Aero-Sports Connection Brings Sport Pilot Ratings Closer To Pilots, Instructors

Londoners, there's no need to look for the nearest tube station; this Blitz is being launched by the good guys, to wit, Aero-Sports Connection. What Blitz? Well, if you're an ultralight pilot or instructor (AFI/BFI), you've probably been scratching your head about what the many changes in Sport Pilot/Light Sport Aircraft mean to you. One of the quickest outfits to get it all figured out (along with --ahem -- Aero-News, of course) was Aero-Sports Connection, and it's announced a series of "Blitz" training events that will get an otherwise qualified ultralight pilot and his aircraft Sport Pilot (or Sport Pilot Instructor) and Experimental Light Sport Aircraft legal as quickly as possible.

The acronym ASC's Jim Stephenson has coined to describe Blitz events is FAST: Focused Accelerated Sport Training.

These events are timed for the week before major aviation events, and the pilot that does things the ASC way will in some cases be able to enjoy the show with his Sport Pilot ticket and his ELSA registration and N-number in his pocket. The original plan was to make this possible for everybody, but the DAR process in particular, and just FAA processes in general, is making this take a lot longer than expected. ASC is having persistent problems finding enough teachers, inspectors and examiners for their ambitious Blitz schedule (see: ASC Pencils In Blitz Schedule), so if you qualify and want to help out, follow the FMI link to ASC.

The original plan for one colossal Blitz session has been broken down into three bite-size classes, because not all the ducks are quite lined up right. It's not a matter of official foot-dragging: the FAA appears to be pedaling as fast as it can go, but these things just take time. The three classes aim to prepare erstwhile Ultralight pilots and planes for the new Sport Pilot world thus:

1. A Written Test Ground School. This prepares candidates for either the Sport Pilot or the SP Instructor knowledge test (which we still call "writtens" after years of doing them by computer... how come?). ASC will be going on the road with this school.
2. An Aircraft Inspection class that teaches the ultralight vehicle or training-exemption aircraft owner what he or she needs to know to get the machine ready for licensing as an Experimental Light Sport Aircraft. For much of the Ultralight world, the minutia of N-registration and placarding are terra incognita. With the information in this class, you'll be ready for the DAR when the DAR is ready for you.
3. A Check Ride preparation class. At this time it isn't going to include actual flying, but it's a 2-day classroom session meant to prepare the pilot for conducting test prep with a CFI or Sport Pilot Instructor, and taking the oral and practical exams to Sport Pilot Practical Test Standards.

This modular approach not only lets ASC manage the gradual availability of actual Sport Pilot Examiners and ELSA DARs, but allows those to take only those parts of the program that they need.

The conundrum that led to the "Blitz" is explained as a "chicken and egg problem" by ASC's Jim Stephenson: "When you register your plane with the FAA and receive an N number and it is certificated as an Experimental Light Sport Aircraft (ELSA) you can not fly it until you have an FAA pilot certificate.  You can not take your check ride for a sport pilot certificate in your own plane until it has an N numbered and an airworthiness certificate."

To qualify, the pilot (or instructor) and plane need to be registered with a sanctioning body: ASC, EAA or USUA. The pilot needs to do his paperwork in advance; when he applies to ASC to participate in a Blitz event, they send a complete packet of information, forms and instructions. On arriving at the Blitz site, he or she will meet all the pros necessary to complete the transition: instructors, examiners (pilot and airframe), inspectors, teachers. The candidate gets the SP or SPI airman certificate, ELSA airworthiness certificate, and aircraft registration all in parallel.

It will also be, of course, an unprecedented opportunity to network with your fellow pilots in a high-performance, highly-supportive, low-distraction environment.

The first Blitz is underway this week at ultralight-friendly South Lakeland, Florida, April 5-11, 2005. South Lakeland is ideal; it's well-known to us as one of the places that Sun-n-Fun exhibitors prefer for demo flights, safely away from the aerial pandemonium gang rumble of Lakeland Linder Regional during the big show.

ASC's long term plans include Blitz events over the next three years, at rotating locations around the country. The master plan is to have them at new regional "ASC Aviation Support Centers" and Sport-Pilot friendly FBOs. Stephenson sees the "Support Centers" as one-stop shops for basic and advanced training and certification of ELSA aircraft and Sport Pilots.

FMI: www.aerosports.org