Sport Pilot Talk

proemer wrote:I believe in the Sky Arrow the engine/prop is mounted with a small offset in both yaw and pitch.

I'm pretty sure all planes have that, the amount of which is appropriate for a normal cruise regime. Slower or faster than that or at high power settings, said offset may be too much or too little. The vertical stabilizer can be offset for the same reason. Something like this:



Look closely at a Citabria or a Decathalon - or a Champ, I suspect - and the offset is really obvious.

This makes for a very pleasant flying airplane.

We're both spoiled - its a great little plane!

I was deeply involved with an ultralight club and I was a Commercial Instrument Pilot when the Sport Rules were adopted.
I was also the owner at the time of a 325# single seat "ultralight-type" airplane, more commonly called a FAT ultralight.

I can answer the OP's question without ambiguity.

There's two distinct chapters of the Sport Pilot implementation.
1) The INTENTION of the rule
2) The actual result of the rule.

These are the goals of the rule as it was intended.
* Stop people, many of which had never had ANY training from flying around in heavy, non-Part 103-compliant ultralights, some with 2 seats and passengers.
* Encourage all ultralight pilots to get some training and increase safety.
* Invigorate entry-level aviation to help the future pilot shortage that was looming.
* Allow fat ultralight pilots to log their time toward higher ratings.
* Provide a cheaper way for owners to maintain an aircraft they own.
* Stimulate manufacturing of new, modern, cheap aircraft by allowing their manufacture under much cheaper certification.
* Enable a new aviator to share their experience with a single passenger very soon and with a lot less cash paid out.
* Provide for CFI's and a cheaper path for Primary students to get a rating/license that could later be upgraded to Private.

The unintended consequences were:
* A lot of slick, fast, expensive airplanes that no-one want or can afford that are rarely available for rent at the local FBO, to train in.
* A useless group of flight instructors, students, and pilots whose instruction of flight time could not be used for higher ratings.
* Made getting a pilots license of any flavor MORE expensive, not less.
* Fostered building a "wall" between "real pilots" (Private and Above) and "pretend pilots" (Sport Pilots).

Most recently, due to Basic Med and now allowing Sport CFI instruction to be used for higher ratings, the FAA has blended Sport Pilots
with Private Pilots and above. There's really no reason now to not get a Private License because you no longer need a medical and certified aircraft are no more expensive to rent than an LSA.

There is nothing “pretend” about a sport pilot, we are pilots just like any other pilot.

bryancobb wrote:
I can answer the OP's question without ambiguity.

The unintended consequences were:
* A lot of slick, fast, expensive airplanes that no-one want or can afford that are rarely available for rent at the local FBO, to train in.
* A useless group of flight instructors, students, and pilots whose instruction of flight time could not be used for higher ratings.
* Made getting a pilots license of any flavor MORE expensive, not less.
* Fostered building a "wall" between "real pilots" (Private and Above) and "pretend pilots" (Sport Pilots).

Most recently, due to Basic Med and now allowing Sport CFI instruction to be used for higher ratings, the FAA has blended Sport Pilots
with Private Pilots and above. There's really no reason now to not get a Private License because you no longer need a medical and certified aircraft are no more expensive to rent than an LSA.

I disagree.

bryancobb wrote:There's really no reason now to not get a Private License because you no longer need a medical

That's only true if you hold a medical, or had one during the Basic Med required lookback period. That still rules out a lot of pilots with medical histories which (even though treated, mitigated, and cured) prevent the issuance of a medical. For them, Sport Pilot is still highly valid and useful.

ShawnM wrote:There is nothing “pretend” about a sport pilot, we are pilots just like any other pilot.

OH! I wholeheartedly agree!!!! When I say worthless group of pilots, I was trying to convey that if they decide to get a Private License, they need to start at "hour one" of dual.

Bryan,

Despite my nitpicking of your previous posts, I'm delighted that you got your CFI-S (they're in pretty short supply), and glad to have you participating in SportPilotTalk. And, yes, we've all misspoken from time to time, so thanks for clarifying.

Just as a reminder, we CFIs are the source of both information and inspiration for our students. We need to choose our words quite carefully, lest we inadvertently lead them astray.

Exactly. You can't say a person can carry passengers with 20 hours in an LSA or 40 hours in a standard certificated airplane. That is totally incorrect. We need to be careful and state facts such as, some Sport Pilot students are able to acquire a Sport Pilot certificate with not many more hours than the 20 hours minimum. Some Private Pilot students are able to acquire a Private Pilot certificate with not many more hours than the 40 hours minimum. It took me 44 hours to get a Private, but I was 17 years old. I could do a lot of things at 17 that I can't do now at 71 years old.