Sport Pilot Rules Require Less Training For Certification, But That Does Not Mean They Are Less Safe?

While sport pilots may be certificated with less hours of training, the number of hours of training is not as important as how the training is applied to the mission.

As the sport pilot certification rules were being published for public comment, a prominent aviation writer opined that the countryside would be scattered with bodies because of the lower training standards for sport pilots. If all you do is compare the number of hours required for pilot certification, I guess I can see the concern for safety, but training hours alone don’t reflect the true measure for training.

Pilot training is aimed at performing a mission, and the mission of the sport pilot rules is to fly in a simple, limited performance aircraft, with pilot limitations that match recreational flying needs. Look at it this way; U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy pilots are some of the best pilots in the world. However, Navy pilots are trained to land on ships and Air Force pilot are not. To conclude that Navy pilots have more training and are, therefore, better than Air Force pilots is absurd. These pilots are simply trained for different missions.

The mission of the sport pilot rule is to keep it simple, and the rule accounts for this. If you look at the student pilot training rules and the practical test guides for obtaining a pilot certificate, sport pilot and private pilot are almost identical. When it comes to demonstrating “stick-and-rudder” skills, the final checkride for private and sport pilot are the same.

There is no night training for sport pilots because they are not allowed to fly at night. Sport pilots are not required to have instrument training and their higher minimum visibility requirements account for this. Sport pilots can choose not to receive training in tower controlled airspace and are restricted form such airspace unless they receive appropriate training. Sport pilots are limited to lower performance aircraft; private pilots are not. Of course, any sport pilot may obtain any additional training he or she wants to receive even if it’s just to expand knowledge and experience.

Safety is a function of good decision making at any pilot certification level; it does not automatically occur because of logged flight hours. Any pilot at any certification level that is careless, inattentive, or not trained for the task is an unsafe pilot. It has nothing to do with the pilot certificate.

(Image from file)

FMI: www.faa.gov