Sport Pilot Talk

Hey everyone, first time poster here. So I recently started flight training at a local airport with in a Skycatcher. My CFI seems incredibly knowledgeable and the everyone at the airport has been super nice. The one thing that's been killing me though is canceled appointments due to weather. I definitely appreciate that CFI is safety concision, but I don't know if it's too much so. Just had an lesson for tonight canceled, but I can't see how the weather is too bad. I'm probably missing something though.

The area forecast says the following with no SIGMETs in the area
BKN045 LYRD FL200. SCT -TSRA/-SHRA. CB TOP FL350. 02Z SCT070. OTLK...VFR

The NWS is forecasting a 20% chance to T-storms, with an 8.5kt wind from the west for the area the airport is in (paved RW 22-04 Soft Field 13-31)

Lesson was scheduled for 20 min ago (they called an hour and a half before it was scheduled)

I know LSAs are a lot more susceptible to the wind because they're so small, but it feels like I need to have a perfectly calm day to be able to get in the air, which will will probably be rare. Especially with trying to schedule days in advance. It's frustrating because I am burning vacation days at work to leave early for these lessons, got the call about the cancellation today just as I was walking in the front door getting home. There's also the fact that I don't know if I can get lessons frequently enough to even learn anything. I read you should try to fly at least twice a week. At the rate I'm going it feels like it will be more like once every two weeks.

Did you look at the nexrad images to see if there were thunderstorms in the area? That's the only concern I see regarding the weather.

Yeah, I did. There's nothing in the area. My lesson was supposed to be an hour ago and I've been checking the weather station at the airport and for the last hour winds haven't been higher than 8kts (no gusts) with few clouds at 7000ft. Clear skies now with a 4kt wind around when we probably would have been coming back in.

As I remember, my lessons were only canceled if wind was gusting 24+ mph , tower was advising ifr conditions or temperature was below 15f.

Although checking again right now it does look like something nasty developed off to the west an hour ago and looks to be rolling in soon. I last checked a few hours ago when I first got the call and didn't see anything.

That's why I'm never quick to talk bad about anyone, I know my CFI has a ton of knowledge and experience. Even though its just rolling in now, guess something could have just as easily developed closer to the area while we were in the air. If anything I can chalk this up to a lesson in weather .

Ask your CFI about it; there may be a valid reason that's not obvious from the METAR.

A couple of times my CFI came down from a lesson prior to mine and told me, "We can go up if you like, but it's too bumpy right now for us to make much progress." WX was clear, but I chose not to spend the money for the lesson since he thought it would be a waste.

Half Fast wrote:Ask your CFI about it; there may be a valid reason that's not obvious from the METAR.

A couple of times my CFI came down from a lesson prior to mine and told me, "We can go up if you like, but it's too bumpy right now for us to make much progress." WX was clear, but I chose not to spend the money for the lesson since he thought it would be a waste.

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do when I see him for my next lesson. The guy that called me letting me know it was canceled said "due to wind and possible thunderstorms" and it looks like there were a few that pass over a bit to the north a little while ago, so I can see the cause for concern. It's tough going for a Sport certificate because this seems to be the only place in the area with an LSA to rent and it's difficult to schedule time. Took a half day at work today because things looked promising. I'm just scared of it being two months from now with only 4-5 hours in my logbook and I've made zero progress.

It sounds like your instructor is wise. He/She doesn't want to scare you off flying by having a bad experience early on. Even moderate turbulence can really kick an LSA all over the sky, not an experience a low-time student will enjoy. Note that something like 80% of those that begin flight training never finish. After you get a few more hours, the weather minimums will change. And try not to get too discouraged by setbacks, that's just part of the process. Good Luck! BTW, where are you training?

Thank you for the words of encouragement. I sure hope those minimums get relaxed down the road. I'm doing my training out of n51 in Central Jersey. I can definitely see my CFI not wanting to scare a new student out of aviation. That's a crazy stat, 80% not finishing! Hope it wasn't coming off like I was frustrated with him, because that's not the case at all. He's probably been flying since I was in diapers so I more just want to understand the decision process since one day I'm going to be the one that makes the go/no go call. I'll definitely talk to him about it when I see him for my next lesson.

Let us know how this comes out.

I guess every instructor is different. Mine would let us fly on windy days and that was part of the lesson. In a sense letting me see how it is and helping me set my personal limits. One day there was some light rain but otherwise the conditions(ceiling and visibility)were within limits so we took off(he knew the rain was going to pass soon). Again, something I would not do by myself but at least he showed me if you get caught in a little rain the wings won't fall off. And as an FYI, although it might be a bit far, Lakewood(N12) has 2 sport cruisers and they do sport pilot lessons.

rcpilot wrote:I guess every instructor is different. Mine would let us fly on windy days and that was part of the lesson. In a sense letting me see how it is and helping me set my personal limits. One day there was some light rain but otherwise the conditions(ceiling and visibility)were within limits so we took off(he knew the rain was going to pass soon). Again, something I would not do by myself but at least he showed me if you get caught in a little rain the wings won't fall off. And as an FYI, although it might be a bit far, Lakewood(N12) has 2 sport cruisers and they do sport pilot lessons.

Ah, I had no idea Lakewood did sport training. It's actually about the same distance from my house as N51. My original plan when I set out to learn to fly was to join the MAFC and get my PPL, but from doing research I learned that the third class medical might be an issue (I'm healthy, just did stupid stuff as a kid). So, I had to rescind my application since the club doesn't have any sport a/c. I actually cried when I got off the phone with them letting them know I wouldn't be able to join. From there I started looking into the sport cert. I had always pictured lawn chairs strapped to hand-gliders when I heard of LSAs and it didn't appeal to me, but learning that that's not the case was a huge relief. The time I spent in the Skycatcher was AMAZING. I'm hopping it's like HAPPYDAN said and its just that my CFI doesn't want to scare the crap out of me right out of the gate. And I do appreciate the fact that they have safety in mind, but I also don't want my first time feeling a stiff breeze happening when there is no one sitting in the right seat.

tdubs wrote:

rcpilot wrote: Ah, I had no idea Lakewood did sport training. It's actually about the same distance from my house as N51.

Lockwood does a great job with training, I did the last half of my training there. Jeff Hudson is one of their instructors (maybe head instructor now), and he's fantastic. Thousands of hours, none of them in anything but small airplanes.

MrMorden wrote:

tdubs wrote:

rcpilot wrote: Ah, I had no idea Lakewood did sport training. It's actually about the same distance from my house as N51.

Lockwood does a great job with training, I did the last half of my training there. Jeff Hudson is one of their instructors (maybe head instructor now), and he's fantastic. Thousands of hours, none of them in anything but small airplanes.

Andy, he said Lakewood, as in New Jersey not Lockwood.

rcpilot purchased his own plane for training.

It happens, I've been through the same routine. I took off 3 days in advance booked training and every day it was a no go. I recently lost a month plus for an engine change because they only have one LSA I was out of luck until it got overhauled. It really gets annoying when your only flying once a week and that gets canceled,two weeks in between lessons really hurts in my opinion.
What I started to pay attention to was the winds aloft forecast along with the METAR/TAF. If it's blowing 25+ at 3,000ft I can tell you from experience that's a rough ride in a Technam P92 and your ground speed will be anemic. Now turns around a point and s turns will really test your skill or in my case frustrate the heck out of ya until you get better at it. In my early hours I flew in 15kt cross winds, early on in my opinion that was a wasted hour, I spent more time fighting the aircraft and getting frustrated than learning.