Flying For Fun! Light Sport Aircraft

Flying For Fun! Light Sport AircraftMost people don't go into flying as a hobbybecause of several misconceptions that stem fromlack of knowledge. However, Light Sport Flyersare a breed of aircraft intended for personalrecreational use by hobbyists who want to get intoflying without the usual headaches and effortusually involved with getting a regular pilot'slicense and operating a \"real\" aircraft. Theperks of sport flyer craft are as follows:Relatively Cheap - while regular aircraft canoften come with an attached price tag that rivals

getting a new house, sport flyers can be obtainedfor as little as the cost of a new car. Thisdoesn't mean that sport flyers are less sturdythan regular aircraft. Rather, the cut in costtakes into account the fact that sport flyers areusually designed to seat fewer people, and arebuilt for cruising at lower altitudes and forshorter durations of time.License is Easier - due to the design restrictionson Sport Flyers, they will rarely if ever be usedin cross country, international, or high altitudeflights. Due to this, the license requirementsfor operating a Sport Flyer stop at the studentlevel. More often than not, \"regular\" aircraftrequires a Personal or even Professional Pilot'slicense.Training and Operations are Simplified - takinginto account the fact that sport flyers are madefor civilian recreational purposes, a lot of thecontrols are simplified for ease of use. This

admittedly restricts certain motions thathigher-end aircraft are capable of, but thenagain the odds of a civilian pilot having a reason(or the guts!) to pull off a maneuver like asplit-S is pretty low.Repair and Maintenance are simpler - followingthe \"dummification\" theory, Light Sport Aircraftdon't require extensive ground crews to operateand maintain. The engines and other internalmechanisms are simpler to the point where a pilotwho knows how to take care of his car can applythe same knowledge (slightly modified, of course)to his Sport Plane. This has been taken a stepfurther by some Sport Plane manufacturers whoactually offer \"Do It Yourself\" kits that can beconstructed at home by ambitious tinkerers.More Fuel Efficient - lastly, the overall designof Sport Flyers are for low altitude, low speedand short duration flights. Because of this, thefuel consumption ratio of sport flyers is lower