Any Sport Pilot flight training available in North Texas, DFW area? Every school I call isn't doing it anymore.

[darowden]

I have been trying to find a school that does Sport Pilot in the McKinney, Texans area, or anywhere within 100 miles of McKinney (it's north of Dallas), but every school I call, despite showing up in a search for Sport Pilot flight training, says they only do Private Pilot, commercial or ATP. Does anyone have any information on any flight training in North Texas for Sport pilot? Starting to think its becoming unpopular to train sport pilots? Maybe not profitable enough? Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks!

Dave

 

[RyanShort1]

There’s not significant money in it.
Go look at the numbers to buy something like the Texas Colt, figure out hangar and insurance and operating expenses, and then figure out how many sport pilots you’d need to train per year to break even.

 

[Learnin’ to fly…]

Have you looked at Thrust Flight in Addison? Don’t know anything about them personally, but am pretty sure they have a large fleet of SportCruisers. It’s the aircraft type that matters.

Sport Pilot and Private Pilot are the same training. Sport simply excludes the limited night and IFR that you do in Private. You need the LSA for solo and checkride.

 

[darowden]

Have you looked at Thrust Flight in Addison? Don’t know anything about them personally, but am pretty sure they have a large fleet of SportCruisers. It’s the aircraft type that matters.

Sport Pilot and Private Pilot are the same training. Sport simply excludes the limited night and IFR that you do in Private. You need the LSA for solo and checkride.

I have, They are not listing sport pilot among their flight training programs anymore. I will call them to be sure though.

I did find one outfit in Ft Worth, at Meacham, that does a lot of LSA services, including brokerage, that offers flight training, Fort Worth Light Sport Aviation, and they may be the ones I go with if Thrust doesn't do it, as it seems. Its at least an hour drive, probably more, but not a lot of options here. There was a CFI in Denison, Halterman Aviation, that did training with his KitFox, but he hasn't got back to me so not sure if he is interested in training.

 

[darowden]

There’s not significant money in it.
Go look at the numbers to buy something like the Texas Colt, figure out hangar and insurance and operating expenses, and then figure out how many sport pilots you’d need to train per year to break even.

I understand. It has to be about money to stay afloat, it's a competitive industry. But it's shame, as a lot more people could get into aviation with Light Sport.

 

[RyanShort1]

I understand. It has to be about money to stay afloat, it's a competitive industry. But it's shame, as a lot more people could get into aviation with Light Sport.

I used to think that, but if that was true, and there were enough motivated people with enough money to get into aviation, I think by now you'd see more light sport operations thriving. Instead, they've shrunk.

 

[Learnin’ to fly…]

I have, They are not listing sport pilot among their flight training programs anymore. I will call them to be sure though.

I did find one outfit in Ft Worth, at Meacham, that does a lot of LSA services, including brokerage, that offers flight training, Fort Worth Light Sport Aviation, and they may be the ones I go with if Thrust doesn't do it, as it seems. Its at least an hour drive, probably more, but not a lot of options here. There was a CFI in Denison, Halterman Aviation, that did training with his KitFox, but he hasn't got back to me so not sure if he is interested in training.

That’s great, good luck.

It’s all about the aircraft. As long as you have an LSA for solo and checkride- you have what you need. It does not make a bit of difference to a CFI or flight school if you test for PPL or SPL (unless they are a CFIS, in which case they can only instruct for SPL).

 

[CAVU7]

I have been trying to find a school that does Sport Pilot in the McKinney, Texans area, or anywhere within 100 miles of McKinney (it's north of Dallas), but every school I call, despite showing up in a search for Sport Pilot flight training, says they only do Private Pilot, commercial or ATP. Does anyone have any information on any flight training in North Texas for Sport pilot? Starting to think its becoming unpopular to train sport pilots? Maybe not profitable enough? Any tips would be helpful.

Thanks!

Dave

Just made an account so not sure how to message but shoot me one if allowed. I know the folks at Fort Worth Light Sport at Meacham. They have a Vashon Ranger that should be available for training very soon.

 

[WDD]

You could reach out in person to some of the local flight schools and talk face to face with the owner. You can do a lot / most of your training in their Skyhawks, and then find someplace that has a CFI and rental LSA for you to finish. (Solo flights and check ride).

It might also be worthwhile to explore deeper whether or not you can get a 3rd class medical. Maybe you have a hard block. But maybe not. I'm not asking, and please don't post any of your personal medical here of course. BUT maybe a confidential consultation with a POA recommended AME might have a chance to get you a 3rd class. Then go Basic Med and enjoy flying!

 

[Roller]

There’s not significant money in it.
Go look at the numbers to buy something like the Texas Colt, figure out hangar and insurance and operating expenses, and then figure out how many sport pilots you’d need to train per year to break even.

Local place to me has a few glass cockpit sLSAs RV14s, way better than a 172 or PA28, less hangar space, they seem to spend more time in the air than on the ground.


My Champ qualifies for LSA, I don’t do tons of training in it but I will do CFI spin and tailwheel endorsements, I for sure end up making more money per hour than the local flight school planes.

If properly implemented a sLSA should be able to make money

Some places that have LSAs don’t really think to advertise training for a LSA vs just viewing them the same as the rest of their fleet.


Unfortunately no personally known leads in the DFW area but I would recommend searching out places that do tailwheel training or have a J3 or Champ, often they won’t think to market them as LSAs

Here’s a few from a quick Google in the Dallas area who have a LSA capable plane

J3

Big Q Aviation

7AC

OUR FLEET | Rich Aviation Services - Fort Worth Flight Center

richaviationservices.com

 

[40YearDream]

It is striking how the 'sport pilot' certificate has not gone very far. I'd guess it's due to 2 factors: the nearly non-existent LSA rental fleet, and the price tag to purchase a new LSA.
[And then, what about the 'recreational pilot' certificate ? Ever met someone with one of those? ]

 

[GilligansRodeo]

In The Pattern at KDTO (Denton) has a couple Vashon Ranger LSAs on the flight line. Not sure if they conduct primary sport pilot training in them but worth finding out since pretty close to McKinney

 

[Kiddo's Driver]

My local airport has LSAs from a "LSA cross country distance away airport, 25 nm," pretty much every clear day of the year. They run at least four of them in their fleet. They also run a couple 172s, a retract of some kind, and a tail dragger.
I'm not positive they are doing Sport Pilot only training or if they are also using them as a lead in to the Private Pilot.
They could be the new 150/152 or they are their own thing used to train Sport Pilots.
Whatever it is, I'm glad to see them seemingly thriving.

 

[Dana]

I'm not positive they are doing Sport Pilot only training or if they are also using them as a lead in to the Private Pilot.

Doesn't have to be just a lead in, you can do the entire Private training in a LSA if it's suitably equipped for all the required tasks.

 

[flyingcheesehead]

There’s not significant money in it.
Go look at the numbers to buy something like the Texas Colt, figure out hangar and insurance and operating expenses, and then figure out how many sport pilots you’d need to train per year to break even.

There's nothing that says you can only do Sport Pilot training in an LSA. You can use it for Private Pilots as well, and even instrument (except for actual). And a lot of the new-build LSAs are TAAs so I think they'd qualify for commercial too.

The fuel burn is a lot lower in an LSA than something like a 172 - Less than half - So operating expenses should be pretty low too.

I used to think that, but if that was true, and there were enough motivated people with enough money to get into aviation, I think by now you'd see more light sport operations thriving. Instead, they've shrunk.

I think there's two things going on there.

First off, Sport Pilot never really took off because most flight schools were doing "just fine" with their ratty old 172s and had no desire to buy a $100K+ two-seater, even if it was shiny and new and had a glass cockpit. It was a new set of rules, and people didn't want to take the time to understand the new rules and build SP/LSA into their business model. The schools that have, have done pretty well with it. It also didn't help that, while some LSAs are quite nice (Flight Design, Evektor, and quite a few others), there were also some designs that were just absolute garbage.

Second, ever since we got a hint of MOSAIC, everyone expects that an SR22 is going to be an LSA approximately tomorrow, so that has screwed up the LSA market for the moment. If you look at it in that context, they're overpriced. Again, it takes someone who is willing to put in the time and effort to build that knowledge into their business, and in aviation we are not exactly known for being forward thinkers.