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Learning To Fly: All About Priorities

There’s a practical solution to every barrier in aviation

If you're frugal and creative, you can save money by buying used gear and instructional materials, training often (four times a week or more), and coming prepared to each lesson, having pre-studied the day's instruction module.

Doing so will get you closer to the FAA instruction time minimums. As I write this, I'm seeing advertisements for FBOs even offering sport-pilot certificate packages in the $3,000 range.

There are, obviously, differences in the two ratings. A private certificate will give you the foundation for more advanced ratings and airplanes.

The private certificate allows you to carry more than one passenger, fly at night, in complex airspace and in heavier aircraft.

The most compelling reason to earn the sport certificate instead of the private is if you just want to fly for the love of flying and nothing else.

Many people have no desire to get advanced ratings, and studies show that most of the general aviation population consists of pilots flying solo or with a single passenger. For those reasons, the sport-pilot certificate is a great way to join the ranks of aviators at a fraction of the cost.

	PRIVATE PILOT	SPORT PILOT
Minimum training time	40 hours	20 hours
Language requirement	Be able to speak, read, write and understand English	Be able to speak, read, write English
Fly at night	Yes	No
Maximum passengers (in addition to pilot)	No limit (limited by aircraft capacity)	1
Requires FAA medical certificate?	Yes—third class	No—a U.S. driver's license is adequate
Maximum aircraft weight	12,500 pounds	1,320 pounds and a maximum of two seats
Maximum speed	No limit	138 mph
Complex airspace limitations	Can fly in Class B, C, D airspace	Can't fly in Class B, C, or D without a written endorsement and additional training
Altitude restriction	None (automatically excluded from Class A airspace)	10,000 feet (or 2,500 feet AGL in mountainous terrain higher than 10,000 feet)
Minimum age to earn certificate	17	17
Minimum age to solo	16	16
Written test required	Yes	Yes
Flight (practical) test required	Yes	Yes
Eligible for advanced ratings	Yes (such as instrument)	No
Type of aircraft	Any	Aircraft must meet LSA requirements
Can fly outside of the continental U.S.	Yes	No, except for the Bahamas

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