6/10/04

 

Letter of Interest for Possible Consideration as a Sport Pilot Examiner

 

We are sending this letter to all ASC BFI’s and AFI’s to allow you, the instructors who may be interested in becoming FAA designees as Sport Pilot Examiners (SPE), to express your interest and provide your experience history. SPE’s will become designees of the FAA and not of the ASC or any other organization.

 

This letter is provided in three parts, a definition of the responsibility and need for examiners, an overview of the expected investment necessary to become and maintain a SPE designation, and a standardized format for clearly providing details of your experience and history.

 

Responsibility and Need

 

The FAA designates highly qualified individuals to act on their behave to conduct pilot and instructor examinations. This is a vast departure from the BFI system and is wholly an FAA program. The Sport Pilot Examiner position is extremely important. They will be responsible for upholding the standards of pilot and instructor quality for the FAA. It is essential that the candidates be honest, conscientious, and objective when examining new Sport Pilots.  The system can afford nothing less. The FAA has asked the exemption organizations to collect applications from potential designees and organize them in order of best qualified.  The FAA will make the final selection, itself.  The system is designed to select the best possible candidates and support and track their progress.  Examiners will be needed in all types of craft and in all areas of the country.  This need cannot override the critical requirement for integrity.

 

The Sport Pilot Examiner position is not for everyone.  It demands a very high level of responsibility and skill, making it less than desirable for some people. The SPE position is filled by people selected by the FAA from a pool of qualified individuals based on both qualification and area need.  As such, simply being qualified does not assure selection.  The reputation and integrity of the candidate examiner are also a consideration.  As a result, three letters of reference are required for a candidate to be selected for the pool.  One of these letters will come from a national organization; the other two will come from respected individuals in the industry.  Documentation of the integrity and respect held for the candidate needs to be emphasized in these letters. 

 

As an FAA designee, the SPE will be reporting to the National FAA SPE Director for the region. On-going monitoring by the National FAA SPE Director will include regular reviews of actual check flight examinations as well as reviews of paperwork and SPE activity. The SPE will not be supervised by a local Flight Standards District Office (FSDO) and will not be limited to any geographical area.

 

Expected Investment

 

Becoming a SPE will require a significant investment in both time and money.  It is anticipated that the standard initial class for becoming an examiner will take at least 5 days.  In addition, there will be an examination check ride.  The SPE will be required to retake the training class every two years to maintain the SPE rating.   While every effort will be made to make these classes accessible, ease of access cannot be assured.  In some cases, it may be necessary for the candidate to go to Oklahoma City for these classes, and depending on availability, even bring their own aircraft.  These will not be inexpensive or easy conditions. 

 

The SPE designation is a very important and respected position.  It is not a right or a qualification; it is a service position to support our community.  In exchange for the investments, the FAA selected SPE will become a designee of the FAA, allowed to perform check flights for Sport Pilot candidates.  The training for this position will include training on the FAA IACRA system for direct data entry on the FAA pilot data system.  This means that once a candidate completes all the requirements and the SPE enters all the required data and approvals, the candidate will receive his Sport Pilot certificate printed immediately on-site at the test location.  The normally accepted time to appropriately complete a Sport Pilot examination is approximately 2 - 4 hours and the SPE is allowed to charge the candidate for his services.  That fee is normally on the order of $250 per examination.  Every new and transitioning pilot and instructor will be required to pass an exam with a SPE.

 

Before you submit your “Letter of Interest” you should carefully consider the commitment and investment required to support the community in this way.   If you can not spend the time, or energy, to appropriately perform enough examinations to make this a worthwhile enterprise, or if your personal integrity will in any way lessen the honor and respect associated with the status of examiner, then do not submit this letter of interest.   It is a waste of time for us all. The FAA expects that its examiners will be available to the public on an ongoing basis.

 

If you feel that you can contribute as a valued examiner and maintain the respect and honor of the position, then please proceed to fill out the attached “Letter of Interest” form.  This is your chance to be a part of a great movement in light aviation, perhaps “the next golden age of aviation”.  Submit the enclosed form, at least two letters of recommendation from respected individuals in the industry and handling fees of $25.  Your form will be fairly evaluated and recommended names will be forwarded to FAA for inclusion in the pool for FAA selection of SPE candidates. 

 

The initial evaluation will be based on the data you provide in the attached form and the two letters of recommendation.  You will see that experience “not previously accepted” may be considered.  Not all experience is of the same value.  There are limits to the value of each type of experience, as well.

 

If you qualify to be included in the pool of candidates, you will have to fill out a more traditional application.   In filling out the application, it will be important to show all of the experience shown on this initial letter of interest.  It is recommended that you keep a copy of this form for reference.

 

The schedule for this process has been very hard to predict.  It is hoped that initial SPE candidates can be identified before the rule is final and the first four classes of examiners can be completed prior to the initial activation of the rule.  Therefore, you should endeavor to submit your letter of interest very quickly to support this aggressive schedule.

 

Thank you for helping,

 

Jim Stephenson,

President/CEO, Aero Sports Connection

Member of the Sport Pilot Transition Team