Sport Pilot Talk

I agree with Dave. I've owned two SportStars. Useful load (depending on equipment) typically runs 525 to 575 pounds. With full fuel (188#) that leaves you with between 370 and 420# of payload. That's only a 1 place aircraft for the heavier pilots, unless you carry partial fuel. With, say, 10 gal in ...

The aviation community is small (in the US, about 0.1% of the population). Sooner or later, we all meet each other (sometimes repeatedly).

Nice looking airplane, Eddie. I should buy one.
Oh, wait...

rob wrote: ↑Thu Aug 18, 2022 6:56 pm I believe some CFIs are are using the more liberal interpretation of 61.325. I know one other PPC Sport pilot who obtained the endorsement in an airplane.

I'm not about to tell other CFIs what to do, Rob. But if they ask, I'm more than happy to tell them what I wouldn't do.

What’s interesting is that the regulation doesn’t say “the pilot must make these landings”. I don't know about you, Bob, but I certainly wouldn't feel comfortable endorsing any pilot who hadn't demonstrated to me competency in flying the aircraft. I guess that means my standards are more rigorous t...

OK, Tom, I concede that the pilot might not have to be rated in the aircraft. But, he or she certainly has to be qualified to fly it, in order to receive the airspace instruction and endorsement. FWIW, I've personally done a number of endorsements - but never in an aircraft the pilot wasn't qualifie...

I don't know the specific reg, Tom (maybe someone else here does). But, by implitation, the requirement (for example) that the pilot do three takeoffs and full stop landings at a towered airport, with flights in the traffic pattern, certainly suggests that the applicant must do the flying (hence, ne...

You can be endorsed for controlled airspace only in an aircraft for which you hold piloting privileges. That is because you have to demonstrate far more for the endorsement than merely talking on the radio. My Airspace Ace course curriculum, for example, is posted to: http://avsport.org/about/airspa...

I've noticed that in the 11 year old thread on this issue at rotax-owner.com, posters are referring to the engine s/n. The only way to know for sure if a given engine will have this problem is to check the crankcase s/n, which is different. Old-style crankcases have serial numbers in the format xxxx...

Early 912 crankcases (prior to s/n 06.0020) are prone to fretting regardless of flight hours. Fretting can cause oil leakage along the seam between the crankcase halves. When this happens, it is natural to want to increase the torque on the thru-bolts, but this result in reduced main bearing clearan...

A carb sync is a required part of a Rotax annual or 100 hour condition inspection. Since I flat-rate inspections, it doesn't cost my maintenance customers extra labor, unless there are carb or linkage repairs necessary. But if you come in for just a carb synch, I estimate an hour of labor (because I...

3Dreaming wrote: ↑Sat Jun 25, 2022 5:50 pm We had a student recently who it to less than a week to get theirs.

I had two recent students receive theirs in just over a week.

That's a good question, Jim, for which I don't have a clue. That's one for a DAR, and I only happen to be a CFI and DPE. But, I know somebody I can ask Monday, if nobody else chimes in before then.

$4-6k annual premium for a $30k airplane! In fact, all fully comprehensive insurance is prohibitively expensive. I’ll have to go liability only. The hull value has absolutely no bearing on the premium charged for liability insurance. A $30k airplane can inflict just as much damage on the property o...

Thanks, Jim. AOPA has recently reported numerous cases in which purchasers of aircraft followed that procedure, but FAA did not issue a registration card before that 90 day period had run out.