Sport Pilot training/plane question

I know you've said you're not interested, but if I were a man of your resources and capabilities, I'd feel silly limiting myself to Sport Pilot. Seems rather lowly for a Type-A high-achiever. You've already got 150 hours and surely considerable skills. It wouldn't take you long to get your PPL. The cost difference between buying and renting for that would likely be trivial and allow you to experience multiple aircraft before committing.
 
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rhkennerly said:
There are so many wonderfully weird Questions on this list! No idea.

It does bring to mind some company recently hawking an advanced training plane to big schools with a fixed gear but also with a gear handle in the cockpit so students start off pretending they’re flying complex airplanes.
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That fake gear handle thing has been around for quite a few decades!
 
StraightnLevel said:
What does that have to do with the costs of an annual?

The annual is for the entire airplane, not just the engine.
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Hmm, Im well aware of that!
When you said "What's $40k new? The VL3 is 10x that"...
I told you what was $40 new, the engine ... and you said it was 10X that... so what does the price of the plane have to do with it's annual? Besides, I wouldn't expect a new plane to have airframe or electrical issues, etc ... that I wouldn't be aware of.
 
rgb30b said:
Hmm, Im well aware of that!
When you said "What's $40k new? The VL3 is 10x that"...
I told you what was $40 new, the engine ... and you said it was 10X that... so what does the price of the plane have to do with it's annual? Besides, I wouldn't expect a new plane to have airframe or electrical issues, etc ... that I wouldn't be aware of.
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Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Even new planes can have issues, but I get your meaning from a AD and/or airframe/engine age perspective. So are you actually going to start flight training and working on your certificate and possibly purchase a plane/kit or are you going to wait for a final a MOSAIC ruling?
 
Lindberg said:
I know you've said you're not interested, but if I were a man of your resources and capabilities, I'd feel silly limiting myself to Sport Pilot. Seems rather lowly for a Type-A high-achiever. You've already got 150 hours and surely considerable skills. It wouldn't take you long to get your PPL. The cost difference between buying and renting for that would likely be trivial and allow you to experience multiple aircraft before committing.
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I'm not limiting myself to only a SP, there's simply not an overwhelming advantage to getting a PPL at this time, and based on the shake out of MOSAIC, I may never need one. I have no desire for most GA gas guzzlers. My priorities are safety, speed, modern avionics and bottom line economics. Right now that looks like a VL-3 915is. Pound for pound the 916is is formidable power plant as well.
 
tsts4 said:
Plan for the worst, hope for the best. Even new planes can have issues, but I get your meaning from a AD and/or airframe/engine age perspective. So are you actually going to start flight training and working on your certificate and possibly purchase a plane/kit or are you going to wait for a final a MOSAIC ruling?
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Here's the plan .. in my business experience, I've always thought the only good plan is one that can change but reach the same goal in the same timeframe. So, to answer your question, Yes, Yes and Yes! The latter will determine if I need to get a PPL. Yes, I plan to start training and get my SP cert and maintenance training. Yes, I'm "probably" going to purchase a plane based on what MOSAIC has "already" stated in the NPRM, as I don't foresee the FAA reneging on it's basic premise regarding top speed, stall speed etc. As I mentioned I think MOSAIC will actually be improved upon, don't ask how I know, I don't ... just a gut feeling. And Yes, if MOSAIC "does a debby-downer" ... I may need to get a PPL. If that's the case, I'll already have the plane I wanted, I will have already been flying it "with a PPL buddy of mine riding shotgun" and I can maintain it to the extent Im trained to do. Regardless, I really look forward to the MOSAIC ruling, as it will "dramatically" change GA in America. I realize that's not what most of the "old guard" GA people think. I've had a couple CFI's tell me they wasn't sure what a Sport Pilot was. One said he'd never even heard of MOSAIC? I thought they were kidding ... the truth is, they probably weren't!
 
Sounds like a good strategy. I was wondering how much of your plan was predicated on MOSAIC passing (and I'm fully in the I'll believe it when I see it camp--I have no skin in the game so it doesn't really matter to me if it's adopted or not, but I hope it is). It sounds like you're hedging your bets which is a good thing IMO as in my world hope is not considered a viable course of action.
 
tsts4 said:
Sounds like a good strategy. I was wondering how much of your plan was predicated on MOSAIC passing (and I'm fully in the I'll believe it when I see it camp--I have no skin in the game so it doesn't really matter to me if it's adopted or not, but I hope it is). It sounds like you're hedging your bets which is a good thing IMO as in my world hope is not considered a viable course of action.
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The concept of MOSAIC is really what brought the "what else, besides golf" from the back burner to the forefront and now reality. My choice of plane(s) and pilot cert was never based on MOSAIC passing or not, although it will/could provide more options going forward. Options are good!
 
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