Sport Pilot on a budget

If you've not already signed up with a CFI you could look these guys up for a bit of advice, they specalize in Sport Pilot instruction and have various package deals on offer.
locations in Plant City and Apopka

www.firstlandings.com
 
SkyDog58 said:
If that is what you call a rant, you will make a lousy pilot. ;)
Click to expand...

Not a lousy Pilot, just a bad complainer. I don't do that too much, I'm alive, healthy, new medical in my hand...what is there to complain about!
 
So just an update on my progress, YAAY I got my Medical today, (3rd Class) I didn't know it was that easy. I starved myself the night before thinking they were going to take a blood sugar test or draw blood...silly me didn't do that. At 46 My eyes are still good and I had to pee in a cup, I don't know why. I did meet some interesting people waiting for their first class medical. An F18 fighter pilot which I wanted to speak to him longer than the 10 minutes I had with him and another pilot that was flying out right after the medical.

So at 46 how long does the medical last? Now with a new medical can I get turned down in the future for a medical?
 
Last edited:
NewbiePilotFL said:
Not a lousy Pilot, just a bad complainer. I don't do that too much, I'm alive, healthy, new medical in my hand...what is there to complain about!
Click to expand...

Good attitude to have, complaining gets you nowhere!

NewbiePilotFL said:
So just an update on my progress, YAAY I got my Medical today, (3rd Class) I didn't know it was that easy. I starved myself the night before thinking they were going to take a blood sugar test or draw blood...silly me didn't do that. At 46 My eyes are still good and I had to pee in a cup, I don't know why. I did meet some interesting people waiting for their first class medical. An F18 fighter pilot which I wanted to speak to him longer than the 10 minutes I had with him and another pilot that was flying out right after the medical.

So at 46 how long does the medical last? Now with a new medical can I get turned down in the future for a medical?
Click to expand...

I'm 46 as well, my doctor told me every two years. Look it up just in case. I just joined EAA and AOPA become a member if you haven't already and go out and meet some fellow pilots they will give you the information you need.
 
I can't find a sport pilot book to read in order to pass the written test does anybody know of one?
 
FloridaPilot said:
Good attitude to have, complaining gets you nowhere!



I'm 46 as well, my doctor told me every two years. Look it up just in case. I just joined EAA and AOPA become a member if you haven't already and go out and meet some fellow pilots they will give you the information you need.
Click to expand...
If you guys had read the POA Medical Forum, at your age you would have been advised to have a "consultation" with an AME known to be "reasonable" before committing to a medical. But I'm glad it worked out for y'all.
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
So just an update on my progress, YAAY I got my Medical today, (3rd Class)

So at 46 how long does the medical last? Now with a new medical can I get turned down in the future for a medical?
Click to expand...

For 3rd class medicals you will need to renew your medical every 24 calendar months after age 40. Yes. You can fail to pass a future medical.
 
paflyer said:
If you guys had read the POA Medical Forum, at your age you would have been advised to have a "consultation" with an AME known to be "reasonable" before committing to a medical. But I'm glad it worked out for y'all.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I have been there and I got a consultation and the doc told me to lose some weight and I did. It took me awhile but I got it done....I still feel about the same as I did when I was 40 pounds overweight I still feel great.

zaitcev said:
It's a test for protein. You can get deferred or denied for kidney stones.
Click to expand...

Thank you, I didn't know that. I thought it was a drug test to be honest! I shouldn't have any, I don't drink or drink soda. I mostly drink water.
 
NewbiePilotFL said:
I can't find a sport pilot book to read in order to pass the written test does anybody know of one?
Click to expand...

Get ASA Sport Pilot Prepware TW-SPORT from Amazon or any pilot store. You can also use Private Pilot materials...the difference between Sport and Private is insignificant.
 
Xscaliber said:
If you've not already signed up with a CFI you could look these guys up for a bit of advice, they specalize in Sport Pilot instruction and have various package deals on offer.
locations in Plant City and Apopka

www.firstlandings.com
Click to expand...


I'm training with First Landings. It's a good organization, and they've treated me well, but like many schools they're having trouble retaining CFIs. I'm now on my 4th instructor. The others all left for more lucrative jobs. With airlines paying huge signing bonuses, and taking right-seaters with lower hours, there's a strong pull for CFIs to move on.
 
zaitcev said:
It's a test for protein. You can get deferred or denied for kidney stones.
Click to expand...
Interesting, I thought it was for "sugar."
Do stones generate a certain protein signature?
 
JonH said:
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
Click to expand...
If you're going to use a credit card, make sure to use one with a cash rebate or some other benefit. And pay everything off each month, don't carry a balance!
 
Under sport pilot requirements for medical I see...
"Medical or U.S. driver's license and self-certification" though not sure what self-certification requirements are.

As for a way to make sure your hours could go to a PPL later, this article mentions having to make sure the instructor has the right rating to be able to do that...
http://www.flyingmag.com/training/learn-fly/sport-or-recreational-pilot-vs-private-pilot

As for the time to get the license, just my opinion for myself anyway, I don't think minimum hours is a smart goal.

Seems at least for myself, some things have to be drilled and drilled, and also the finer points. Smooth flying, coordinated, things that a twenty hour pilot I beleive is not in a position to really judge, without experience. Things that an instructor would catch, like bad habits developing, or sloppy (but in the margin) flying.

It really boils down to, I'm pretty sure I have some misconceptions, wrong ideas here and there, and I'd like to spend enough time with my CFI for him to find and point them out before I'm let loose on my own flying.
 
Last edited:
So I ordered the 2017 Book Private Pilot test prep. Going to study it and then take the test only 20 bucks.

tp-p-17_web.jpg
 
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...

Tight/strict budget, is almost always, mutually exclusive with flying, in General aviation.

Cheers
 
ralarcon said:
Tight/strict budget, is almost always, mutually exclusive with flying, in General aviation.

Cheers
Click to expand...

I dont even get the idea of a tight budget, in the sense that even if one (prematurely, when they only have done the minimum required, even if they pass) gets their certificate, they will have continued expenses with renting, or worse budgeting to buy, a plane. Isnt it the same in the US thaT most instruction vs. cost of plane rental is relatively inexpensive?

And then you have the other thing. Im a student. I want, actually need, to know that I am competent and have drilled in as much as posible with however ling it takes me to get my PPL, that I have flown in differrent kinds of weather, situations, made mistakes that "sit" with me after my CFI lets me know I just almost created a bad situation. I need to get as much experience and it simply is of a nature that i dont believe it can be gotten with one or two, three or four, times.

Maybe im just slow, but my attitude is i need to learn, forget some of what I learned (we al l do this) and relearn. I have to also learn what not to do, specially instincts (like the well known dont use the rudder to "help" you turn final" and many more i have never heard of yet) and know why those things can cause accidents, why the instinct is wrong.

Im 60. Have learned many things that took time, and never have had it be that the shortest is best when learning something (guitar, norwegian language, etc.) and it is even more so in an airplane. More critical.
Less room for error. Im american, and also grew up seeing books touting "learn a foreign language in 60 days" the bookshelves of bookstores filled with the promise of fluency/expertise in short time. They lie.

Sorry for the long post, i just reslly dont get it. And again, the costs keep going (the budget) after PPL so why the rush? Not a lecture, but i just dont get it.
For me it would be a conflict of interest (self interest) because it might color my objectivity on my skills or need to keep training on some things.
 
Last edited:
It's not like learning a language. You really can learn to fly in 60 days and be safe. People call it a license to learn for a reason. If someone is proficient enough to pass the checkride at minimum hours, then good on them.

I can understand the cost angle as well. People always say that if you can't afford the training then you can't afford to fly afterward. That's not really true.

It's a lot cheaper to rent 3-4 hours a month for fun than to train, which is probably going to cost at least $1000-1500 a month (unless you are stupidly flying only twice a month or something).

So I get wanting to be as efficient as possible in training. Maybe I'm just different, but I went into all my ratings with an expectation that I'd do what I can to finish quickly and efficiently. And yes, saving money was a major motivator for me. There are things you can do that don't interfere with safety to accomplish that.
 
Bonchie said:
It's not like learning a language. You really can learn to fly in 60 days and be safe. People call it a license to learn for a reason. If someone is proficient enough to pass the checkride at minimum hours, then good on them.

I can understand the cost angle as well. People always say that if you can't afford the training then you can't afford to fly afterward. That's not really true.

It's a lot cheaper to rent 3-4 hours a month for fun than to train, which is probably going to cost at least $1000-1500 a month (unless you are stupidly flying only twice a month or something).

So I get wanting to be as efficient as possible in training. Maybe I'm just different, but I went into all my ratings with an expectation that I'd do what I can to finish quickly and efficiently. And yes, saving money was a major motivator for me. There are things you can do that don't interfere with safety to accomplish that.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I stand corrected. I may hopefully find out this is how it is when i get to that point.
It is possible with age, i have more unecessary caution, and a tendency to make more out of it, as well as a bit slower learner. I still do think that a totally new thing like learning to pilot a plane takes a good deal of understanding at a deep level and somewhat of a rewiring of instinct.

But I'm definitely going to feel I have a good understanding before I get mine. I appreciate the correction.
 
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...
I thought sport pilot was already flying on a budget?
 
LongRoadBob said:
Thanks, I stand corrected. I may hopefully find out this is how it is when i get to that point.

It is possible with age, i have more unecessary caution, and a tendency to make more out of it, as well as a bit slower learner. I still do think that a totally new thing like learning to pilot a plane takes a good deal of understanding at a deep level and somewhat of a rewiring of instinct.

But I'm definitely going to feel I have a good understanding before I get mine. I appreciate the correction.
Click to expand...

It's not really correcting you. Everyone is different and the older you are, the harder it is to learn to fly quickly (typically).

But, it is also (typically) true that if you fly a lot in your training and have a plan going in, you'll finish sooner, retain information better, and save money in the process. That was true for me.

So if someone wants to know the best way to save money in flight training? Easy. Fly 3-4 times a week, be pro-active in learning (don't just count on your CFI to drag you along), and make sure your lessons are structured in a way to make maximum use of your time/money.
 
Bonchie said:
...(unless you are stupidly flying only twice a month or something).
Click to expand...

Hey, I resemble that remark! :)

It worked out for me, I didn't have excessive total hours and finished while training twice a month, average of 3 hours/month.

Of course I would rather have had the time to go twice a week or more, some of us just don't have that much free time. Its not just money you have to budget. And like Long Road was saying, dual only costs about 30% more than a straight rental, and if you're enjoying it, it wouldn't be stupid to keep going up.
 
exncsurfer said:
Hey, I resemble that remark! :)

It worked out for me, I didn't have excessive total hours and finished while training twice a month, average of 3 hours/month.

Of course I would rather have had the time to go twice a week or more, some of us just don't have that much free time. Its not just money you have to budget. And like Long Road was saying, dual only costs about 30% more than a straight rental, and if you're enjoying it, it wouldn't be stupid to keep going up.
Click to expand...

You, Sir were an unusually gifted student.

Cheers
 
Okay this is just MHO... But, if the budget is tight but the goal is the PPL, wouldn't it make better since to just go for the PPL and save the cost of two checkrides, writtens and such??? :dunno:
 
Yes. It would be smarter to just get the PPL.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top