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Get a pilot license in 20 hours and for $340 bucks
At some point in the last couple of years, chances are you've come across the term "very light jets" or the catchy acronym VLJ. These are Chevy Suburban-sized planes that let you avoid the hassles of flying commercial.But what about the flip-side of this trend towards the ultra-small? I'm talking about propeller planes that fit only two passengers and weigh less than 1,300 pounds. To encourage people to get a pilot's license, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has come up with a new class of licenses for these "sports planes."
Instead of the standard 40 hours of flight-time instruction as well as many hundreds of dollars you'll have to pay, you can get the sports pilot license in 20 hours and for a couple hundred of dollars. Best of all, these sports planes can cost half as less as conventional planes: $80,000 instead of something like $200,000.
Hell, even I can afford to do this (maybe).
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Filed under: Airlines
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
Fritz Feb 9th 2008 9:10PM
STOP!!!!!!!!!
Cheap flying is a brain fart.
1. Hanger rent $250.00 month.
2. Insurance $100.00 a month
3. Engine and maintenance allowance at 100 hrs. per year with inspections $150.00 per month
4. Fuel allowance 100 hrs. x 4gph =400 gal. x 3.50= about $150.00 per month
TOTAL = 100 hrs per year operation cost at a minimum=$650.00 per month.
NOT bad till you see what is missing.
OH YEAH THE AIRPLANE!
$650.00 per month will take you EVERY WHERE on Southwest Airlines @ $7700.00 per year ( with out the cost of the plane)
Hprinze Feb 9th 2008 9:30PM
In the old days, we learned to fly.
Now people and flight schools only care about getting a pilot's license. Believe me, it ain't the same thing.
MichaeL Feb 9th 2008 9:39PM
$0.02
I liked "John's" $0.02, here's mine...
MEN should be restricted from ANY kind of license until reaching age 35. Even at that age many are still suffering from the common sense numbing effect of testosterone.
WOMEN should be encouraged to become professionals of all types, especially as instructors. It's simple biologic evolution folks. Their gender specific ability to communicate at a higher level , the female brains superior ability (to the males) to multi-task through the cerebral cortex , their natural instinct to nurture and value life in general makes them unquestionably a superior candidate for all types flying , except for perhaps military combat.
Some would argue that the monthly female cycle may interfere with the concentration needed to bring about the successfull conclusion to a difficult flight. I say, no more so than the pre-occupation by a young man to satisfy his biologic urge.
leighe Feb 9th 2008 11:15PM
We have many pilots in the family.....but my son, who dreamed of flying, lost his dream when he was diagnosed an epileptic. According to this "new" license he would be eligible by showing a valid driver's license. He has to go six months without a seizure to get his drivers license back and he is only two months away from that. I think the "valid driver's license" is not enough. I also agree there are too many who just want a license without working for it, but even those who work for it, lose more than the license, they lose their life (and possibly the lives of others).
John F. Kennedy Jr and Steve Fossett, two ends of the spectrum........need I say more.
joe Feb 10th 2008 12:24AM
some valid comments- women however ,already particpate in a very old "profession "so thats no garantee of competency.remember what they said in the Great Waldo Pepper: " you did this to your selves"
Rainyman Feb 10th 2008 12:50AM
There are alot of people here who don't want others to fly. No one here seems to be glad to have others getting into it. You'd think the added interest and attention for the sport would be good. It's like all the union guys complaining about us non-union truck drivers. I understand the need for training, but why do most of you just assume that no body that is new to this can possibly do an adequate job at it?
Kent Wien Feb 10th 2008 3:21AM
Exactly what I was thinking, Rainyman.
In the next few years, the accident rate will prove the Sport Pilot rating was a great idea. Sport Pilot is about stick and rudder flying. It's not about high density class B airspace, or night flights to Nantucket. It's about doing the same stuff we all did at 8 to 18 hours when we soloed.
For so many, this is what flying is about. Local hops and maybe a trip to another airport for breakfast.
I'm most excited not about the license, but about the airplanes can now be offered in the states through the Sport Pilot Category. The quality in many of these composite airplanes make a 152 look ancient.
Let's welcome some new people into the sport and maybe that will make all types of flying more affordable.
michael murphy voorhees nj Feb 10th 2008 2:10AM
hey stinko your flying in mexico and alaska is junior varsity i have 240 hours in the north east united states i have three major air ports and 5 air force bases to avoid and work around .you have a moose on final at worst and mabey a geese to fly around at 2000 hours its nothing compared to the east coast corridor if the faa wants to promote flying with low time and low cost lic thats great i know lots of pilots with high time in pic high time doesnt make a you a good and safe pilot keep dodging the wet backs if you want some real flying come fly with me back east and ill show you want it takes to fly
Barry Feb 6th 2009 11:19AM
To the man who's son is epileptic: no he would not be eligible to legally exercise sport pilot privelidges with a valid driver's license because an additional requirement is that a person must certify that he has no medical conditions that could interfere with the safe conclusion of the flight. This is required of any pilot of any certification level before any flight. If a pilot has epilepsy or even a cold and has taken cold medicine that can cause drowsiness, it is his responsibility as a pilot to disqualify himself from exercising the privelidges of the certification until those conditions are no longer a factor. However, and this is a big however, this is based on the honor system. It is possible for a person to fly despite not being able to meet this requirement. Just like it is possible for a person to get drunk and then drive their car. For that matter, even a person who has an FAA medical can have received it based on giving incomplete or incorrect information to the AME in some cases.
The fact that some people who are losing their PPL privelidges due to deteriorating health are transitioning to the sport pilot classification is admittedly scary. To me, that means that some of them are probably not medically fit for sport pilot either, but are obviously self-certifying anyway, either because they are in denial or are deliberately defying the regulations. For that matter, even in the realm of driving cars, we have a similar problem with drivers who are either too old or otherwise medically unfit to drive continuing to drive anyway. I believe that safeguards should be put in place for both of these situations. In the case of sport pilot privelidges, perhaps a new class of FAA medical should be created (4th class medical) that requires a sport pilot to be certified by an AME to some appropriate standard and frequency. I think a solution like this would not be onerous on the flying public, but would go a long way toward plugging this loophole.
Flying without any medical at all should be kept in the realm of the ultralight, powered parachute or balloon and only then when no passengers are carried. I wouldn't be that worried if a powered parachute crashed into my house at 15 mph, but a 1430 pound airplane travelling at 160 mph (dive speed) with 30 gallons of fuel and a passenger on board could be quite a different story. I guess the accident record will eventually settle this question one way or the other. For that matter, insurance rates might settle it even more practically. An insurance underwriter might offer a nice discount to SPLs who choose to obtain a 3rd class medical. They might even refuse to insure self-certified pilots.
In regards to whether 20 hours of training is adequate for obtaining a certificate, I would say that just like the 40 hrs for PPL, the 20 is a minimum figure. Also, the amound of dual instruction (with a flight instructor on board) is more similar at 20 hrs. for PPL and 15 hrs. for SPL. So there is really only a 5 hour difference in dual instruction. Also, the SPL candidate must pass the FAA practical test to the same level of proficiency as a PPL candidate. The only difference being the elimination of certain testing areas such as night flying, etc, which the Sport Pilot will be restricted from doing anyway. So according to the FAA's practical test standards, a new sport pilot is just as proficient as any other pilot assuming the flight is day VFR below 10,000 feet with a minimum of 3 miles visibility, in one specific aircraft type, etc. (all conditons which are guaranteed by the limitations of the certificate). In fact, one could argue that a newly minted sport pilot is more current and therefore safer in many ways than many private pilots who don't have much recent time. Given these facts, I think that the training and testing requirements for sport pilot are reasonable. Whether someone would choose to be a passenger of a 20 hour pilot is a decision that everyone can make on their own. No one is forcing you to take a ride in an LSA... or in a speed boat or on the back of a motorcycle or ATV for that matter, all of which are legal forms of recreation.
The bottom line is that whether the risk of some inherently risky activity is excessive is determined mostly by the attitude of the person undertaking the activity. Regulatory requirements, no matter how strict, will never make people with unsafe attitudes safe. So the requirements should be based on reasonableness. They should make it so that anyone who has the potential to be a safe operator will have the best chance to become one. I think the training requirements for sport pilot achieve this standard.
Alex Feb 26th 2009 4:36PM
Not meaning to disparage the article's enthusiasm, it's WAY off base about the cost and the time:
".. you can get the sports pilot license in 20 hours and for a couple hundred of dollars."
No way.
In the first place after add in the required solo time, etc, it's about 45 hours. Not counting any study time for passing the written test.
Second, if he knows somewhere on this planet where I can get a certfied flight instructor to give me 20 hours of training EVEN IF I ALREADY OWNED MY OWN PLANE I'll pay the airline fare to fly there:
Most reputable sites put the overall training cost to get the Sport Pilot license at between $3500 and $6000.
Here's how the high end of that range happens:
Consider where I live: No Certified flight instructor in the area has a low operating cost two seat sport plane (what before used to be called a two seat Ultralight trainer) so they're going to have to use a more expensive per hour Cessna 172 or similar aircraft, and charge me accordingly.
Worse yet: There's no way I could do the required 6 hours of solo for the Sport Plane license as there's not even one Sport Pilot legal two seater available to rent in this area or. As best I can tell this sort situation is common throughout the country.
In short, the Sport Plane license turns out to still be for the wealthy, and the owneship of sport planes realistically starts at about $30,000 and up and up.
Regular single engine aircraft, used, are in the price range.
So while it SOUNDED like the sport plane license would open the door to aviation for others previously locked out, it doesn't do a whole lot.
LungBung Mar 13th 2011 7:24PM
Got my Sport Pilot ticket last Thursday. Bought a Challenger II for $10,000. Paid $2500 for flight instruction and $400 for my checkride. Now I can carry my girlfriend around and fly, its awesome. Best thing I ever did.
Stu. Ashley Jun 23rd 2011 1:39AM
Hi All;
Well, aren't you'all a bunch of pessimists. The 20 hours is a minimum. I received my Light Sport License at the age of 71 after 65 hours. Included in the 65 hours are a Class B, C, and D Endorsement and a Mountain Flying Endorsement. Many of today's older Private Pilots soloed after 6-10 hours of instruction ("back in the good old days"), and they received their license with fewer hours than the average Light Sport Pilot today. I want to make sure you understand that I consider this is a license to learn. However, it was good enough to effect the last landing for that day at Carson City, NV with crosswinds gusting to 31. I was flying a Zodiac 601-XLB, an all-aluminum, low wing, two-place (SxS), with tricycle gear and a Continental O-200 engine (Light Sport Aircraft). Even if authorized, I wouldn't want to try it with a C-172 (Certified Aircraft). It's time to acknowledge that Light Sport Pilots and aircraft are "real pilots and real aircraft". I predict the popularity of the Light Sport Certificate will increase mightily, right after you loose your medical.
Cheers! Stu.
Bernard Anthony Broyles Jul 14th 2011 4:09PM
Is there such a thing as a payment plan for flying lessons?
Bernie
ronell Oct 5th 2011 7:41PM
I can sell these