Sport Pilot Talk

Actually, I did a demo ride in a C172 on Wednesday, and today I started lessons in a C162 at a different field.

It was absolutely fantastic!

After the demo where I really didn't do much besides level flight and a few turns, today I basically controlled the plane the whole way. On takeoff, my instructor controlled the pedals. I pretty much handled everything from there. I brought the plane into the pattern, all the way to runway threshold where my instructor helped me touch down. During the flight, he had me perform various climbs and decents, adjusting throttle as necessary and using trim. Practiced some standard 30' turns, and then flew a couple of 360' turns left/right turning at 45' without losing altitude. Then he asked if I wanted to try a few stalls. I told him he was the boss and we did a few stalls. He first showed me how, and then I did a couple myself. No problem. We then did some slow flight using full flaps at ~45 knots. Amazing how stable the plane was. Did some turning and then another stall. He then said the plane was mine and to do whatever I want! So we flew around and I practiced more of what I just learned, and finally headed back to the airport.

The words fantastic and glorious raced through my mind the whole time. It was a perfect day, calm and clear almost 80'. I flew out of KHMT, Hemet, CA and we were basically practicing against the west side of a small mountain range with Palm Springs on the other side.

Shoot, I have get going but will post more tomorrow. One question, and I'll search first before posting a new thread. What ground school/test prep do you guys recommend? My instructor said I could use King or Gleim. I've heard some good things about Gleim (which is cheaper $199 for the kit) and haven't heard anything about King. I'm leaning towards Gleim of course, but would like to hear you experiences before I order.

Thanks guys! I am very excited to begin this new adventure. Actually, words can barely describe how I feel. I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about.

Todd

Congrats of your first flights.
Great to hear such enthusiasm.

Keep learning & enjoying!

CONGRATULATION on your first flight. You think that was exciting just wait till your first solo!

I personally used Gleim but both products are fantastic. I will let the instructors chime in with their opinion on the better option as they have seen more results with different people.

You flew in the Cessna Skycatcher? Lucky you!!! Anyways congrats for starting lessons!!!

Congratulations!! I WISH there was a Sky Catcher near my area to train on.. Gleim is Good and there are Many FREE Interactive courses on the AOPA website to fill in your general knowledge and they even keep a transcript for you!! Check them out??

I use the Gleim Sport Pilot Kit with test prep software download ($119). My students seem to like it, though they have to be self-motivated to stay on schedule. Paul Hamilton's material through ASA is more multimedia content oriented, and excellent material, but quite a bit more expensive.

Thanks guys. I think I'm going to go with Gleim. Paul, I was considering the kit for $199. It seemed to me that I would benefit from the Online Ground School, maybe even some of the other stuff. I'll check out some of the courses at AOPA as well. Thanks for that Sarge. It just so happens that I'm lucky for I have the time to ingest all this material. Looking forward to learning too. Flying yesterday was a life changing event. No doubt! Can't wait for my next lesson on Wednesday.

And yes, it was a brand new SkyCatcher! They just brought it back from KS last month. Great little plane. Fun to fly, seemed fairly easy to handle, at least to a true beginner. Threre were sixty-one hours on the clock!

Todd

I'd suggest two FAA publications:
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
and
Airplane Flying Handbook


they all can be downloaded http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies ... s_manuals/

I believe all questions are from these two books; for sport pilot, you only need to read some chapters not all; they're very fun to read.

2d the motion on the FAA Pilot's handbook and Airplane flying handbook. They are amazingly well written - and free! Both go beyond what you will need for Sport Pilot, (just skip the chapters on Night flying, multi-engine, etc). Use the Gleim Sport Pilot Knowledge book as a basic guide to what you need for SP and use the PHAK and AFH to expand your knowledge in those areas. The only problem I have found with the Gleim manuals is they focus mainly on getting you through the test (which they acknowledge upfront).

Our school sells both Gleim and Rod Machado's books. Rod's books seem sort of like "Flying for Dummys" but they do entertain with a lot of useful side bars and additional knowledge. He also has clever ways of explaining some aviation and weather concepts that might otherwise be pretty difficult.

I was where you are a few short months ago with the same level of enthusiasm. It was, and is a life changing experience. Although I have suffered some setbacks (several instructor changes, long stretches of bad weather, work getting in the way, exceeding the expected budget, to name a few) the enthusiasm is still there. As I learn more, it just seems to get better. Not sure where this endeavor will ultimately lead me, but I'm eager to find out.

ming1000 wrote:I'd suggest two FAA publications:
Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge
and
Airplane Flying Handbook


they all can be downloaded http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies ... s_manuals/

I believe all questions are from these two books; for sport pilot, you only need to read some chapters not all; they're very fun to read.

Thanks for that. My instructor required both as well. I checked out the pdf's at the link you provided. Great that those are online but I think these two books in particular are important enough to order and have the hard copy reference.

Eidolon, let's get cracking on this! I'm planning on flying twice a week, maybe three times every two weeks, which equates to ten hours/month. My goal is to take the checkride at ~30 hours, sometime in May. I see you have had some setbacks, but from everything I hear, it seems important to stay on some type of regular schedule or the training will just drag on, and end up costing a lot more than it should. In my eyes, that extra money will go to rentals after the checkride, and possibly ppl training in the (not too distant) future, if I decide to go that route.

Stay motivated and think how wonderful and amazing the feel of controlling an airplane is! Let's get this done!

drseti wrote:I use the Gleim Sport Pilot Kit with test prep software download ($119). My students seem to like it, though they have to be self-motivated to stay on schedule. Paul Hamilton's material through ASA is more multimedia content oriented, and excellent material, but quite a bit more expensive.

Thanks again for sharing this. After looking closely at the differences, I decided to go with this package. Along with the books mentioned above, I should be busy for the next couple of months.

There's suppose to be 30+ Skcatchers in the field, actively training Sport Pilots now.

1 at Peter O' Knight in Tampa, one at Albert Whitted in St. Pete.

I still say the 162 is the fuel that's gonna cause the Sport Pilot rating to catch fire...that and the economy picking up.

The 162 may very well help to get things started but I believe it'll be the Icon that really gets sport pilot training and LSAs to take off. The owner of that company is the only one that really seems to have the ear of the media at large.

I wish there were 162s for rent around here. Cherokee is $130/hr these days.
(update: It is the price I actually pay in Sundance, at KABQ. Across town at AEG, Bode Aero offer a 150 for $125/hr. Both are "wet", with fuel included. There is a $5/hr surchage for renters without own insurance.)

zaitcev wrote:Cherokee is $130/hr these days.

Ouch! Going rate for S-LSA (Skycacher, PiperSport, CTLS, SportStar, Gobosh, etc.) seems to have stabilized at around $100/hr nationwide. Doesn't seem to be a significant difference between models, or based on location -- which suggests that the dominant costs (depreciation, fuel, maintenance, hangar, insurance) are pretty much the same for all players in the industry.