Sport Pilot? What’s That?
In October 2004, new rules went into effect that created a different kind of pilot certificate and a new category of aircraft. The new sport pilot certificate and the light sport aircraft (LSA) category make becoming a pilot and owning an aircraft more affordable for many people. How does this information affect you, as a CFI? Here are viewpoints from two flight instructors.

Tom

I’m all for more people learning to fly—that’s my bread and butter—but I don’t want to have to deal with this. I’m sure these new rules will benefit somebody, but I don’t think they’ll affect me much. I teach at a large flight school, and we train professional pilots. I wouldn’t want to mess with teaching sport pilots. We certainly don’t have any light sport aircraft on the line.

Still, I know I’ll need to learn at least the basics about the new rules. I need to understand them well enough to be able to answer questions for people, even if I never teach a sport pilot student myself. I see it as part of being a professional.

Jeff

I think it’ll be a good thing. People can get into flying for a lot less money, and I’m sure a lot of them will move up to higher certificates. I think it will mean a lot more customers for flight schools in general, and ours in particular. I know several people who have always said they’d learn to fly if it was just a little less expensive. Well, now I’m calling them up, and they are getting excited.

There are lots of people out there who just want to fly. They don’t care about getting up into the flight levels or sequencing in with the jets at O’Hare or JFK. They just want to get up above the ground and soar like birds—the same dream that people have had for centuries, which led to the invention of airplanes in the first place.