Sport Pilot Talk

Fellow Light-Sporters: Do you see my “V” signal in that first picture? Well, it’s not a ‘V’ at all; it’s a “two,” as in 2,000 hours! Yes, the 2007 Sting Sport S-LSA I purchased 6 years ago (with 200 hours on the Hobbs meter) when I took my first flight lesson on my 65th birthday, just blew through 2,000 hours this past week. And it’s still running like a top, with everything within specs!

When I began this journey, I had no idea it might take me this far: 1,800 hours and 1,100 days flown; 3,040 take-offs & landings; 8,000 gallons of fuel guzzled; 50 oil changes; and 27 sets of main-gear tires (what the heck, they’re just common utility-trailer tires running $22 each!). And you know what, that Rotax 912 ULS did it all with only one major “assist” along the way (i.e., besides normal wear-and-tear parts replacement, plus standard gear-box and carburetor services), a valve-lapping at 600 hours to ameliorate lingering lead issues from too much 100 LL during the early going.

But, I consider even more miraculous than the stats is that I didn’t kill myself achieving them. It’s not that I didn’t try. I have done plenty of real stupid things and had plenty of close calls, including several very-near-death experiences. In fact, to commemorate this 2,000-hour achievement, I recently decided to produce either a video or written treatise describing my top-ten closest calls (mainly something for other budding pilots to consider and maybe learn something from). But when I started putting the list to paper I was blown away as it quickly surged to a whooping 44 entries! A couple of the top ones that almost did me in will be hard for you to believe. They are not what usually takes us GA/LSA pilots out and were events that unfolded largely outside of my “control” as PIC.

Anyway, stand by. Coming soon, either in written form posted here on this forum or in a video on my YouTube channel (with link here), will emerge “Forty-Four Ways I Tried to Kill Myself Flying My Light-Sport Airplane its First 2,000 Hours.”

Cheers and happy flying!

Absolutely inspiring. Can't wait to see the "near miss" report!

Thank you for this excellent post