Private Pilot to Sport, requirements?

exncsurfer

exncsurfer

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exncsurfer
Are there any requirements to go from Private to Sport? Or, is there nothing to do other than let the medical expire?
 
Nothing needs be done.

Let the medical expire. You remain a Private Pilot, but may only operate under Sport Pilot limitations.

In addition to the obvious limitation to Light Sport aircraft, the big ones are no flight at night, over 10,000' or without visual reference to the surface.

Does seem illogical, since losing the medical does not mean any loss of prior abilities and training, but there you have it.
 
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Thanks! I'm still in training, trying to weigh the two options. I know if you go SP -> PP you have extra expense and extra written/practical. Just wanted to make sure you didn't have any duplication if you had to go the other way (if you run into medical issues later). So there isn't, that is good to know.
 
What everyone said, plus get some good transition training. The FARs don't require it, but your insurance might. Light sport airplanes can be demanding to land and their landing gear is generally not as rugged as most standard certified aircraft. The Rotax engine is a joy to operate, but has a few quirks that Lycs and Continentals don't have.
 
jimbilly said:
Thanks! I'm still in training, trying to weigh the two options. I know if you go SP -> PP you have extra expense and extra written/practical. Just wanted to make sure you didn't have any duplication if you had to go the other way (if you run into medical issues later). So there isn't, that is good to know.
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There are never extra requirements to exercise the privileges of a lower certificate level (assuming the same aircraft ratings or privileges).
 
midlifeflyer said:
There are never extra requirements to exercise the privileges of a lower certificate level (assuming the same aircraft ratings or privileges).
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...just extra limitations within which you must now remain, like the "no night" and "not over 10,000" mentioned above and not flying anything not qualified as a LSA, I.e., you just stop exercising your Private Pilot privileges and exercise only Sport Pilot privileges.

Note that for insurance reasons, some LSA rental outfits are requiring Third Class medicals to fly their LSA's even though the FAA does not, but that's their rule, not the FAA's, and as far as the FAA is concerned, you're still exercising only Sport Pilot privileges.
 
If he has not yet completed PP training, wouldn't he also need an endorsement for ATC airspace?
I admit I'm not up on the Sport rules..
 
Kritchlow said:
If he has not yet completed PP training, wouldn't he also need an endorsement for ATC airspace?
I admit I'm not up on the Sport rules..
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Sure, but I thought the question was postulating that the person already held a PP ticket and was looking to exercise only Sport Pilot privileges. Obviously, a person currently holding only a Student Pilot certificate is going to have to complete training and the written/practical before s/he is in the situation where the question and the answers received are relevant.
 
jimbilly said:
Are there any requirements to go from Private to Sport? Or, is there nothing to do other than let the medical expire?
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Nope, you'll be good to go. SP is a lower standard, as long as you are flying SP compliant craft, your PP with no medical has it covered.
 
Ron Levy said:
Sure, but I thought the question was postulating that the person already held a PP ticket and was looking to exercise only Sport Pilot privileges. Obviously, a person currently holding only a Student Pilot certificate is going to have to complete training and the written/practical before s/he is in the situation where the question and the answers received are relevant.
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That's what I thought from the title as well, but I think he is actually still a student.
 
jimbilly said:
Thanks! I'm still in training, trying to weigh the two options. I know if you go SP -> PP you have extra expense and extra written/practical. Just wanted to make sure you didn't have any duplication if you had to go the other way (if you run into medical issues later). So there isn't, that is good to know.
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It depends on the medical issue and how you find out. If you find out by failing an FAA medical, then you are out of luck. If it is an issue that makes it unsafe to act as PIC, again you are out of luck because unlike operating with a medical where you only have to self-certify that you can meet the standards of the medial, for sport pilot you have to self-certify that you are safe to operate.
 
Henning said:
... as long as you are flying SP compliant craft, your PP with no medical has it covered.
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That is not correct. Not only must you limit yourself to aircraft which qualify as an LSA, but you must also operate within the limitations for Sport Pilots in Part 61 of the regulations, some of which have been discussed above. The only exception to that is the rule requiring endorsements for Class B and other radio-required airspace, which is covered by your PP certificate.
 
midlifeflyer said:
There are never extra requirements to exercise the privileges of a lower certificate level (assuming the same aircraft ratings or privileges).
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While generally true, there is at least one exception to this broad statement.

For the handful of persons who have a Recreational pilot license, for them to exercise Sport Pilot privileges, they must have the cross-country endorsement that permits cross-country flights of fifty miles or more. Even if they don't intend to fly that far as a Sport Pilot, they still need the endorsement.
 
Ron Levy said:
That is not correct. Not only must you limit yourself to aircraft which qualify as an LSA, but you must also operate within the limitations for Sport Pilots in Part 61 of the regulations, some of which have been discussed above. The only exception to that is the rule requiring endorsements for Class B and other radio-required airspace, which is covered by your PP certificate.
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I thought that applied to the altitude restriction also. As a PP you would have recieved training on O2 requirements. It is not in the SP syllabus so the altitude restriction?
 
BillTIZ said:
I thought that applied to the altitude restriction also. As a PP you would have recieved training on O2 requirements. It is not in the SP syllabus so the altitude restriction?
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Yea its 14,000'. Myself I would never fly over 5000'. But I have talked with a couple people who have cruised for a few hundred miles at 9,000'. When they asked for flight following, ATC said "your flying what and at what altitude? ..lol

Tony
 
1600vw said:
Yea its 14,000'. Myself I would never fly over 5000'. But I have talked with a couple people who have cruised for a few hundred miles at 9,000'. When they asked for flight following, ATC said "your flying what and at what altitude? ..lol

Tony
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I normally cruise between 10,000- 12,000 between LAS and SoCal. Flying gliders, I'm on O2 from 12K on up to 17K.
 
If you go from private to sport,don't assume you can just jump in and fly a light sport. Get some training in the airplane your going to fly. Light sports handle a bit differently.
 
RotorRambler said:
While generally true, there is at least one exception to this broad statement.

For the handful of persons who have a Recreational pilot license, for them to exercise Sport Pilot privileges, they must have the cross-country endorsement that permits cross-country flights of fifty miles or more. Even if they don't intend to fly that far as a Sport Pilot, they still need the endorsement.
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True. Seems there is always an exception somewhere.
 
1600vw said:
Yea its 14,000'. Myself I would never fly over 5000'. But I have talked with a couple people who have cruised for a few hundred miles at 9,000'. When they asked for flight following, ATC said "your flying what and at what altitude? ..lol

Tony
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I had that happen in Florida. I was VFR en route to Boca Raton and since I don't particularly like flying low, kept climbing to stay on top of the scattered layer. I was 30 NM from Boca when the layer below me started becoming less scattered and I realized that even if I found an area to descend near the airport it would take quite a while, so I called Palm Beach for an IFR clearance for the descent:

Me: Palm beach Approach, Cherokee 1234X. 30 NW Boca Raton. 8,500 feet. Request IFR descent to Boca.

Approach: You are in a what at what altitude!!!???
 
midlifeflyer said:
I had that happen in Florida. I was VFR en route to Boca Raton and since I don't particularly like flying low, kept climbing to stay on top of the scattered layer. I was 30 NM from Boca when the layer below me started becoming less scattered and I realized that even if I found an area to descend near the airport it would take quite a while, so I called Palm Beach for an IFR clearance for the descent:

Me: Palm beach Approach, Cherokee 1234X. 30 NW Boca Raton. 8,500 feet. Request IFR descent to Boca.

Approach: You are in a what at what altitude!!!???
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Is this a situation where folks in the east seldom fly that high, because of the lack of high terrain?
 
BillTIZ said:
I thought that applied to the altitude restriction also. As a PP you would have recieved training on O2 requirements. It is not in the SP syllabus so the altitude restriction?
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If you can find something in writing to support that, let me know. The 10,000 MSL restriction is a basic limitation in 61.315 for those exercising Sport Pilot privileges. AFAIK, training on O2 requirements is not the issue here, since there's no process for a Sport Pilot to extend his/her privileges above 10,000 MSL. OTOH, the radio-required airspace limitation is in a different section (61.325) and involves privileges of a Sport Pilot certificate holder which can be added by completing additional training and receiving a logbook endorsement -- and that section isn't applicable to a person holding a PP ticket but exercising only Sport Pilot privileges.
 
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Well you can fly under SP rules at 10000 MSL or 2000 AGL. That lets those of us out here in CO go over the mountains if we choose, in our LSA's at 2000 ft AGL. This could mean going well above 10K. I have flown my LSA into both Buena Vista and Leadville as both a SP and PP. The key of course is getting mountain flying training, going in the morning, and not going when the winds aloft are above 12-15 kts any direction.

As for the comment about operating in CO. My home airport is at 6800 Ft. Last night I was doing touch and goes with the DA at nearly 8700 ft. This was with the temp relatively cool. I regularly fly my LSA with DA of 10K and above.

Carl
 
midlifeflyer said:
I had that happen in Florida. I was VFR en route to Boca Raton and since I don't particularly like flying low, kept climbing to stay on top of the scattered layer. I was 30 NM from Boca when the layer below me started becoming less scattered and I realized that even if I found an area to descend near the airport it would take quite a while, so I called Palm Beach for an IFR clearance for the descent:

Me: Palm beach Approach, Cherokee 1234X. 30 NW Boca Raton. 8,500 feet. Request IFR descent to Boca.

Approach: You are in a what at what altitude!!!???
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If you are not above 10,000MSL out here, you are low, and may be below radar coverage once you get away from the city.
 
Recently I heard a Skycatcher in the flight levels. I believe they are limited to VFR even when being flown by an instrument rated and current pilot, so I haven't figured out how the guy was getting away with that.
 
Palmpilot said:
Recently I heard a Skycatcher in the flight levels. I believe they are limited to VFR even when being flown by an instrument rated and current pilot, so I haven't figured out how the guy was getting away with that.
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Regardless of the rules, I'm amazed it can get into the flight levels... Unless we're talking a foreign land...
 
I think I was somewhere east or southeast of Edwards AFB when I heard it. He was at FL 190 if I remember rightly.
 
IFR rated sailplane pilot prerunning wave xc routes?
 
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