Sport Pilot Talk

Okay, I now see how they thought that. My name is Kenny and my last name starts with a C, thus kennyc for my userid.

I am in Morristown, TN. Some of the public airports surrounding Morristown are:

KMOR Moore-Murrell (This is the Morristown TN airport)
3A2 New Tazewell
RVN Hawkins County
TRI Tri Cities
0A4 Johnson City
GCY Greenville - Greene Co
GKT Gatlinburg - Pigeon Forge
DKX Knoxville Downtown Island
1A6 Middlesboro-Bell County
JAU Campbell County
TYS McGhee Tyson - Knoxville airport

In addition to these public airports there are just about as many private strips/airports. I did check instructors on EAA's website. One instructor in Kingsport that is listed did teach Sport Pilot and had a LSA, however upon research I found out that sadly he passed away earlier this year. None of the others listed had a LSA available.

I’m not soliciting, nor am I in a position to take on a student, but..

I’m just west of Knoxville, in Lenoir City. If you’d like to come by one day, I’d be happy to discuss your options, and maybe go up in my Sky Arrow. I’ve had a chance to fly with several folks on this site early on in their flying careers and hope I helped nudge them in the right direction.

At least they’re all licensed pilots now!

Thank you FastEddieB!

I'll give you a yell sometime and drive down and meet you.
Kenny

There are a lot of variables for you to consider:

How sure are you that you want to get a pilot's certificate and take up flying as a hobby?
Can you pass an FAA 3rd class physical?
How heavy are you and your potential passenger?
What is your flying budget?

Don't answer those questions here, but as an example...if you think you might not pass a 3rd class medical, then Private Pilot is out of the question, at least for now (unless you held a valid medical anytime after 7/14/16). That leads you to Sport Pilot. If you can't find an LSA to rent, then maybe you should purchase an LSA. A pretty good used LSA can be had for around $60,000. A new LSA can be had for $125,000 or more.

I've always thought you should not purchase an airplane unless your flying budget is $1,000 per month or more. This is especially true for LSA because most are fiberglass and need to be kept in a hanger. Less than $1,000 per month and fixed cost will use up most of your flying budget.

Since the LSA weight limit is 1320 pounds, some LSA have a somewhat limited useful load for pilot, passenger, fuel, and baggage. If you and your passenger are heavy, as most of us are, this will limit your choice of aircraft somewhat. Rotax engines are significantly lighter than Continental, so a Rotax powered LSA solves this issue for most people.

Anyway, good luck with your flying endeavor, and don't get deterred. Just do it.

Tim,

I'm not brand new to flying (30.5 hours dual, 15 hours solo) so I'm certain that's what I want to do. Also, I'm not rich so buying a plane is out of the equation. I weight 158 lbs.

I know 100 percent that a Sport Pilot certification is for me.

Well, that narrows it down, doesn't it? Your only choice is to find an LSA to rent within a reasonable driving distance. I drive an hour from Roswell, GA to Gainesville, GA to rent a Cessna SkyCatcher.

TimTaylor wrote: I drive an hour from Roswell, GA to Gainesville, GA to rent a Cessna SkyCatcher.

FWIW, I drive 45 minutes each way to get to the LSA I own.

drseti wrote:

TimTaylor wrote: I drive an hour from Roswell, GA to Gainesville, GA to rent a Cessna SkyCatcher.

FWIW, I drive 45 minutes each way to get to the LSA I own.

60 minutes each way for me.

TimTaylor wrote:
Don't answer those questions here, but as an example...if you think you might not pass a 3rd class medical, then Private Pilot is out of the question, at least for now (unless you held a valid medical anytime after 7/14/16).

Tim, did you mean to say 7/14/06?

Scooper wrote:

TimTaylor wrote:
Don't answer those questions here, but as an example...if you think you might not pass a 3rd class medical, then Private Pilot is out of the question, at least for now (unless you held a valid medical anytime after 7/14/16).

Tim, did you mean to say 7/14/06?

Yes, you are correct. Thanks.

TimTaylor wrote:There are a lot of variables for you to consider:

How sure are you that you want to get a pilot's certificate and take up flying as a hobby?
Can you pass an FAA 3rd class physical?
How heavy are you and your potential passenger?
What is your flying budget?

Don't answer those questions here, but as an example...if you think you might not pass a 3rd class medical, then Private Pilot is out of the question, at least for now (unless you held a valid medical anytime after 7/14/16). That leads you to Sport Pilot. If you can't find an LSA to rent, then maybe you should purchase an LSA. A pretty good used LSA can be had for around $60,000. A new LSA can be had for $125,000 or more.

I've always thought you should not purchase an airplane unless your flying budget is $1,000 per month or more. This is especially true for LSA because most are fiberglass and need to be kept in a hanger. Less than $1,000 per month and fixed cost will use up most of your flying budget.

Since the LSA weight limit is 1320 pounds, some LSA have a somewhat limited useful load for pilot, passenger, fuel, and baggage. If you and your passenger are heavy, as most of us are, this will limit your choice of aircraft somewhat. Rotax engines are significantly lighter than Continental, so a Rotax powered LSA solves this issue for most people.

Anyway, good luck with your flying endeavor, and don't get deterred. Just do it.

Correction. I should have said 7/14/06. Mine expired 5/31/06. Bummer.

I am certainly in support of allowing us to fly larger aircraft. Any aircraft can be registered as experimental and as an experimental Part 43 states that anyone can maintain, modify the aircraft. The difference will be the annual still has to be done by an A&P licensee. There are three types of LSA, legacy aircraft like J3Cubs, S LSA, factory built and E LSA kit or amateur built. If we are able to fly Cessna 172 as a certified aircraft the it will be a legacy LSA with a white airworthiness certificate. The advantages are certainly worth considering, many aircraft, Pipers, Cessna, and Beechcraft will now be available to the sport pilot. How we get qualified to fly these is a question I would like answered. Would we get a logbook endorsement or what? The best part is there are tones of these out there at the $25000 - $50000 price point so mush more affordable and available. I hear a lot of stories about pilots having to travel long distances to get light sport aircraft for rental or lessons, that will disappear and maybe more flight schools will offer sport pilot training with the availability of these aircraft.

Now for my complaint section, the FAA has done it again! if you have installed ADS-B since the old rebate expired and the new one began you are out of luck. Lesson learned, don't be proactive and do the right thing. Instead we should sit one our tails and wait until they are desperate to get this done and offer some form of rebate. It was not cheap to purchase and install ADS-B in and out in by light sport so any rebate would have been appreciated. Silly me, I thought the FAA would appreciate someone getting this done before the deadline.

Thank for reading,
R Bearden
.

If you are looking for a light sport aircraft for sale or maybe for rent, Hansen Air Group in Kennesaw GA has a FA-04 Peregrine S-LSA, a FK9 S-SLA and I think two Sky Arrows S-LSAs. I know the Peregrine is for sale, Make Offer with its annual recently done as well as the KF9. John Hanson is the owner and is on the web under Hansen Air Group. He has rented the Peregrine, FK9 and the Sport Arrows. Try to get in thought with John and ask, 770-427-6311.

R Bearden

They are a dealer. That's where FastEddie bought his SkyArrow.

RBearden56 wrote:Any aircraft can be registered as experimental and as an experimental Part 43 states that anyone can maintain, modify the aircrafet.

A standard category aircraft can only be taken Experimental for very specific and very limited uses.