Sport Pilot on a budget

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NewbiePilotFL

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NewbiePilotFL
Hello POA,

New to this, I found a CFI here in Florida that is going to charge me 135/hr wet for a sport pilot license. 20 hours I believe is the required amount of airplane time to achieve it. I'm on a strict budget and would like some advice on how to learn well but cheap.
 
20 hours is the minimum required hours, not the guaranteed. Very few get to checkride in the min hours.
(and please, let's not start the "but I solo'd in x hours).

Best approach is to
1. be prepared for evey lesson.
2. what syllabus is the CFI using? study it and be prepared for every lesson.
3. read the documentation about the airplane and the FAA material you'll need for the written exam and the checkride.
4. do your homework
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
Hello POA,

New to this, I found a CFI here in Florida that is going to charge me 135/hr wet for a sport pilot license. 20 hours I believe is the required amount of airplane time to achieve it. I'm on a strict budget and would like some advice on how to learn well but cheap.
Click to expand...

Fly at least twice a week. How's the weather this time of year? Where I am, if I were starting lessons again,I'd wait until at least mid April, there are too many IFR only days from November to mid April.
 
FormerHangie said:
Fly at least twice a week. How's the weather this time of year? Where I am, if I were starting lessons again,I'd wait until at least mid April, there are too many IFR only days from November to mid April.
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Fly three time/week if you can! I do much better one or two days after my last lesson. If you want to fly two days schedule 3 or 4.

If was going to start over, I would have the money reserved, in hand and out of the bank - to avoid any complaints. Somehow reserve the time, so you are not scrambling every week to schedule lessons.

Study all the time and do all your home work. Do lots of couch flying, it really does prepare you for the next lesson.

memorize your airports radio frequencies.

135/hr is as cheap as it gets for air/instructor time. How much is he charging for ground? 35?
 
To echo what's been said. Never plan for the minimum allotted time. Hardly ever does anybody finish within the FAA minimum times.

Because you said you're on a tight budget, be sure to plan accordingly for this. Fly as often as possible to ensure that you retain as much info from previous lessons, so you don't need to rehash any material. Good luck
 
Ryanb said:
To echo what's been said. Never plan for the minimum allotted time. Hardly ever does anybody finish within the FAA minimum times.

Because you said you're on a tight budget, be sure to plan accordingly for this. Fly as often as possible to ensure that you retain as much info from previous lessons, so you don't need to rehash any material. Good luck
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I think that 20 hours sounds awfully low, regardless of what the regs say. You have to learn to set up an approach and land, and in conditions that are both ideal and less than optimum, regardless of whether you're getting your sport or private ticket.

Tight budgets and aviation don't mix all that well. In Florida, the cheapest way to fly is on a hang glider, there are a couple of aerotow operations around the state.
 
Twenty if the minimum, so don't plan on it unless you have mad skills! Flying often is the key to developing and maintaining proficiency. I was ready for the practical at 28 hours, which IIRC is pretty typical for Sport Pilot. Could have probably shaved off a couple hours if I had flown more often.
 
FormerHangie said:
I think that 20 hours sounds awfully low, regardless of what the regs say. You have to learn to set up an approach and land, and in conditions that are both ideal and less than optimum, regardless of whether you're getting your sport or private ticket.

Tight budgets and aviation don't mix all that well. In Florida, the cheapest way to fly is on a hang glider, there are a couple of aerotow operations around the state.
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20 hours IS very low and ends up giving unrealistic expectations to potential students in thinking that they'll be able to receive a pilot's certificate when they log 20 or 40 hours. Unfortunately, it rarely ever works that way.

You're totally right, tight budgets don't mix very well with aviation.
 
The tighter you run the budget the more frustrated your training will be. The 20 hour minimum doesn't seem to be reasonable. Do as much home studying as possible.
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
Hello POA,

New to this, I found a CFI here in Florida that is going to charge me 135/hr wet for a sport pilot license. 20 hours I believe is the required amount of airplane time to achieve it. I'm on a strict budget and would like some advice on how to learn well but cheap.
Click to expand...
Unless you're very talented and learn fast 20-hrs is not gonna do it. OTOH, $135 wet is a pretty good price, at least compared to the going rate here. if I were you I'd be budgeting for at least 30 but more like 40-hrs and if you do accomplish everything in 20-hrs you'll have enough left over for the check ride. and don't forget the ground school and written test fee.

good luck. in which LSA will you be learning?
 
I noticed flying often is the key, I pretty much work 5 days a week and when I get out it's dark. I have only the weekends to work with until it gets lighter outside. Could I do 5 hours every Saturday and Sunday? what can I purchase to be ready for the lessons?
 
I'm not sure what kind of airplane it is, I'm guessing it's a Cub. Sorry don't know much about airplanes and aviation.
 
rk911 said:
Unless you're very talented and learn fast 20-hrs is not gonna do it.
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In all honesty, if you the student is very talented, I still can't see someone wrapping up their cert. in 20 hrs. Most folks barely solo in 10 hrs or less.
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
I noticed flying often is the key, I pretty much work 5 days a week and when I get out it's dark. I have only the weekends to work with until it gets lighter outside. Could I do 5 hours every Saturday and Sunday? what can I purchase to be ready for the lessons?
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Probably not. Much more than an hour or two and you'll be exhausted, and not likely to learn much. And you can't count on the weather being good every weekend.
 
There isn't much difference in what you need to learn between sport pilot and PPL. You won't have the night requirements but that doesn't save much time. Be prepared for it to take significantly longer than 20 hours. You don't want to have unrealistic expectations.
 
Is there a book I can purchase so I can keep up with the lessons?
 
All good advice, especially Murphey's.

You'll want to ask your CFI for the best book to follow along as he/she may have a syllabus she's following and there may be complimentary material.

As for getting ahead in the training, do your ground school studies ahead of time. Read all the materials and if you can, take the written exam first. This will not only get it out of the way, but will also give you an appreciation of what you're learning while with the CFI. I used Ralph Machado's book to go understand the concepts, and Gleim's online course to prep for the written exam.

Don't forget that you'll also need to make sure you start the IACRA process to get your student pilot's license. Better to do that sooner than later, otherwise you're going to be doing a lot more ground school work than practicing in the air.

Don't worry about trying to get to solo. Your CFI will let you know when HE/SHE's ready to let you solo. To help the CFI gauge your understanding of concepts, don't be shy to call out what you're doing in the cockpit, and don't hold back questions. Be ready to do a pre and post flight debrief to make sure you understood the lesson. And don't be afraid to ask for a 'do over" if you don't get the maneuver down.

Make sure you look outside the aircraft. The instruments are great to look at, but you need to be scanning the sky and using outside references for flight. You need to train yourself to scan inside and outside on a regular basis (like you unconsciously do when you drive a car... check your speedo while looking for traffic outside.)

As others have written, try to fly as often as you can. Repetition and retaining the lesson is important. If you fly less often (once per week in my case) it WILL take longer.

Lastly... HAVE FUN. That's what it's all about!
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
Is there a book I can purchase so I can keep up with the lessons?
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Rod Machado has some great material, including a Sport-Pilot specific ebook.

https://rodmachado.com/products/rod-machado-s-sport-pilot-handbook

He also has some blog articles to browse through on his blog, so make sure you appreciate his sense of "humor" before you buy... This one is relevant to learning to fly on a budget.

https://rodmachado.com/blogs/learning-to-fly/17963951-the-cost-of-learning-to-fly
 
In my case flying big blocks of time on the weekends helped on my private license but when you only fly on the weekends at least some of that time will be spent getting back up to where you were when you stopped the week before.

The reason you're seeing the recommendations to fly at least three times a week is that the less time that passes between lessons the less time you'll spend on that relearning process and the higher the percentage of time in the air and on the clock that you'll spend on new things. For most people that saves time and money in the long run.

I'm all for starting while you have the passion because priorities can change when you put things off but as we move closer to summer days are getting longer and there will be more time between getting off work and sunset. An hour at a time in the air can do wonders

Good luck. Keep us posted.

Gary
 
Okay, so I filled out form 8500-8 to bring with me to my doctor. My CFI told me to get a medical first even though the sport pilot doesn't need it, I'm going to eventually earn a PPL so I'm going to need a 3rd class medical. I don't take any medication or have any serious illness so I'm lucky, (And grateful) in this area. My medical is this Friday at 9:00am.

So should the order go like this: Medical, Written and then take lessons?

I can wait until the summer comes along but here in Florida the Thunder storms are pretty severe maybe I should wait until the spring instead. I have enough saved for 30 hours.

I also have FSX flight simulator with the yoke, throttle and rudder pedals can that help reinforce what I learned?

Sorry for all of the questions but the CFI was too busy taking up other people.
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
I noticed flying often is the key, I pretty much work 5 days a week and when I get out it's dark. I have only the weekends to work with until it gets lighter outside. Could I do 5 hours every Saturday and Sunday? what can I purchase to be ready for the lessons?
Click to expand...
Not a good idea and if the CFI is any good, they wouldn't recommend it either. Anymore than 2 hours becomes too much and you'll walk out feeling like you got ran over by a semi. Too much info being thrown at you and you'll have a hard time taking it in.
NewbiePilotFL said:
I'm not sure what kind of airplane it is, I'm guessing it's a Cub. Sorry don't know much about airplanes and aviation.
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Doubt it's a cub.

Get with the CFI because many of these questions can be answered by them.
 
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I just purchased the Rod Machado how to fly an airplane Handbook will that help with my lessons?
 
You will learn as you go. It would be great if you were ready for your written and practical around the same time. I studied both together and passed my written shortly before my practical. The book learning and flying reinforce each other. The medical first to insure that you can pass if your goal is PPL.

All of the above is great advice. If I had it to do over, I would save for the full ride and do it in as short of a time span as possible. In your case, wait until summertime (longer days) and do 3, 4 or 5 flights per week on the weekends and evenings. you could get through in 3 weeks or so assuming good weather.

Good luck and have fun.
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
Why do you say that?
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Two reasons.

1. The material will make a lot more sense after you have some flight experience under your belt.

2. If you take the written before training you will have 24 calendar months from the test date to complete your checkride (finish training). If you take the test now and end up only taking lessons on the weekends or you get stuck in a rut and take time off for financial reasons, the test may expire and you'll have to retake it. So by taking the written right as the checkride is approaching, your training will be almost completed and your knowledge will be plentiful for the oral portion of the checkride. There's no need to take it prior to starting lessons.
 
Nobody else has mentioned it, but if your intent is to eventually get a private certificate make sure you use a real CFI, not one with just sport pilot CFI privileges. You want your time with an instructor to count later on, you don't want to have to pay for the same instruction twice.
 
mondtster said:
Nobody else has mentioned it, but if your intent is to eventually get a private certificate make sure you use a real CFI, not one with just sport pilot CFI privileges. You want your time with an instructor to count later on, you don't want to have to pay for the same instruction twice.
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Great point! Well done.
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
Could I do 5 hours every Saturday and Sunday?
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I highly doubt it's possible to use 5 hour blocks effectively. Most people's ability to accept instruction deteriorates after 1.5-2 hours of training. This even includes astronauts, who are pre-selected overachievers. Therefore, you'll be wasting money with long lessons. At least split them into morning and afternoon with a good rest for lunch in between.
 
As a low time sport pilot in training, 11.1 hours as of my flight this morning, I would recommend buying either sportys or Kings or similar ground school video training and the books i.e. Pilots Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge, FAR AIM, Aviation Weather, and the Testing supplement (FAA-CT-8080-2G). Study till you know the info then take your Knowledge test and pass ($150). Then start flying. I just took my test last week and passed, but there is so much to learn that if you are trying to fly and learn the books it will be much harder.

Do I think I will solo in 4 hours maybe, but I will not plan that. I am planning on 30 hours total not the 20, and hoping to come in under that. It is kind of like the emergency check list, plan for the worst and if it happens you are prepared.

Also I would recommend reading the entire POH before your first flight, maybe even make up your own flight info cards. I have 2 one for the aircraft info i.e. all the speeds and the second for my briefings. I sadly can only fly on the Weekends right now, but am moving along well.

Wish you the best.
 
Thank you, Today I have been playing FSX and I went into lessons Rod Machado is a hoot. Some of this ground school and the lessons are pretty informative. My goal is to know as much as I can BEFORE getting into the airplane. Maybe it will help lower the amount of hours I need to fly for training.
 
While I do like simulators, I would encourage you to hold off on spending too much time in the simulator. You don't want to develop bad habits that your CFI will need to break you of. (I've not tried FSX, but Plane 10 and 11 are decent simulators and can pair with ForeFlight.)

I do like Machado's books... they make light of serious topics and help you retain that information. If you're so inclined, there are test prep websites that you can also play with to test your knowledge. Exams4Pilots is one, and if you have an iPhone, there's the ASA Prepare questions that are good to go through and easy to use on the iPhone. (I don't know if there's an equivalent on Android devices or not.)

What will be good is to watch some of the videos explaining airspace. Not sure if others had challenges reading a Sectional or TAC chart in the beginning, but I did as the many number of lines can become confusing. Read Machado's section on airspace, then watch some of the videos. The airspace will come together as you read the materials, watch the videos, and then start charting your imaginary flight on SkyVector.
 
I remember being in this position. I did something I thought would be bad, and now I'm glad I did it. If your credit is okay, you could put most of it on a credit card. Paying all that interest could be equally as bad as paying cash and going for 2 lessons a month. You'll spend a lot of time redoing things, and it may eventually cost more than the interest. My PPL cost around $7k and then around $1500 interest. I see lots of people that spend $8500 on a PPL, so it's worth a look. There are a lot of places to borrow money.

Flight Simulator at home... I flew MS flight sim for a long time before I started training. Boy did I teach myself some bad habits haha. Use the training you get from your courses on the sim.

$135/hr wet including the instructor is pretty good, I'd be interested to hear more details.

You can start your training right now, and you should. Here's a million links of free info - https://www.faasafety.gov/gslac/onlineresources.aspx
 
Starting on the weekend is not necessarily a bad thing but only flying on the weekends will add to the time you need to fly before getting your certificate. 30 minutes after work twice a week and an hour a day on the weekends is likely to significantly reduce the amount if time you need before you are ready.

'Night' doesn't start until the end of civil twilight and in many places that's 30 minutes after sunset. I wouldn't push it that far but depending on where you'll fly vs. where you work you might get those 30 minute flights in before or after work now. The amount of daylight after work will increase as we move closer to summer and you gain an hour when we switch to standard time.

A key to making 30 minute flights work will be a post flight review of what went well, what didn't and what might help that, and a discussion about what will be covered in the next lesson so you can prepare.

Since you are pretty well funded to start please do check around with others in your area before buying block time. That can be a great way to reduce your hourly cost but I personally know of 4 flight schools in this area that locked their doors and went out of business with no warning and the loss of thousands of dollars for their students. In several cases the students lost so much that it stopped their training for the foreseeable future. None offered sport pilot training and I don't know if that makes a difference.

Keep us posted. We are pulling for you

Gary
 
mondtster said:
Nobody else has mentioned it, but if your intent is to eventually get a private certificate make sure you use a real CFI, not one with just sport pilot CFI privileges. You want your time with an instructor to count later on, you don't want to have to pay for the same instruction twice.
Click to expand...

Ahh, I figured out how the quote thing works...lol

Do you mean if I get 40 hours in a sport, I can't carry it over to a PPL?

The main reason why I'm pursuing a sport is because it's like a halfway mark to the PPL.
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
Ahh, I figured out how the quote thing works...lol

Do you mean if I get 40 hours in a sport, I can't carry it over to a PPL?

The main reason why I'm pursuing a sport is because it's like a halfway mark to the PPL.
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If the dual hours are done with a CFI and not a Sport Pilot Instructor, although may have changed. I'm sure someone will chime in.

Only thing I can find is this.

https://www.faa.gov/about/office_or...09/kern ink - (2009) legal interpretation.pdf
 
Well, like I mentioned earlier Friday is my Physical and for some reason I'm nervous because I started reading some of the horror stories here on POA. I'm fortunate not to have any ailments but suppose something pops up I didn't know about or my regular doctor didn't catch? This is just scary for me.

Sorry for the rant....rant off!!
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
Well, like I mentioned earlier Friday is my Physical and for some reason I'm nervous because I started reading some of the horror stories here on POA. I'm fortunate not to have any ailments but suppose something pops up I didn't know about or my regular doctor didn't catch? This is just scary for me.

Sorry for the rant....rant off!!
Click to expand...

If that is what you call a rant, you will make a lousy pilot. ;)
 
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