When The Sport Pilot License Became Available, The Recreational Pilot Certificate Became The Forgotten Pilot License

When it comes to recreational and sport flying we seem to be stuck in only thinking about the sport pilot and private pilot certificates. The sport pilot certificate has numerous limitations, of which the largest one is the limitation on the definition of a light sport aircraft. However, there’s another pilot license that could be the right answer; this is the recreational pilot certificate.

The first consideration for becoming a pilot is whether or not you intend to obtain a 3rd class medical certificate. If that’s a problem, sport pilot is the only way to go. However, if the Pilot's Bill of Rights 2 is approved, and we have high hopes it will be, a person training to become a recreational pilot will only have to take the third class medical exam one time.

Here’s the basic scoop on the recreational pilot certificate:

It limits the pilot to flying an airplane with no more than 4 seats and 180 horsepower. The maximum altitude is limited to 10,000 feet MSL, with some exceptions, and even though it could be a 4 seat airplane, only one passenger may be carried. The total minimum training time for a recreational pilot certificate is specified to be 30 hours. Note that this is 10 hours more than required for a sport pilot certificate and 10 hours less than required for a private pilot certificate.

When checking into the recreational pilot certificate you may hear that it prevents you from flying in radio controlled airspace or on long cross-country flights. This is not true. Much like the sport pilot certificate, all it takes is a little more training and logbook endorsements to remove these restrictions. Training for this certificate also does not require instrument training or night flying which means the aircraft being used in training does not have to be equipped to perform these functions.

The recreational pilot certificate can come in handy if you want to learn how to fly in an airplane that does not qualify as sport pilot eligible, but also lacks the basic equipment for instrument training and night flying. This airplane could be used as a trainer and for taking the recreational pilot checkride. This could open up your choice of aircraft at a lower cost for training than a private certificate, yet allows you to fly heavier and faster aircraft than are allowed for a sport pilot. The aircraft available to a recreational pilot may also cost a lot less than a sport pilot eligible airplane.

If becoming a recreational pilot looks like a possible option, check with a flight instructor or take a look at FAR part 61 subpart D for the details. The recreational pilot license seems to be the forgotten certificate but there are a number of cases where it could be useful to get you in the sky at a lower cost.

(Image: The ubiquitous Cessna 150 could be the perfect airplane for the holder of a recreational pilot certificate)

FMI: www.faa.org