l am going to get my private pilots license but l was wondering if l should get a sports license before hand so that l will be able to fly with a friend while l go for the private pilot license?

Sounds like a good plan.

l had a chance to get my sports license but decide to just go for my private pilot (and wait). Then l had to move and l never got my license AT ALL.


Good Luck.

You can do this if you train in a Light Sport Airplane. Not alot of schools have them yet. Not a bad idea though.

It is not that much more effort to just get the private, & here r some reasons u should skip Sport Pilot if u can.

First, to get the SP ticket u need a Light Sport Airplane. These r hard to find. And if u do find a school that has them, u may not find them to be available when u want to rent.

Second, the private ticket should take u only 20 hours past the SP ticket to get. Here is why: While it always takes longer than the minimum number of hours to get ur license ( l think the average for PP is around 80 hours even though only 40 r required), the things that were removed from PP to make SP equal exactly 20 hours. For example, the night & instrument requirements were removed. l think it is 3 hours of night flight. You're not going to fly 5 or 6 hours at night to ''perfect'' ur night flying. You're going to put in 3.0 or 3.1 hours to satisfy the requirement & you're done. Same with instrument work. You're going to do the 3 hours or whatever it is & that is it.

On the other hand, u might spend hours & hours working on landings, stalls, steep turns, etc. You will have to do all that for the SP license, too, so there is no time saved there.

Third, u do not get any credit for SP on ur PP check ride. So you're going to have to do two complete check rides. No big deal if u know ur stuff, but it means scheduling two appointments, paying for it twice, & generally spending an entire day (or at least half a day) to do the oral & practical portions of the test, twice.

Fourth, the trade-off just is not that good. You're going to go to all that effort just so u can fly around with a friend a couple times before u get ur PP ticket. l just do not think it is worth it. By the time u get to that point in ur training u will already be soloing so u will be able to at least fly on ur own without ur PP ticket, which is almost as much fun as flying with a friend. And why not take the time you're flying with a friend & instead put that into getting ur PP so u can be done with it?

l am a PP/IFR/single/multi pilot & own half an LSA. My partner is a SP, so l have a little experience in this area. Unless ur medical situation wo not support the PP ticket, I'd say skip Sport Pilot.

If you are in northern California, you can get your sports license at http://freedomfield.com if you are interested. The sports pilot license is a bit cheaper and quicker to get l think.