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Posts Tagged ‘Sport Pilot’

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.

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.