Stanton Airfield Sport Pilot Instruction

SPORT PILOT TRAINING

"Stanton is the area's premier Sport Pilot Training facility."

Stanton Airfield is the leading flight school in the area for Sport Pilot training. With four qualified Sport Pilot Instructors and a safe Flight Design CTLS Light Sport Aircraft or Sport Cub to fly, students will be well on their way to receiving their Sport Pilot rating. Instruction is available every day of the week. We trained the first Sport Pilot in Minnesota, Chris Melton of Eagan, from first flight to a full license in less than 3 months! Sport Pilots can also receive instruction and fly in Stanton's PA-11 Cub Special.

More on the Sport Pilot Program

Earlier in 2004 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approved a new certificate option for future pilots called the Sport Pilot Certificate. This new license is aimed at people who wish to fly aircraft for recreational purposes only. The requirements to achieve this flying license have been reduced over that which is needed for a Private Pilot license. For instance, the Sport Pilot rating is a “Daytime only” rating, and these pilots are restricted to flying only Light Sport Aircraft. Light Sport Aircraft, generally speaking, are aircraft that weight less than 1320 pounds and fly no faster than 138 mph. There are many older and new factory-built light sport aircraft available that meet these criteria, including many models from Aeronca, Piper, Luscombe, and Taylorcraft. This new license type is an attempt to renew interest in aviation, a pastime that has been on the decline for many years.

The time and money required to obtain a Sport Pilot license is about half of that for a Private Pilots license, roughly 20 hours of instruction. Also, only a valid driver’s license is required rather than a normal FAA approved medical exam. Persons as young as 17 years of age can obtain their full Sport Pilot certificate, demonstrating one new step by the FAA to opening up aviation opportunities to young adults.

For more information contact Kent Johnson, Brian Weix, or Vince Lange at the airport phone number at the top of this page.