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Archive for the ‘Sport Pilot’ Category

Melody asks an (increasingly common!) question about Sport Pilot upgrades for instructors:

I was told by an examiner that I could get a CFI Sport Pilot rating, then add on a CFI-SE Airplane. Is this accurate?

Whenever you’re looking into adding on a rating – any rating, whether it’s adding multi-engine privileges to a private ticket, or seaplane privileges to your commercial – the first stop should be the appropriate Practical Test Standards guide. However, in this case, I pulled up the latest CFI Airplane PTS (FAA-S-8081-6C, 1.4 MB) from the FAA’s website and flipped to page 1-xi, the Additional Rating Task Table.

Of course, it says nothing about Sport Pilot, which I suppose is not that surprising; the last revision to the PTS was 2006, when Sport Pilot was still in its infancy. What’s most likely, then, is that even if you held a CFI-SP rating, you’d need to meet the aeronautical experience and certificate requirements (ie Commercial) for a normal CFI Airplane rating. At first glance, it seems like it makes more sense to just go the “standard” route and work directly on meeting the requirements to become a CFI.

Rather than spend all day trying to find the answer on Google, I called up the AOPA hotline (1-800-872-2672) to see what they knew. The person I spoke with had the same thoughts – the full CFI requirements are necessary as there is no PTS additional rating information – although he very wisely pointed out that as a CFI-SP you would be earning money and logging time, while if you were simply working towards the CFI requirements there would be no income aiding the process.

Hope you can decide on a good path, and fly safe!

Also, if any readers have first-hand information on the topic, please let us know!

From Mark, we have another question about Sport Pilot:

Does a current Private Pilot have to get a Sport Pilot rating as part of the requirements of being a CFI-SP Sport Pilot flight instructor?

Mark, the FAA has a table (pdf; it’s hard to track down!) that lists all the requirements for various SP certificates. CFI – Sport Pilot lines that are relevant to your question are here:

Training requirements:

• 150 Hours – Total
• Additional flight training requirements for each category and class.
• Sport Pilot certificate or higher
• Category and class privileges or rating

Testing requirements:

• CFI Recommendation - Knowledge test – Practical Test

So, you have to have at least 150 hours total time, and hold at least a sport pilot certificate with the appropriate category & class for the type of aircraft you will be teaching in. Aside from that, you’ll need to get a CFI endorsement and pass the knowledge & practical tests.

Erik needs to build time and is considering a cheaper path:

I just got my private and am working on my instrument rating now but of course I need to get PIC too. Does PIC time in an LSA count as regular PIC time towards things like commercial and CFI ratings?

Erik, you’re in luck. As far as the FAA is concerned, PIC time is PIC time, and the fact that it’s being logged in a Light Sport aircraft is irrelevant—you’re the pilot in command. You may need to log additional time to meet some of the specifics; for example, a Commercial certificate requires 10 hours in a complex aircraft and 10 hours of instrument training.

I’ve actually heard a story about a similar time-building concept: a young pilot bought a multiengine ultralight (I think it may have been a Cri Cri) and built a ton of time while burning 2 gallons an hour. If you think out of the box when it comes to your training, you can save a lot of money and still meet requirements.

We have been receiving a lot of Sport pilot and LSA-related questions lately. Ken has two more:

“If I get my PPL, can I count my hours in a non-LSA aircraft toward a SP CFI?”

And, a more general question, “Is there some common reason why schools and FBOs seem very cold to the suggestion of having an LSA craft in their fleet?”

Ken, I’m going to answer your questions out of order, because the second one actually has a lot of depth to it. As you probably know, Sport pilots can ’self-certify’ their medical fitness—simply being healthy and possessing a valid driver’s license is enough to legally carry a passenger in a light sport aircraft. Somewhat understandably, insurance companies are not too excited about this. Where there was previously some level of oversight in the form of an FAA-approved medical examiner, there is now what you could describe as an honor system. That seems to be part of it; it would be difficult for clubs and FBOs to insure pilots who hold only a Sport certificate.

What you may not realize, however, is that Light Sport Aircraft are also self-certified, in a way. A light sport manufacturer abides by FAA regulations and requirements, but there is no FAA certification process to ensure that the aircraft are being built to those standards. It’s not as if there are LSAs falling out of the sky because of this, but there’s a reason that a Sting Sport costs significantly less than a Bonanza or a Cirrus. This is probably the biggest hurdle for FBOs, as getting hull insurance for Sport aircraft is also quite expensive. Despite these problems, there are many clubs and schools, at least in the Northwest, that do offer Sport training and rentals, but there are likely to be more restrictions.

With that out of the way, I’ll dive into (and expand, for other readers) your first question:

Can normal non-sport aircraft time count towards an SP-CFI (Sport Pilot-limited flight instructor) rating?

Simply put, yes, but it’s a little more awkward than that. First of all, the flight experience requirements depend on which type of SP-CFI you wish to become. This is about as easy as it sounds. If you don’t plan on teaching in a powered parachute, don’t read that section of FAR 61, Subpart K, which discusses the various SP-CFIs. For our purposes, we’ll assume you’re going to be flying airplanes, in which case you need to simply log at least 150 hours total flight time, 100 hours of which is to be as PIC and 50 hours of which is to be in a single-engine airplane. Of that time, only 15 hours must be in an LSA. Your logbook could contain 50 hours of glider time, 100 hours of helicopter time, or any combination of flight time that adds up to 50 hours of SEL/SES and 100 hours of PIC in a powered aircraft.

It’s easy to get lost in the FARs, as most instructors will agree. Clayton asks a question that I had myself a few months back:

I cannot find a clear explanation in the regs saying that a CFI w/asel privileges can teach sport pilot students. Everything I am seeing is referring to someone that wants an initial CFI with sport pilot ratings. I would think that an instructor that already has an ASEL certificate satisfies all the requirements for sport pilot. Am I thinking about this correctly?

Clayton, you’re right—as a CFI, you can teach Sport pilot students. The place to look is FAR § 61.193—flight instructor privileges, which states:

A person who holds a flight instructor certificate is authorized within the limitations of that person’s flight instructor certificate and ratings to give training and endorsements that are required for, and relate to:

(a) A student pilot certificate;
(b) A pilot certificate;
(c) A flight instructor certificate;
(d) A ground instructor certificate;
(e) An aircraft rating;
(f) An instrument rating;
(g) A flight review, operating privilege, or recency of experience requirement of this part;
(h) A practical test; and
(i) A knowledge test.

The key part of the regulation is that you can provide training required for a pilot certificate, not a specific certificate. Even if you only hold a Commercial rating yourself, as a CFI you can provide training towards an ATP certificate; you can likewise train a Sport pilot. The only requirement is that you’re training somebody within the categories and classes listed on your pilot certificate. You will need to become familiar with FAR § 61 subpart J. Like Private pilots, CFIs can also use their driver’s license in lieu of a medical, and operate as a CFI-SP, limited to Sport rules and regulations.

A CFI teaching Sport pilots will also need to check out FAR  § 61.419, which further explains that you’ll need a small amount of ground and flight instruction – similar to a flight review – before you can teach Sport topics. There is an endorsement for each part of the training; once you’ve been endorsed, you’re good to go.

Whether you’re an instructor or a student, you can get more Sport Pilot information at the EAA’s sportpilot.org.

Mike is looking into regaining his currency and asks:

I’m thinking about doing the Recreational Pilot flight review instead of the Private Pilot this time around. I haven’t been able to fly much in the last 15 yrs. but want to restart. Can I do the Rec Pilot and then get a medical and redo a check to Private later?

The short answer is that it doesn’t really matter. The long answer is that since it’s been a while, it could be that you’re actually thinking of Sport pilot, rather than Recreational. This is totally understandable—the FAA doesn’t always make it easy to determine requirements for, and privileges of, different types of pilot certificates. However, recreational pilots still must hold a current medical, as required by the FAA, and (as of 2006) there were fewer than 250 of them left in the country. While there are some caveats, a sport pilot does not need to hold a medical.

However, a flight review is a flight review, regardless of what pilot certificate you hold, and it must consist of at least one hour of flight and one hour of ground. You could do your flight review in a light sport aircraft without a medical, and that would allow you to exercise sport pilot privileges, but you’ll also have to learn new regulations that apply only to sport pilots, and you’d also have to operate within some (potentially significant) limitations.

Given that relatively flew FBOs offer Light Sport aircraft for rental or for training, it may make more sense to simply get a Third Class medical and stick with the Private certificate, and not necessarily in that order. You can certainly start the flight review process without a current medical. I’ve done several flight reviews with pilots who haven’t flown (at all) in over 10 years, and the amount of time it takes them to get used to flying the airplane—and, often more significantly, new regulations—is fairly reasonable, ranging from 2 and 10 hours of flight and ground time.