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ASC, PO Box 589, Marshall, MI  49068    phone 269-781-4021   fax 269-781-7400  email kimojim@aol.com

T Square – Training Time

Sport Pilot Preparation

By Grant Smith

The significant event of last summer’s fly in season from the FAA ‘s prospective was that the Sport Pilot, Light Sport Aircraft proposal is out of the FAA’s department and is progressing along it’s inevitable march to reality. For those of us in the light end of aviation this is a significant event that signals many changes on the horizon.

In many ways the environment in the ultralight and light aircraft world is similar to the real world at the dawn of a new day. We know that the old system is ending and a new system is taking its place. It is however, to early to see clearly what the new system will be. Some look forward to sunshine and others fear rain. Then there are those who look forward to the rain as it is necessary for survival. In short, you can please some of the people all of the time but you can’t please all of the people some of the time. Regardless of the outcome, whether it is sunshine or rain, we can do little to effect the weather. We can, however, watch the sky and the forecast, and attempt to wisely plan our day. We realize that it will be necessary to have alternate plans as we can see from the pattern of change that the forecast is uncertain and that yesterday’s weather gives little clues as to what we will experience today.

Sunshine or rain, that is the question. The weatherman’s answer is "partly sunny with a chance of showers". The weatherman has done his job but he hasn’t answered my question. It doesn’t matter though as even if he said "Sunny till noon then clouds increasing and rain by 3:00 PM with clearing after 6:00 PM" we would still have to plan for both sun and rain. The only difference is that we would know what to expect and when.

Setting the analogies aside, this is what we know about "Sport Pilot". If you fly a two seat aircraft, it will not be under FAR 103 as it has been in the past. If you fly a single seat, and it meets the FAR 103 requirements as interpreted by AC 103-7, then you may still operate under FAR 103. Furthermore, no two-place flight training for FAR 103 operations will be allowed to operate under FAR 103. All dual instruction will be done under FAR 61 and 91 operating rules. In short, the one page FAR 103 that has served us well for so many years is no longer sufficient unless you are willing to confine all flying and flight training to single seat aircraft. Perhaps we should know more about these two sections of the FARs dealing with Certification of Pilots, Flight Instructors, and Ground Instructors (FAR 61); and General Operating and Flight Rules (FAR 91). What has been "nice to know" in the past will be "required to know and obey" in the future.

Part 61 encompasses 80 pages in the ASA reprint. Part 91 is slightly longer. Not all of these pages apply to sport pilot operations but one must carefully sort out what applies and what does not apply to the planned operations. Obviously, we can not consider all the fine points in this brief presentation. However, It would be nice to touch on some of the bigger issues.

61.1 - This section defines some of the terms used in Part 61.

61.14 through 61.16 - Drug and alcohol testing and reporting is consented to.

61.33 through 61.49 - Testing is now a Federal Government defined, sanctioned and authorized activity. Testing is accomplished through privately owned organizations at your expense.

61.51 Log Books - Flight time must be logged, retained and presented in a defined manner that forms a legal record for past and future actions.

61.53 - The pilot must self certify that he is medically fit to fly.

61.56 A regularly recurring flight review must be accomplished.

61.57 The pilot must meet and have logged recent flight experience requirements.

61.59 No false or fraudulent statement or record may be used.

61.60 A current permanent mailing and residence address must be on record. There will be no homeless pilots.

61.61 through 61.199 - You must demonstrate your proficiency as required and may only exercise the privileges defined for your certificate.

This completes the FAR Part 61 review. Tune in another time for some highlights on FAR Part 91. Volunteers are being accepted for the job.

One other thing about the weather, you can watch for it but you can’t change it. It changes on it’s own schedule. If you listen closely, you can already hear the winds of change. Starting November 1, 2003 new BFI testing standards were initiated. Included below (or on page xx) is a listing of the required testing areas and a partial list of references for study. The obvious objective is to require the instructors and future sport pilots to be knowledgeable about FAR 61, 91 and other real airplane stuff.

There is an obscene amount of reading material available. One simply can not read and absorb it all in one reading. You will need to pick and choose the area of study that you wish to concentrate on and limit yourself to that material. Also note that the BFI required material does not cover all material you need to know. One such notable area is Military Training Routes, AIM Chapter 3 Section 5 Paragraph 2.

If you will start to read up this winter, you will have more time to fly next summer. As they say at the Flight Service Station (FSS phone 1 800 WX BRIEF), "You all fly careful out there".

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Last updated: July 05, 2008.