It used to be, if you wanted to fly an airplane you had to obtain a Private Pilots Certificate. At least 40 hours of flight training time adding up to thousands of dollars given to one of the local flight schools.

Today there’s another option for those who just want to fly locally for the pure enjoyment of flying. It’s called a Sport Pilot Certificate.

Is a Sport Pilot Certificate the best option for you? For a lot of new pilots this is becoming the case. These people are putting in 20 to 25 hours of training rather than the 40+ required to get your Private Pilots License. The difference is saving them over $2500 in training costs. The end result for many, is the same as if they had pursued the Private Pilots Certificate.

Here’s the best part about the Sport Pilot License. You can always put in the additional hours later to bump up to a Private Pilot Certificate. This means, you can start flying for the pure enjoyment of it a lot sooner.

Another item that attracts people to the Sport Pilot License is the medical certificate. You don’t need one to fly as a Sport Pilot. If you have a valid drivers license, you have everything you need. But, here’s the catch, if you try to get your Private Pilot medical and fail, you won’t be able to get a Sport Pilot Certificate. So, check the medical requirements for a Private Pilot BEFORE you get your exam. Failing it can close a lot of doors… permanently!

After you’ve spent a year or two with the Sport Pilot Certificate, you just head back to the flight school and put in the additional hours and you’ll have your PPSEL (Private Pilot Single Engine Land). Most Designated Examiners (the people who give you your “checkride” or flying test) will tell you, the Private Pilot students who already been flying as a Sport Pilot are a LOT more capable pilot. The experience adds up.

What are the limitations on a Sport Pilot License?

No night flying. Do you plan on flying at night? If you don’t, you may want to consider the Sport Pilot license. If you’re color blind, you may already have a restriction on your medical that says No Night Flying.

No more than one passenger. If you plan on taking a family trip to granma’s house, you’ll probably want to go with the Private Pilots Certificate. If you and your spouse or a friend want to take a fun fishing trip to a local hot spot, this will work.

No higher than 10,000 feet. Truth is, any plane you’re going to be flying isn’t going to be equiped for flight much higher than that anyway. I don’t know where you’d want to fly that you’d need to go higher. Even a trip across the Cascade Mountains doesn’t require 10,000′.

No flying in A, B, C, or D airspace. If the airspace requires radio communications, you probably can’t fly there. But wait! You can get an endorsement in your logbook that will make you exempt from this rule. That should only take a couple of hours of flight time.

Most people who get their Sport Pilot Certificate will eventually go on to get their Private. That’s the beauty of it. Once you’ve done your 20 or so hours, you can enjoy a lot of flying. Then when you’re ready you can move up. You’ll already have a lot of air time under belt.

Finding a flight school. This is the hardest part. Because this is a relatively new program, their aren’t very many flight schools who will accommodate this training.

This is a good place to start. The Experimental Aircraft Association has a search function to find a Sport Pilot Instructor near you.

If you want more general information about getting your Sport Pilot Certificate, check out this page.

Reminder: If this page helped you in anyway, please consider donating to the Patch Flying Fund. Just $2.25 will buy one minute of flight time for me. $4.50 will buy two minutes and $22.50 will buy ten. Thanks so much!

 

Should I train in a modern airplane with the Garmin G1000 glass panel display? Some flight schools are converting to 100% glass panel.

This is a question a lot of new students will be asking themselves. The answer if fairly simple. If you can afford the additional cost of the G1000, go for it.

Typically the cost difference between flying a plane equipped with the G1000 versus one with the round steam gauges is about $50 an hour. If the typical student pilot requires approximately 55 hours (this is my estimate, not official) before getting their Private Pilots Certificate, that adds up to $2750 in additional cost. Can you afford that?From a selfish point of view, I would love to see people demanding the G1000. When people do that, flight schools and FBO’s tend to keep more of them on hand. That means, when I want to rent one, it’s probably going to be there. I like that.To be completely honest, it’s foolish to train in the G1000. Get your private pilots certificate with the old fashioned steam gauges like the rest of us did. Then, once you’ve passed your checkride, invest about 2 hours getting checked out in the G1000. That will cost you an additional $100. Saving you over $2500. That kind of money will buy you a lot of fun trips with your family.Don’t spent a ton of money on the latest equipment when you’re getting your initial certificate. What you’re learning isn’t dependent on high tech gadgets. At this stage in the game, it’s about the fundamentals of flight. It’s about keeping your eyes outside of the cockpit not staring at some shiny new gauges. A 152 (if you’ll fit with your instructor) with the basics will do just fine.

Some people will get there PPSEL with the steam gauges and then switch to glass panel when they start to work on their Instrument Rating. That makes sense, since you’re more likely to use all that the G1000 has to offer.

The only other reason you might want to start with the G1000 (and even then it’s still questionable) is if you’re planning on becoming a commercial pilot and head to the airlines. But, I would still hold off on it until you get to the Instrument Rating.

It’s a beautiful summer day with temperatures in the high 80’s to low 90’s. The sky is clear as bell and the winds are calm. This is a perfect day for flying! You call up your CFI and beg him or her to find a slot for you to go up and get some more flight time. Fortunately, they fit you in and you start the countdown to being airborne again. Once you get up into this “perfect flying weather” you start getting bounced around like crazy. It’s like you’re flying through very windy conditions, but you know the winds are under 5 knots. What gives?

New flight students are often surprised to learn about thermals and how they can move your plane around more than you thought. The first time I experienced this, I was holding on to the controls for dear life hoping I could keep that plane in a straight and level flight. Little did I know this was normal and nothing to be worried about. Today when I fly and we hit a thermal, it will get my attention but it doesn’t freak me out. I just calmly adjust the plane back to a level state and keep on moving forward.

But, what causes these thermals and how come you can’t see them. If you could see them, you could fly around them. That would be wonderful! But it’s not going to happen. So, the best thing to do is get used to flying with thermals or move to Alaska (but, I bet they even get them in the middle of summer).

The best way to describe thermals is to think of them as the air starting to “boil”. If you’ve ever watched a pot of water come to a boil, you’ll see how it starts with little bubbles forming on the bottom and then slowly rising up to the surface when they disperse. The exact same thing happens to the air around your aircraft. In effect, you’re flying through boiling air.

In the middle of the day, the sun can heat the temperature of the ground quite a bit. The warm ground will then start to heat the air closest to it and create “thermals”. This is the same thing that happens in our pot of water when the heat from the stove warms the water. So, just think of them as little boiling bubbles of air. Nothing to worry about, but definitely something to keep you on your toes.

When most people think of someone with a private pilots license, they think of the rich or famous who can afford the huge amounts of money it takes to get your license. Truth is, flying lessons are considerably less than most people think. They’re still not cheap, but they’re not out of reach. For most people, like me, it’s a matter of priority, not affordability.

So, what does it cost to get your private pilots license? It’s a combination of aircraft rental fees, instructor time, classroom time and equipment. I’ll take a look at each one separatel but, I recommend you call your local flight schools and ask them for a rough estimate of the total cost. It can vary by region.

Equipment - $250

Before you buy your aviator sunglasses and Epaulets, you’re going to need a few other practical items. The flight schools I’m looking into right now (April 2007) have a pilot kit that includes everything you need in one complete package for $249. What’s in the bag? Basically everything you need to make it through flight training.

• Jeppesen Bag - This is your flying companion. You’ll put all your “pilot stuff” in this bag and use it regularly. Plus, it’s cool to have a pilot bag.
• Books & Manuals - Every manual you’ll need including your basic pilot manual, exam books, record books, test guides and more.
• Metal Slide Computer - Used for calculating your navigation tasks. It’s not a computer, like a PC or Mac, but rather a tool for computing.
• Navigation Plotter - Not really sure what this is for yet. I hope I figure it out. Sorry.
• Pilot Logbook - Something you will have for many years to come. Everytime you’re airborne, you’re going to be logging those minutes and recording everything you did.
• Other stuff - I believe there ’s a fuel tester in there among other things.

Ground School - $135

Ground school will take you from “this is an propeller” all the way up to plotting and planning a cross-country flight and more. This is the “book knowledge” you’ll need to pass your written test. The real learning comes in the air, but this will teach you WHY you do what you do when your in the air.

Medial Exam - $70

You’ll need to have a physical performed by an FAA certified medical examiner sometime early on in your training. To obtain your private pilots license you’ll need to a class 3 certificate. You can find a local doctor at the FAA website.

Aircraft Rental - $80 to $110 per hour

If you’re going to learn to fly, you’re going to need an airplane. I’m assuming you don’t already own one, so you’ll need to rent something. The school you’re attending will most likely have aircraft available. On the low end, you can rent a Cessna 150 but most people are using a 172. The 150, I’ve heard is a bit more difficult to fly and not as comfortable. But, if you’re looking to save as much as possible, it’s the best way to go.

The FAA minimum to get your Private Pilots License is 40 hours. The average person takes about 50 hours before they’re ready for their checkride (flying test). That puts your total cost for aircraft rental between $3200 (40 hours @ $80 each) and $7000 (50 hours @ $140 each)

Certified Flight Instructor - $40-45 per hour

I believe you’ll need to have your instructor for the entire time you’re flying. Though, some of the flights will be done “solo”. If anyone knows differently, be sure to let me know. 40 hours @ $40 per hour is $1600. 40 hours @ $45 per hour is $1800

Total Cost - Between $5255 and $8855

If you want to keep your costs down, I highly recommend taking as many lessons as you can, as rapidly as possible. If you can go up 5 or more times a week, you will dramatically decrease the number of hours you need to pass your checkride. The more time you leave between lessons, the more you’ll have to relearn on each lesson.

As I’ve mentioned, from the time I was very young, I’ve had a dream to fly. I’ve watched planes and helicopters, and even birds and been fascinated by flight. I love flying. I had called the local flight schools so often, I was probably becoming a pest.

As I got older, I considered a career in aviation and wanted nothing more than to be a Navy pilot flying an F-14 over the skies of my hometown, San Diego. I remember taking one of those career profile tests in middle school and writing down my career choice as Airline Pilot. The test suggested social worker. I thought it was a stupid test.

At some point in my life, my mom told me she thought I was color blind. I didn’t like the thought of that, but I didn’t really care. I could color and get myself dressed and most of the time the colors weren’t an issue. Sometimes my clothes didn’t match, but I marked it up as my bad sense of “taste”.

The color blindness didn’t matter until I started talking about being a pilot. That’s when someone told me I couldn’t be a Navy pilot if I had any amount of color blindness. I was very upset and started to argue with anyone who told me I might be color blind. It wasn’t until I joined the Navy and took the actual test that it was confirmed. I was color blind.

Suddenly the jobs I could do in the Navy had been severely limited. In the aviation field, I could become a parachute rigger, storeman (ordering parts for the planes), or administrationsman. No avionics, no power plants, and certainly NO PILOT!

Reality set in and I decided I would be an “Aviation Maintenance Administrationsman” A huge name better known as an “AZ”. At least I would be close to the planes and able to see them everyday. I even saw some “non-color blind” pilots walking the halls every day. It was as close as I was going to get. Someone said I could have joined the Army and been a helicopter pilot, but I heard they have a life expectancy of less than 1 minute in a combat situation. I decided I wanted to be a pilot for a little longer than THAT.

There are approximately 8-12% of the white male population who are color blind and less than 1/2 of 1% of the white females. For a guy who wanted nothing more than to be a pilot, this was definately a bad hand to be dealt. At one point I even figured I would just memorize the little cards with all the dots on them and try to sneak past the “color guards”. Turns out, that just can’t be done.

Do you see the 6, 8 and 45 above? I don’t! Seriously, it’s hard for a non-color blind person to imagine not being able to see something that is so crystal clear to them, but it’s true. I just a bunch of dots of various colors.

So, I’m color blind and I’ll never be a Navy pilot. But, that didn’t mean I couldn’t be a civilian pilot. I started to look into this option and I was thrilled to find out my color blind state wasn’t going to stop me in this area. According to the FAA, to become a private pilot you don’t have to prove your color vision… as long as you don’t want to fly above the clouds or in other IFR (Instrument Flight Regulations) situations.

That was it! I was going to get my private pilots license. That was when I was 18 years old. Today I’m 39 and I still haven’t done it. More about that in the days to come.

If you’re wondering about your color blindness I’ve included a few simple tests and a couple of links to more information.

About Color Blindness - Spend some time exploring this site. It has a lot of great information

Color Blind Kids - This is a great site if you’re dealing with color blind children. There’s a lot of information on how color blind kids struggle in school and how it often goes unnoticed and consequently untreated.

Corrective glasses - ColorView glasses state they don’t “cure” color blindness, but they do say they will help you if you have a red/green color blindness issue. I don’t know anyone who has tried these, so I have no idea if they work.

Corrective Sunglasses - These are supposed to do the same thing as the ColorView glasses, but in sunglass form. They have some “laser dye” treatment. I know nothing about them other than the fact that they cost about $300 each.

Since I was very young, I have had a dream to fly. Even when I was in Kindergarten I would love to watch the helicopters flying out of Ream Field (NAS Imperial Beach) over my house in South San Diego. I think I used to call them “Hockey-Fockters” instead of helicopters.  I was the only kid who would stop whatever I was doing to turn my eyes skyward

As I got older I would do whatever it took to experience “flight” in any form possible. Paper airplanes, kites or balsa wood airplanes. When I could talk my parents into spending a little more, I would get the ones with a wind-up rubber-band propeller (those were cool!).  I remember flying those planes for hour and hours.  Even when my friends tired of them and wanted to ride bikes, I was still winding and flying.

When I got into 9th grade, I spent a month in math class with the FAA manual tucked behind my math book. I think I got a D in that class, but I probably learned more than the other kids (just on a different subject).  I read through the entire book and couldn’t wait until I could become a pilot. I was a year away from my 16th birthday and I was counting the days.  I would call all the local flight schools to find out how much it would cost.  This was back in the early 80’s and it was about $2000.  Of course, I didn’t have a firm grasp of the value of a dollar and that sounded like a great deal.

When I finally got a job (do you want fries with that?) I was going to use some of it for lessons.  Then I got a car, and a date and eventually my money was gone.  I don’t know how it happened, but my little minimum wage job just wasn’t enough to pay for my flying lessons.