have no real desire for long cross country flights - personal aviation isn't a transportation thing for me. Heck, I'm jealous of my flying time and don't want to carry passengers; it's "me" time, so I built a single seat open cockpit biplane.

    Knowing this, the skills required for a Private Pilot ticket seemed like overkill, like night flying. That skill would atrophy and wane. So I opted for the less expensive route.

    Now, then, I did some training after I got my little blue plastic permit, as I felt that I needed it. So I not only got my tail wheel endorsement (which would be required for the plane I was going to build), but also spin training and an introduction to aerobatics with some aileron rolls. Turns out I'm not the aerobatic type - at some time in the future I'll pay for the full package with Greg Koontz - but that's for the precision skills one gains from it, not the fun.

    Which reminds me to mention that some will tell Sport Pilots they can't do aerobatics, which just ain't so. Heck, they can even compete within the USA.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  5. #35
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    Frank, I understand where you're coming from. Of course there's no reason at all that a Sport Pilot couldn't fly long cross country trips -- you'd just need to do it day VFR.

    A friend of mine is a CFI, ATP, A&P/IA and all of that. Long time professional pilot and instructor. He borrowed the plane after helping me bring it back after I bought it and knocking out my flight review. Bear in mind this is an E-LSA RV-12 with no lights. He took it from Omaha down to FL - I have a picture of it on the ramp in Key West. All daytime flying, all VFR, and nothing that a Sport Pilot with proper endorsements couldn't do.

    I like the ability to saddle up and fly X/C, but I'm gaining an appreciation for low & slow flying. For that I have a wood biplane under construction. Two seats, though; some days I like my solo time and others I like taking the grandkids up for rides.
    Measure twice, cut once...
    scratch head, shrug, shim to fit.

    Flying an RV-12. I am building a Fisher Celebrity, slowly.

  6. #36
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    Got my PPL in '74 but never got another 3rd class medical so I didn't fly for a long time. Then got an ultralight and flew some more, then off again. So, a few years ago I decided to start back, (life's to short not to do what you really love) and got my tail wheel endorsement in a Champ. Now I fly under the Sport Pilot rules and ya know, that's the only kind of flying I ever did anyway. I just want to be up there, drilling holes in the sky and yes, I like to fly low down the river and over the fields. Not quite Waldo Pepper, but still, it gives me what I need!
    Bob

  7. #37

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    Dale, my plane cruises at around 60 MPH. So everything is a long cross country!

    The guy who owned the FlightDesign CTLS I rented for training took it all over - flying to Las Vegas, Boston, etc. But it's as fast as a plane can be and still fall under the LSA rules.
    The opinions and statements of this poster are largely based on facts and portray a possible version of the actual events.

  8. #38

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    Lacking patience and self-control, I found myself back out to the grass strip airfield today. Spent several hours chatting with the good folks and even got to help a guy weigh his new plans built ultralight biplane.

    To paraphrase the old rifleman's creed - "This is my Gleim Sport Pilot Training Kit - there are many just like it, but this one is MINE!"

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  9. #39
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    Quote Originally Posted by CHICAGORANDY View Post
    Lacking patience and self-control, I found myself back out to the grass strip airfield today
    You have the bug, you will be fully and irrevocably sick with aviation addiction.

    "Your instructor looked at your palm and he made a mighty sign,
    Said what you need is Airplane Potion Number 9."

    (With apologies to The Searchers and The Clovers)

  10. #40

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    I have enjoyed a true passion for all things aviation since childhood. Now that I'm retired, kids are gone and wife is a blissful 'ex' - it's an appropriate time to see that passion to its logical conclusion. I'm a late bloomer - lol - learned to scuba dive in my 50's, same for motorcycles. So flying? If not now? When? And sport pilot seems a perfect fit to my realistic needs...for now at least.

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