Sport Pilot Talk

Went to the airport on Wednesday for my scheduled complex rating training. I've been flying a Piper Arrow for a short time working to get a complex rating and receive the 10 hour minimum time in type for the FBO rental policy. Well, I went to check the registration card and to my surprise the only one in the plane had expired! The up to date card had either been misplaced or lost since my last flight two weeks prior and the CFI, FBO owner, and I could not locate it inside the plane. Due to governmental offices being closed (Bush day of mourning) we could not get another forwarded over either. So after 45 minutes of a 2 hour scheduled block I considered my options:
1. I could go home disappointed with no flight time for the week,
2. Take the 172 up and do some pattern work for a few minutes because in less than an hour someone had it checked out,
3. No one had the Tecnam P92 checked out for the next 2 hours

I opted for #3. Although I had done most of my private certificate flight training in the Tecnam, I had not flown it in over a year according to my logbook. Since the instructor was already booked with me I decided to get a yearly check-out and make the best out of a bad situation. I have to say it was a blast! After the fast paced world of the retract and it's learning curve it was simply bliss to just enjoy flying instead of thinking 15 minutes ahead, pushing all the control levers and watching all those gauges. Did basic airwork and after 30 minutes and 3 touch and goes I was back up to speed without any drama. I have to say this has made me think about my flying/rental habits. 85% of the time I fly alone locally, the other portions I am either getting instruction (complex right now, probably instrument rating come 2019), or flying with the Civil Air Patrol. I seldom fill the other seats, and I basically dismissed the little Light Sport sitting on the ramp in favor of the '78 C172. I have to say in retrospect that was a mistake! I was burning through money and fuel and really missing out on the one thing I used to enjoy: just flying. Well enough of my introspective, have a great weekend everyone!

There is no pilot complex aircraft rating. It's just a check-out and endorsement in your logbook from a CFI.

Welcome back to LSA. If I was you, I would fly the airplane best suited for the day's mission when available. Sometimes, the temptation is to fly the largest, fastest, best equipped aircraft for which you are qualified. When I first got my multi-engine rating, all I wanted to fly was the Seminole. I got over that after a while.

You are correct Tim, that's my bad, it's an endorsement. I keep lumping it in with an instrument rating.

For most of the reasons you mentioned that's why I chose sport over private 3 years ago when I started lessons. I realized I would be flying mostly by myself. Probably no real reason to have to fly at night or in bad/iffy weather. The relatively low cost of operating an LSA is a plus. And the Zenith is a fun to fly plane.

I sold my C-172 and bought an AMD CH601XL-B Zodiac SLSA because of the hassle and expense of maintaining a special issuance third class medical. I converted the Zodiac to ELSA and took the Rainbow Aviation LSRI class and now have my LSRI certificate so I can maintain and do my own condition inspections; this has reduced my cost of ownership significantly (and frankly, I enjoy working on the plane).

In May, 2017 I did BasicMed and can now fly bigger airplanes, but the Zodiac is everything I want in an airplane at this stage of my life. It's fast enough, tons of fun, and I can share the joy of flight with friends.

The beauty of having a Private and Medical (or Basic Med) is you can fly whatever you want. If you don't own your own airplane, you can rent what you need for the flight in question. Flying at night is some of the best, most enjoyable flying you will ever do. The ability to file and go IFR can greatly increase your ability to go when you want to or need to.

So, IMHO, until/unless you purchase your own airplane, enjoy the increased flexibility you have with a Private and Medical.

Scooper wrote:I converted the Zodiac to ELSA and took the Rainbow Aviation LSRI class and now have my LSRI certificate so I can maintain and do my own condition inspections..

Small point...

No class or training is required to maintain an E-LSA you own.

I mention it only because a lot of folks don’t understand that.

FastEddieB wrote:

Scooper wrote:I converted the Zodiac to ELSA and took the Rainbow Aviation LSRI class and now have my LSRI certificate so I can maintain and do my own condition inspections..

Small point...

No class or training is required to maintain an E-LSA you own.

I mention it only because a lot of folks don’t understand that.

Might be a good reason not to purchase an E-LSA.

TimTaylor wrote: Might be a good reason not to purchase an E-LSA.

Or might not be.

So, how to you evaluate that? I'm not sure a pre-purchase inspection is going to be able to ascertain whether or not the previous owner knew what he was doing.

TimTaylor wrote:So, how to you evaluate that? I'm not sure a pre-purchase inspection is going to be able to ascertain whether or not the previous owner knew what he was doing.

That is not the purpose of a pre-purchase inspection.

Wm.Ince wrote:

TimTaylor wrote:So, how to you evaluate that? I'm not sure a pre-purchase inspection is going to be able to ascertain whether or not the previous owner knew what he was doing.

That is not the purpose of a pre-purchase inspection.

The purpose of a pre-purchase inspection is to ascertain the condition of the airplane you plan to purchase. If the previous owner did his own maintenance and did not know what he was doing, finding that out would MOST CERTAINLY be a purpose of the pre-purchase inspection. You could be buying an unsafe aircraft with all kinds of discrepancies. What the hell?

One look at the logbooks might be enough to tell a prospective buyer that they are in such a mess you wouldn't touch the aircraft.

Bill, do you ever contribute anything to this site? Seems like all you do is sit back and take pot shots but never contribute anything useful toward the conversation taking place.

TimTaylor wrote:

Wm.Ince wrote:

TimTaylor wrote:So, how to you evaluate that? I'm not sure a pre-purchase inspection is going to be able to ascertain whether or not the previous owner knew what he was doing.

That is not the purpose of a pre-purchase inspection.

The purpose of a pre-purchase inspection is to ascertain the condition of the airplane you plan to purchase.

Thank you for correcting yourself.

TimTaylor wrote:If the previous owner did his own maintenance and did not know what he was doing, finding that out would MOST CERTAINLY be a purpose of the pre-purchase inspection. You could be buying an unsafe aircraft with all kinds of discrepancies. What the hell?

That is presumptuous.
What makes you think that an ELSA owner does his/her own maintenance?
What would be the best indicator of whether good maintenance was done to an ELSA?

Bill, read a few of the previous post is this thread and try to follow along. Maybe you will get it, but I doubt it.

TimTaylor wrote:Bill, read a few of the previous post is this thread and try to follow along. Maybe you will get it, but I doubt it.

And . . . no answers to the questions?
I figured as much.