Preflight

What's that airplane on this month's cover? It's not your father's training airplane, to borrow a line from an Oldsmobile commercial.

The Sky Arrow 600 Sport is one of the light sport aircraft available for training and rental at Chesapeake Sport Pilot. Associate Editor Jill Tallman recently visited the school on Maryland's Eastern Shore (see "The Sporting Life,"). Her report emphasizes the variety of students training in the school's light sport aircraft--and the fun that they're having.

The Sky Arrow is similar to many other training airplanes in that it sports a high wing--but there, the similarity pretty much ends. The aft fuselage is low and skinny, making the tail look taller than it is, and the engine is mounted above the wing in a pusher configuration. It's the cockpit design that makes this airplane really fun, however--the tandem configuration and wraparound visibility from that expansive cockpit make this the closest many of us will ever get to flying a jet fighter. And a control stick, compared to the yoke most of us are accustomed to, adds to the experience; if you've never flown an airplane with a joystick, you'll be surprised by how intuitive it is.

Although there are other light sport airplanes that look more like traditional training aircraft, few offer the Italian-made Sky Arrow's "armchair in the sky" view. That view is the airplane's strongest selling point, Senior Editor Alton Marsh wrote in an April 2007 report for AOPA Pilot. "The pilot's arms rest on two ledges, and the controls fall exactly under his hands," he noted. "You need only wrist and hand movement to fly the aircraft."

The regulations creating the Light Sport Aircraft category limit such airplanes to a maximum takeoff weight of 1,320 pounds, a maximum of two seats, and a cruising airspeed no faster than 120 knots. The Light Sport aircraft category was created by the FAA in 2004 to accompany the then-new sport pilot certificate.

Earning a sport pilot certificate doesn't require as much training as a private pilot or recreational pilot certificate--a minimum of 20 hours of flight time, half of the minimum experience requirement for private pilots. But it doesn't convey as many privileges, either. Sport pilots are limited to daytime flying under visual flight rules; they cannot fly above 10,000 feet; and they can't fly at any airport with an air traffic control tower or in Class B, C, or D airspace unless they've received appropriate ground and flight training from an authorized instructor (and a logbook endorsement that attests to that training). Sport pilots with valid driver's licenses can self-certify their medical condition, as long as their most recent FAA medical certificate application didn't result in a denial--a current medical is not required. More information on sport pilot and light sport aircraft can be found on AOPA Online.

Although the sport pilot certificate and light sport aircraft are just coming up on the five-year mark, they're still maturing as a segment of the aviation industry. Some very cool new light sport airplanes have come to market--with others in development--and more schools are embracing the concept of a lower-cost, entry-level pilot certificate. In spite of this growth, however, sport pilot training is not yet available everywhere. Want to know if it is available near you? The most current directory I know of can be found on light sport advocate Dan Johnson's Web site--find the link to the FIRM list. Recently, his list included about 120 schools. Already have a pilot certificate? Find a sport pilot flight school and give one of these airplanes a try.

...

One of the first traditional flight schools to add light sport aircraft to its flight line and expand into sport pilot training was Aero-Tech, located in my adopted hometown of Lexington, Kentucky. It's been my privilege to know Arlynn McMahon, the flight instructor who manages Aero-Tech's training operation, for years. She has written numerous articles for AOPA Flight Training, about light sport aircraft and other flight-training topics--most recently a three-part series in our "Instructor Report" section on how her traditional flight school expanded its offerings by adding a sport pilot curriculum (see March, April, and May 2008 AOPA Flight Training).

As an instructor McMahon has made excellent use of scenarios in all her programs, from sport pilot to turbine transitions. Drawing from those experiences, she recently wrote a book, Train Like You Fly: An Instructor's Guide to Scenario-Based Training (see "Pilot Products," December 2008 AOPA Flight Training). As a flight school manager, she provides indoctrination and standardization training to new employees through a paid "boot camp" that other schools would be well served to adopt.

I was pleased to learn that McMahon was named national flight instructor of the year (see "Training Notes and News: FAA Names 2009 CFI of the Year"). Offering my congratulations, I expected a properly Southern "Aw, shucks, it isn't any big deal." What she said was an understated "Thank you. I'm so happy."

It is a big deal, Arlynn. Congratulations!