Student Pilot License

M

Michael W Shaw

Filing Flight Plan
Joined
Sep 6, 2019
Messages
2
Display Name
Display name:
Mike
I am a 65-year-old student pilot working toward a sport pilot license. I picked the sport pilot route because I am not sure how long I can hold my class 3 medical. I teach engineering and manufacturing at a local college and am very mechanically inclined. I purchased a Zenith CH750 STOL kit plane that was about half finished. I purchased this as a retirement project. My question is can I use this aircraft, after it has completed the required airworthiness inspection, for my flight training after I solo. I have about eleven hours in a piper Cherokee. And am very close to solo.
 
Rgbeard said:
Welcome to POA.

Have you already gotten a Class 3? If so, you can now punt to BasicMed and keep your PPL. There's no reason to do sport pilot if you've received your class 3.
Click to expand...
And have not yet been denied a renewal on it.
 
Michael W Shaw said:
I am a 65-year-old student pilot working toward a sport pilot license. I picked the sport pilot route because I am not sure how long I can hold my class 3 medical. I teach engineering and manufacturing at a local college and am very mechanically inclined. I purchased a Zenith CH750 STOL kit plane that was about half finished. I purchased this as a retirement project. My question is can I use this aircraft, after it has completed the required airworthiness inspection, for my flight training after I solo. I have about eleven hours in a piper Cherokee. And am very close to solo.
Click to expand...
You can use any airworthy plane you want as long as it fits the category and class you are pursuing the rating for. Your insurance company and instructor will have to agree.
 
Rgbeard said:
Welcome to POA.

Have you already gotten a Class 3? If so, you can now punt to BasicMed and keep your PPL. There's no reason to do sport pilot if you've received your class 3.
Click to expand...
That's got me wondering. If you try to go basic med and the doctor won't give it to you because you have something disqualifying, does that become a matter of record with the FAA? If so, does that prohibit you from doing Sport Pilot?
 
luvflyin said:
That's got me wondering. If you try to go basic med and the doctor won't give it to you because you have something disqualifying, does that become a matter of record with the FAA? If so, does that prohibit you from doing Sport Pilot?
Click to expand...


No medical records are sent to the FAA from a Basic Med exam.

If the doctor won’t sign, you can try to get to an agreement as to treatment or changes that would enable him to sign, or you can go find another doctor. There’s no such thing as failing a Basic Med exam.
 
Half Fast said:
No medical records are sent to the FAA from a Basic Med exam.

If the doctor won’t sign, you can try to get to an agreement as to treatment or changes that would enable him to sign, or you can go find another doctor. There’s no such thing as failing a Basic Med exam.
Click to expand...
thx
 
Michael W Shaw said:
I am a 65-year-old student pilot working toward a sport pilot license. I picked the sport pilot route because I am not sure how long I can hold my class 3 medical. I teach engineering and manufacturing at a local college and am very mechanically inclined. I purchased a Zenith CH750 STOL kit plane that was about half finished. I purchased this as a retirement project. My question is can I use this aircraft, after it has completed the required airworthiness inspection, for my flight training after I solo. I have about eleven hours in a piper Cherokee. And am very close to solo.
Click to expand...


If you’re going for Sport and you don’t have a medical, you can’t solo in the Cherokee. You will need an LSA. Don’t underestimate the transition time. An LSA will handle differently, and be more challenging to land.

I earned SP first, flying a Tecnam high-wing LSA, and flew as a SP for a while. I continued flying LSAs all the way through my Private checkride and then transitioned into Cherokees and Warriors. I now own and fly a Beechcraft Musketeer.
 
So you're a student pilot with a currently valid class 3?

First - congrats on taking on this goal!

Second - I also started off going the Sport route. Love the idea of Sport Pilot. Problem I ran into was that I had limited availability for renting / getting a plane. You may or may not have a need to rent giving you're building, but being only 1/2 way through you've got a while in front of you before it can fly. And it has to have the fly off hours before it gets "released" for use, registration completed, etc. Which you wouldn't be able to do because you're not licensed yet, let alone solo in it.

If you get the PPL in a rented Cherokee, you'll then be able to fly both your LSA and anything larger you might want to rent if you want to do a long X country, etc.

Just remember to never apply for an FAA medical again.

Might also want to check out https://sportpilottalk.com/viewforum.php?f=3
 
Last edited:
Michael W Shaw said:
I am a 65-year-old student pilot working toward a sport pilot license. I picked the sport pilot route because I am not sure how long I can hold my class 3 medical. I teach engineering and manufacturing at a local college and am very mechanically inclined. I purchased a Zenith CH750 STOL kit plane that was about half finished. I purchased this as a retirement project. My question is can I use this aircraft, after it has completed the required airworthiness inspection, for my flight training after I solo. I have about eleven hours in a piper Cherokee. And am very close to solo.
Click to expand...
Thanks for all the help. I can see I have a lot to think about. By the way I am mostly finished with the Zenith. I will contact a friend at Dewitt and get him to do a preliminary inspection before I get the FAA involved. He checked it a few months ago and said it looked real good. He recommended a couple of changes for which I completed. I didn't expect to get such a quick reply, so I mowed most of my new runway. Thanks for the help. P.S. I do have a class 3 medical
 
Michael W Shaw said:
My question is can I use this aircraft, after it has completed the required airworthiness inspection, for my flight training after I solo.
Click to expand...

Depends on the instructor. Some will not train in experimental aircraft but many will. Our local DPE for Light Sport will not let an applicant test in an experimental aircraft.
 
BTW, I believe you’ll need an LOA for the Zenith before you can use it for training.
 
Your student license and class 3 medical allows you to now solo in the Cherokee - you just need the instructor to endorse your log book when you’re ready. That solo oddly can’t be used for a sport license, but of course counts for a PPL.
 
Going PPL would allow you to fly the zenith at night as well if it’s equipped. Might be nice.
 
Michael W Shaw said:
I am a 65-year-old student pilot working toward a sport pilot license. I picked the sport pilot route because I am not sure how long I can hold my class 3 medical. I teach engineering and manufacturing at a local college and am very mechanically inclined. I purchased a Zenith CH750 STOL kit plane that was about half finished. I purchased this as a retirement project. My question is can I use this aircraft, after it has completed the required airworthiness inspection, for my flight training after I solo. I have about eleven hours in a piper Cherokee. And am very close to solo.
Click to expand...
An experimental may not be used for flight training until phase one is completed.
 
As others have commented, the big problem with 'Sport Pilot' is the extreme lack of rental aircraft. You can probably rent a 172 at almost any FBO, but that requires a PPL (or should that be PPC - it's a 'certificate', not a 'license'). The whole sport pilot concept appears to me to be aimed at manufacturers selling NEW LSA airplanes. Does make me wonder if there's enough demand for LSA rental aircraft to make it worth doing as a business?
 
If you have a medical now, might as well just get the Private (which can be done in your experimental LSA) then just let the medical expire and either go with the basic med or fly under the sport pilot rules (that's what I do). You don't need a "Sport Pilot" ticket to fly an LSA without a medical.
 
40YearDream said:
Does make me wonder if there's enough demand for LSA rental aircraft to make it worth doing as a business?
Click to expand...


https://www.firstlandings.com/

They’ve specialized in SP training since inception and they regularly rent LSAs. They also do other training and rent out some Cherokees, but SP is how they got started and is their specialty.
 
Don't forget that LSA isn't just modern SLSAs; it also includes many legacy light planes with standard airworthiness certificates (Cubs, Champs, etc.), and quite a few FBOs still rent such aircraft.
 
Get your Sport Pilot cert first.
It's faster, and cheaper.
Stay in your Light Sport aircraft.
Don't let them talk you into upgrading to a "real" airplane when you start working on your PPL.
They will try. It's more money in their pocket.
Now, while you are working on your PPL, you can go out and fly anytime you want.
All the hours you fly in your LSA, will count toward your PPL.
 
Are you after Sport because the LSA is all you want, or thinking Sport because you thought you needed to renew your third class and was worried you couldn’t? Your first post leads me to think it’s the latter.

When did you get the 3rd class? If not interested in the PPL why do you get it?
 
Shepherd said:
Get your Sport Pilot cert first.
It's faster, and cheaper.
Stay in your Light Sport aircraft.
Don't let them talk you into upgrading to a "real" airplane when you start working on your PPL.
They will try. It's more money in their pocket.
Now, while you are working on your PPL, you can go out and fly anytime you want.
All the hours you fly in your LSA, will count toward your PPL.
Click to expand...

I don't know enough about light sport to disagree with this path - however, if your Zenith build MGW limits you to light sport, you may not get all you could out of your plane with the 1320# limitation.

Fancy G
More massive than the FAA standard passenger
 
I did my sport pilot first, and don't regret it. I also usually agree with @Shepherd on these things, too. But in this case, close to solo? I'd say continue and get your PPL in the Cherokee. Separate out the getting the certificate and learning to fly, from learning how to fly the Zenith. I say that for a couple of reasons... First, by decoupling those two processes, you can focus on getting your ticket and getting it done. Learning to fly is best done over a relatively short period of time, as compared to stretching it out. You're already pretty well down that road with the plane you're flying in. Then, forever, you can fly pretty much any single engine land aircraft you want. Second, you're going to have to learn how to fly the lighter Zenith later on anyway. Learning how to fly and learning how a kit built aircraft flies at the same time sounds like too many variables to me. Even if the aircraft is perfect, I'd think you'd be second guessing yourself. Finally, and I may take some flak for this, but I think you'll end up a better pilot by learning two different aircraft.

Just my 2 cents... I will agree with everyone above that they'll be some transition time between the wing loading of the Zenith compared to the pa-28.
 
FancyG said:
I don't know enough about light sport to disagree with this path - however, if your Zenith build MGW limits you to light sport, you may not get all you could out of your plane with the 1320# limitation.

Fancy G
More massive than the FAA standard passenger
Click to expand...

The Zennith CH750 can be registered as LSA at 1320# or the engineered weight of 1480#.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top