Pilots could now fly bigger planes on driver's license

[designrs]

Great to hear Dave!

[designrs]

Count me in to the population that could've purchased any plane (within my budget) and I chose an LSA. We've beat this to death but it all comes down to your mission and the Sting met mine 6 years ago and still does.

Dave, can you please tell us more about your mission, usage and LSA experience summary over 6 years?
Thanks!

[VL Roberts]

Count me in to the population that could've purchased any plane (within my budget) and I chose an LSA. We've beat this to death but it all comes down to your mission and the Sting met mine 6 years ago and still does.

Yep, you can put me in that camp also. Owned a four seater but decided I should sell it while it still had good value.

I remember reading that the average age of the GA fleet is 40 years old. Starting to get into uncharted waters here. I don't think it ever occurred to Piper and Cessna that their airplanes would still be around a half a century later. Starting to see AD's come out that are age related.

As for Cessna, they did announce that they planned to certify the C162 in the primary category , and now that has gone by the wayside. The rumor I heard was that the FAA was not willing to accept the testing that had already been done for the 162 and Cessna would have to start from scratch. If that is true, I guess Cessna said the heck with it.

[FastEddieB]

Ditto.

The pinnacle of my ownership experience was my 2003 Cirrus SR22 factory demo.



The expenses were getting out of hand, and my "use case" had changed - when I retired to N GA the need to go long distances in a short time on a regular basis evaporated.

So, in 2007, in spite of having a medical, I looked at Light Sport as a simple, cheaper way to tickle my flying fancy, so to speak. Sold the Cirrus and ended up with the Sky Arrow, with no regrets.

I've "been there, done that" with expensive avionics, full featured autopilot, traffic, ice protection, you name it. Each add'l system had its own failure modes and need to maintain/update. For me, for now, simpler is better.

And the conversion to Experimental was absolutely the right thing to do, lowering costs immensely while keeping me involved in the maintenance, and now the annual condition inspections.

[VL Roberts]

Ditto.

The pinnacle of my ownership experience was my 2003 Cirrus SR22 factory demo.



The expenses were getting out of hand, and my "use case" had changed - when I retired to N GA the need to go long distances in a short time on a regular basis evaporated.

So, in 2007, in spite of having a medical, I looked at Light Sport as a simple, cheaper way to tickle my flying fancy, so to speak. Sold the Cirrus and ended up with the Sky Arrow, with no regrets.

I've "been there, done that" with expensive avionics, full featured autopilot, traffic, ice protection, you name it. Each add'l system had its own failure modes and need to maintain/update. For me, for now, simpler is better.



And the conversion to Experimental was absolutely the right thing to do, lowering costs immensely while keeping me involved in the maintenance, and now the annual condition inspections.

Also, if you have an airplane burning somewhere between 8-13 gallons per hour at $6 a gallon, the urge to hop in the plane on a nice day evaporates. Not so much so at 4-6 gallons per hour. It seems like that when av has went above $5 a gallon, flying just came to a halt at many places.

[FastEddieB]

After I sold my Cirrus, I had a friend that offered to loan me his for the cost of gas.

I considered taking him up on it for a trip to S FL.

Math ended up being about 3.5 hours each way, call it 8 hours round trip with vectoring.

At 15 gph average, that's 120 gals.

At $6/gal, that's at least $720 just for fuel.

By comparison, we can jump in our Honda Element and be there in 13 hours, for maybe $250 in gas. And not have to rent a car or worry about transportation on the other end. Or weather. And Karen and I road trip well together regardless.

Like I said, the Cirrus was just a bit rich for my current situation.

[drseti]

And now, Eddie, in the Sky Arrow, that would be five hours each way, ten total, at 5 GPH, at $6/gal = $300. Only slightly more expensive than driving, and a lot more fun!

[designrs]

I've "been there, done that" with expensive avionics, full featured autopilot, traffic, ice protection, you name it. Each add'l system had its own failure modes and need to maintain/update. For me, for now, simpler is better.

And the conversion to Experimental was absolutely the right thing to do, lowering costs immensely while keeping me involved in the maintenance, and now the annual condition inspections.

Enlightening wisdom. Thanks Eddie!

[MrMorden]

And now, Eddie, in the Sky Arrow, that would be five hours each way, ten total, at 5 GPH, at $6/gal = $300. Only slightly more expensive than driving, and a lot more fun!

And *much* faster. From an efficiency standpoint, it's hard for me now to look at long distance travel and want to drive it. We were looking at a trip last summer to see my wife's folks in Michigan. 5 hours in the CT or 19-22 hours driving. That math is pretty freakin' easy.

[designrs]

5 hours in the CT or 19-22 hours driving. That math is pretty freakin' easy.

… as long as the weather is good!

[MrMorden]

5 hours in the CT or 19-22 hours driving. That math is pretty freakin' easy.

… as long as the weather is good!

Yup, always the wild card!

[FastEddieB]

We were considering flying to Oshkosh this year. Big weather system had us contemplating flying slightly NE, overnighting in Indiana, then trying to make it in behind the weather.

Decided to drive instead.

This was what we drove through for most of the second day:



It was impressive seeing the blades of the windmills disappearing into the mist. We would have been seriously stuck had we flown.

Like I said, we road trip well together, so a good time was had by all regardless.

[dstclair]

Just another POV taken off the SportairUSA Facebook page today

I Got to fly a friends TL-2000 from Nampa, ID to McCall, ID and back in October. What a fantastic airplane. I have flown a Cessna 152, 172 and Piper Arrow PA28 in the past and I would buy this airplane over either one of them. What really makes me think this way.....The visibility and the fuel burn!

[FrankR]

The General Aviation Pilot Protection Act

H.R. 3708: To direct the Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration to issue or revise regulations with respect to the medical certification of certain small aircraft pilots, and for other purposes.

https://www.popvox.com/bills/us/113/hr3708

Popvox is a great resource to allow you to comment on legislation and get it to your legislators.

[drseti]

I just uploaded my comments. (If you browse the posts, you will recognize my screen name). I encourage everyone to do the same.