Sport Pilot Talk

My name is Rocky (seriously, it is). After a lifetime in tech (web development/proprietary app development), since the early days of Netscape Explorer, I changed my career path to religion. I’m a Reverend turned grief counselor, which I love, but…..sometimes need to clear my head, hence the name “StressRelief”. I have a few hobbies, but one that I’ve gone hardcore on, is flying. I’m most of the way through the ground school, and am about to leave for my first flight lesson. I switched out from PPL to Sport License due to limited free time. That being said, after (if) I finish my sport license, I will continue on towards a PPL. I’m excited to have found a site devoted to sport pilots, most are PPL with a sideline of Sport. Speaking from experience, it’s difficult to ask questions when I know 98% of responses will be directed towards Private Pilots.

All that being said, have no fear, I avoid topics about money, politics, and religion, and am here to learn and chat about Sport Pilot topics. Got to get ready for my flight. Look forward to meeting you all, and learning from you, and hopefully pass on some of the things I’ve learned.

Welcome,
What aircraft will you be flying and what part of the country are you in?

Hello Yabiah,
Just finished my first flight, it was definitely awesome. I'm training in a Cessna 150. Yes, I know it's not a "light sport", and the school knows as well. They only have 1 light sport plane, and it's currently out for maintenance. The plan is to train on the 150 until either their light sport is back in motion, I find someone in the area to rent to me, or I buy one. I won't be able to do my solos in the 150, nor can I do the check ride in the 150, so I've been doing some aggressive shopping. How I first found this site was a google search found an interesting post on the Cessna 162 vs Tecnam P92 Eaglet. Both are planes I'd be interested in so the topic interested me. I'm all about the research so I'll continue until something happens. If it comes down to it, I'll just keep doing training until I can get a light sport to do the solos and check ride in. Who knows, I might even end up accidentally doing enough hours to just complete the PPL.

I'm training out in the California central valley.

I'd stay away from the 162 if I was you. It has a terrible useful load and Cessna stopped supporting it (it was basically their failed experiment with manufacturing in China). You can get them dirt cheap like $30,000 which seems like a steal but that's only because they know it's a pain in the ass to get parts for them.

They also supposedly have spin issues.

There is another thread about C-162 flight characteristics, which gives some good information about the SkyCatcher. Personally, if someone gave me one, I would immediately turn around and put it back on the market. Useful load is so low it would be totally useless for me.

Welcome to the forum Rocky!

When looking for a light sport do some simple math and determine the impact of useful load. This matters much more the heavier you are as a person. If you are say 130 lb and your potential passengers are about the same then it may not be much of an issue for you. I am 250lb so it ended up being a huge factor in my decision making. Many light sport planes are heavy enough that they would be 1 seaters for me with no way to carry a passenger, and a reasonable amount of fuel and not be over gross weight.

Do not look at general manufacturers spec sheet weights for planes. I have found them to be optimistic. Make sure to get the weight of the specific aircraft you are considering. If you are 120 lbs this is less important. For general useful load information this forum is a great source but make sure to check the numbers for any aircraft you are considering.

Welcome to the forum Rocky.

I agree with Dave and I would suggest that you first define your mission and then buy a plane that suits that mission. Don't buy one based on price, reviews on forums or YouTube or how sexy it is. If the plane does not fit your mission it's useless. BEW is a huge consideration these days as our population isn't getting any smaller. So define what it is you want out of a plane and start the decision making from there.

Second, look at customer service and support, this is another HUGE factor in the decision making process if you are buying a S-LSA. Maybe not so much for E-LSA. I don't know much about the Skycatcher, the school I trained at had one for a short while, but you are wanting to start out with a plane that was basically orphaned by the manufacturer. I've heard some people say that Cessna is still supporting the plane but I don't know what that looks like.

Tecnam is another story. I hear their support is great and they make beautiful aircraft. I personally love their aircraft and drop in to their facility in Sebring every once in a while when I fly down to Sebring to go to Lockwood or breakfast.

Good luck.