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SportAir USA

Recreational flying is the new craze of aspiring pilots and those pilots who are looking for a break from flying heavy aircraft. The planes used for fun flying are called Light Sport Aircrafts or LSAs. There are many people out there who want to fly just for the sheer thrill of the flying experience but cannot meet the rigorous physical training requirements for flying regular aircraft or do not want to take up flying as a profession. For those people, LSA has come as a boon. However to fly an LSA, these people have to first obtain Sport Pilot (SP) license. The SP certification takes about 20 hours and doesn’t cost more than $3500.

How to Pass Your Light Sport Pilot Exam

So you are above 18 years of age and can speak, read, write and understand English and want to fly…here are a few tips on how to pass those exams that allow you to become a Sport Pilot. Let’s run through the stages you have to clear before you get the Sport’s Pilot License.

Stage A: Pre Solo

You will receive 5 hours of ground instruction and about 15 – 20 hours flight instruction. You will learn the basic maneuvers like take off, airspeed changes, straight and level flight, descents, landing, turns and Air Traffic Control procedures. As this is the basic learning stage, pay heed to the instructions, revise the maneuvers regularly and be thorough with the Air Traffic Control Procedures. It would be best to receive instructions from a trained flying instructor.

Advantages of Building Your Own Kit Plane

Lancair Do you ever dream of owning your own plane? There are many advantages of building your own plane.

The main advantage is the cost. The cost of a homebuilt plane can vary from $5,000 upwards to $200,000 depending on the kind of engine, performance characteristics and instruments. For instance, the Mooney Bravo which is basically a four-seater that can fly at 270 mph with a 1000 mile range, costs around $399,000 while the Lancair IV experimental plane which is also a four-seater, costs anything between $174,000 to $200,000, almost half the cost of the Mooney Bravo. The break-up of costs for the Lancair IV is like this; the standard kit costs around $52,000 while the fast-build kit costs $77,000, the engine costs $32,000, the propeller costs $10,000, avionics cost $60,000 while the interiors can cost $20,000. The Lancair can go up to 375 mph with a 1459 mile range that is better than the Mooney Bravo. The difference in cost is on account of the cost of labor, the cost of tools that you use and the costs of the certification that are saved when you build your own kit plane.