New flight school in Northeast (Northhampton, NH)

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From Seacoastonline.com:
Hampton company trains new generation of fliers

By Paul Ogier
[email protected]
September 05, 2007 6:00 AM
HAMPTON — "I started flying in 1951, in a fabric covered Stinson Voyager, when I was 6 years old. I could never get it out of my blood," said Bill Rose, a flight instructor at Hampton Airfield.

Rose later flew 25 years for Pan Am Airways and 11 years for Delta Airlines. When he retired five years ago, he researched the Federal Aviation Administration database and located that same Stinson Voyager he flew more than 50 years ago.

It's now in his hangar.

"Now that I'm back in general aviation, I'm having more fun teaching people how to fly than I had in 40 years with the airlines," he said. "Families come out to the little café here at Hampton Airfield, and I take the little kids and sit them in the cockpit, and they see that there's something magical about airplanes and flying. Once they're exposed to airplanes at an early age, it stays with them forever."

Rose is now the chief flight instructor for a new flying service at Hampton Airfield that is trying to bring private airplane flying back to life.

Ed Gorman, co-owner of Northeast Light Sport Aircraft LLC, and a retired Delta captain, said "interest in private airplane flying has decreased dramatically since its peak in 1979 due to the rising cost of airplanes."

The increase in cost, he said, was the result of the major aircraft companies having to defend themselves against lawsuits resulting from occasional crashes which were almost never the fault of the airplane.

Gorman's remedy is to train pilots in a new category of aircraft that was recently certified by the FAA called Light-Sport Aircraft (LSA). The three-year-old category allows pilots to become certified in half the training time and cost that it takes to achieve a private pilot rating.

The smaller, lighter airplanes can be built less expensively than current production airplanes, such as Cessna or Piper.

LSA pilots are limited to flying with only one passenger and flying only during daylight hours. The planes have a maximum weight limit of 1,320 pounds. Some existing planes, such as Piper Cubs, also qualify for the new LSA status.

"Our goal was to get involved with the new LSA aircraft," Gorman said. "We opened our doors in November and got our first plane in May."

Gorman's partner in Northeast LSA is Don Eadie, another retired Delta captain. Both learned to fly in the late '60s.

Currently, Northeast LSA is flying two Czech Airworks SportCruisers and has 19 flight students. In addition to training pilots, Gorman hopes to sell new LSA airplanes, which have a price tag starting at $79,000. This is in contrast to the least expensive Cessna aircraft which sells for more than $200,000, he said. He added that Cessna has built its own LSA airplane, which should be on the market soon.

Gorman said that many of their students are people who always wanted to fly, but never had the time or resources to pursue it until later in life. He added that several of their students are private pilots getting checked out in the new LSA airplane.

The minimum flight training time for the LSA pilot certification is 20 hours — half the flight time required for a private pilot certificate. Gorman recommends that students fly twice a week.

"That way they won't spend time and money relearning what they did the lesson before," he said.

A complete flight package to attain the rating costs $3,150, but students can also pay for it one lesson at a time for about $125 an hour, which includes the plane and the flight instructor.

"There's so much to enjoy when you're flying small airplanes," Rose said. "Like flying up to Moultonborough in October, cruising along at 1,500 feet, right at the level of the mountain tops, and enjoying the colors of the fall foliage spread out below you."

Related Stories: Please visit http://www.seacoastonline.com/apps/pbcs ... Z/70904012 for the following:
Flight video: View from the co-pilot seat Related Photo Galleries
Light Sport Aircraft Links
Web site: Northeast Light Sport Aircraft For more information:
Northeast Light Sport Aircraft

Hampton Airfield
Lafayette Road
North Hampton, NH 03862
603-397-0367
[email protected]
http://northeastlsa.com/

Paul Ogier is a retired airline pilot living in North Hampton. He surfs, travels and writes while deciding what to do with his life. He can be reached at [email protected].