No Sport Pilot instructor within 150 miles!

[Jack Tyler]

"Few private pilots get an instrument rating."
This is one of those occasional bogus and sweeping statements that keeps getting flak thrown back at you.

"Back in 1966 when I started flying serious IFR in single-engine aircraft, a relatively small percentage of private pilots were instrument-rated, and most considered single-pilot IFR (SPIFR) to be a risky proposition, something on the order of low-altitude aerobatics. Boy, have things changed in three decades! Nowadays, the majority of pilots have instrument tickets, and SPIFR is considered absolutely routine." That's from Mike Busch. Perhaps you've heard of him?

"More than half the pilots eventually get an instrument rating but only a small percentage of those maintain instrument currency." That's from Richard Collins. Perhaps you've heard of him?

AOPA has similar stats available if folks care to inquire. Instrument training is a very different kind of flying than what folks may be familiar with from their SP and PP curriculum. The commonly heard observation is that it makes you a 'better' pilot, even if you subsequently choose not to maintain currency. The reason why this observation is made - currency aside - is that it gives you at least a basic understanding about how the NAS (National Airspace System) operates, how all those moving/descending/ascending airframes are being controlled, what your little niche is within that large system, as well as - and here's the key - how to fly your plane with some semblance of sustained precision. A fair comment is that a non-current instrument rated pilot has a very different and more well informed understanding of how well s/he is flying the aircraft.

There are some attractive advantages to the SP license... but let's not overstate them or underestimate the benefits of the other pipeline which feeds licensed pilots into the NAS.

[FlyingForFun]

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[CTLSi]

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[FlyingForFun]

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[drseti]

The point of an instrument rating is to be able to fly in IMC

The CFII opines: that may indeed be the point of an instrument rating, but the purpose of instrument training is to learn to fly very precisely, with improved situational awareness, allowing one to get more safety and utility out of any airplane. These are useful skills, for SP and PP alike, and are valuable whether or not you ever see the inside of a cloud.

[FlyingForFun]

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[FastEddieB]

For sure. And some of my most fun training.

I remember doing intersection holds in a 172 with a single VOR.

Not exactly what I would call fun!

[3Dreaming]

The worst criticism of LSA that I've heard locally is that "you can't advance to an instrument or commercial rating" which is, of course true.

Not necessrily, Jim. My LSA, though not IFR legal, is fully equipped for instrument training. You can do all your IFR instruction and the checkride in it, as long as you stay In VMC and don't file IFR. As for the commercial maneuvers, they're all by visual reference. Thus, you can do everything required for a Commercial in an LSA, except for the required 10 hours of retract time (and, of course, the checkride, which must be done in a retract).

Paul, if you have had the altimeter, static, and transponder checks done, and have the equipment needed for the facilities you are going to use the airplane should be able to file IFR.
I agree with the no IMC though. One other thing is your airplane might be old enough to to be able to fly IMC depending on how the operating limitations are written. As a pilot you would need an instrument rating and a medical.

[Jack Tyler]

Coincidentally, I just wrote an article for our local EAA newsletter that explained when and why VFR pilots could and even should file IFR flight plans. If folks here occasionally do cross-country flights and are accustomed to using Flight Following (aka: Radar Advisories, etc.), filing IFR with a VFR altitude will actually work in favor of both you and the ATC facility handling the request. Some Centers and TraCons even prefer this approach, altho' every Center and TraCon will accept this option. And in busy airspace, it might even help you pick up FF when ATC is already fairly busy.

If anyone wants more info on this, let me know and I'll create a thread for the text of the short article.

[drseti]

Paul, if you have had the altimeter, static, and transponder checks done, and have the equipment needed for the facilities you are going to use the airplane should be able to file IFR.

Not so sure about that, Tom. Of course, I keep those altimeter/encoder/transponder/pitot-static checks up to date. No reason not to, even with a VFR only aircraft. But don't you need a heated pitot to file? (Most LSAs are not so equipped.). And, I read somewhere that you must have a certified engine and prop to file. So a 912ULS with a WoodComp doesn't qualify, while a 912S turning a Sensenich does.

As for flying in actual, with one exception (the SportStar Max IFR), all the Operating Limitations sheets I've seen in an SLSA specify day and night VFR only.

[Tessmacher]

What does an instrument rating have to do with Light Sport Pilot?

It seems that people here are far more picky over people's choice of words than their message. I couldn't care any less about anything other than what *I* want out of aviation, which is a sport pilot ticket. Nothing more, as I don't ever expect to be wealthy enough to afford any kind of airplane requiring it.

Why would I want to pay for a seven course meal when I only want lunch? Are you telling me that I can't enjoy driving unless I have a commercial license and are hauling a tractor trailer over the Rockies?

I asked about getting a Sport Pilot license at three different airports near my home. All three of them were derisive and dismissive. Not unlike some of the people posting in this thread. Instead of being welcoming, open, and finding out what they could do to encourage me to get into aviation, they were rude, obnoxious and greedy. That, my fellow aviation enthusiasts, is why GA is dying, and why it will die out fast.

I came here to vent to other people interested in aviation, not to see arguments over the viability of light sport. I'm starting to think that most of the people involved in aviation are not types I'd want to hang around with anyway. Everyone's got an opinion over how I'm wrong for wanting what I want, and that gets old quick.

Sorry I ever posted.

[3Dreaming]

What does an instrument rating have to do with Light Sport Pilot?

It seems that people here are far more picky over people's choice of words than their message. I couldn't care any less about anything other than what *I* want out of aviation, which is a sport pilot ticket. Nothing more, as I don't ever expect to be wealthy enough to afford any kind of airplane requiring it.

Why would I want to pay for a seven course meal when I only want lunch? Are you telling me that I can't enjoy driving unless I have a commercial license and are hauling a tractor trailer over the Rockies?

I asked about getting a Sport Pilot license at three different airports near my home. All three of them were derisive and dismissive. Not unlike some of the people posting in this thread. Instead of being welcoming, open, and finding out what they could do to encourage me to get into aviation, they were rude, obnoxious and greedy. That, my fellow aviation enthusiasts, is why GA is dying, and why it will die out fast.

I came here to vent to other people interested in aviation, not to see arguments over the viability of light sport. I'm starting to think that most of the people involved in aviation are not types I'd want to hang around with anyway. Everyone's got an opinion over how I'm wrong for wanting what I want, and that gets old quick.

Sorry I ever posted.

Yes, you did come here and other places to vent. I'm sorry we as a group couldn't do anything to help you, but since you wouldn't tell us where you are there is little that we can do.

I think the big problem is the lack of education given to existing CFI's about sport pilot and the lack of understanding about what a light sport aircraft is.

As for the thread drift it took on its own life based on other venting about sport pilot training and light sport aircraft.

[drseti]

What does an instrument rating have to do with Light Sport Pilot?

Fair question. In fact, even though this forum is called Sport Pilot Talk, we often discuss Light Sport Aircraft. Remember that not only Sport Pilots fly LSAs. We have Private, Commercial, and ATP folks on these forums, some of whom have medicals and instrument ratings, and thus want to know the rules about flying an LSA in IMC, or on an IFR flight plan. So, we sometimes go off on a tangent. Hopefully, somewhere along the way, we answer the OP's questions.

Sorry I ever posted.

Hey, I'm not! Sometimes, a question can stimulate some interesting discussions. Often, those discussions veer off onto a tangent, maybe pretty far away from the original topic. If we don't get back on topic pretty soon, you're welcome to steer the discussion back to where it should be. Meanwhile, we all learn, and (even more important) we're all having fun.

[FlyingForFun]

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[Tessmacher]

Yes, you did come here and other places to vent. I'm sorry we as a group couldn't do anything to help you, but since you wouldn't tell us where you are there is little that we can do.

No one needs to know "where I am" under any conditions.

There are several specific reasons I have not said where I am, not the least of which is, it's totally irrelevant.

If you must know something, you can satisfy yourself with this: I am at a location where there is no one willing to train for sport pilot, within 150 miles.