Sport Pilot Airplane

by Carol and Brian Carpenter

Review by Bob Fritz

There’s an old newspaper adage that states every story should clearly lay out the Who, Where, Why, What, When and How.  It’s not often we find a book that covers all these bases when dealing with a subject as new as Light Sport Aircraft.

A scan of the Table of Contents gives a good hint of the breadth: thirty pages on Selecting an Aircraft, eleven pages on Establish a Budget, sixty pages on Pilot Requirements and Aircraft Requirements with a significant remainder devoted to Meteorology and Aerodynamics.

The depth of the book, especially in the areas of meteorology and aerodynamics are what set this book apart from those we’ve all used in ground school. Where those books, quite rightly, assume the reader is going to fly aircraft over 1500 lbs. and perhaps transition to high performance wings, Sport Pilot – Airplane looks at the subjects of weather and flying characteristics from a light aircraft point of view.

And the differences are significant. For instance, few of us are so over-confident that we would, after a few hundred hours in a Cessna 172, assume that shifting to a Lancair IVP would be case of a quick checkride.  However, Sport Pilot – Airplane makes it clear that while the speeds are lower in Light Sport Aircraft, the fact of their higher drag and lower inertia make transitioning to them an experience requiring additional knowledge.

This is clearly illustrated in the section describing NODI or Nose Over Dive In, a situation where a loss of power combined with an aft CG, high drag and low inertia can cause an outside loop, an exciting event at the minimum.

The Carpenter’s really bring a long list of letters after their names, such as A&P, DAR, IA, CFI-I into use when they give step-by-step instructions on filling out FAA paperwork. It was especially amusing and enlightening to feel them at one’s elbow with cautions such as “Too much paperwork will only confuse the FAA registry and cause you additional grief.”

Of special significance are its passages concerning those pilots who can no longer fly as a Private Pilot due to medical issues as well as pilots who wish to move up from Ultralight aviation.

Sport Pilot – Airplane is illuminating for all pilots with even the most casual interest in Light Sport Aircraft.  It can be obtained directly from the authors via their webite www.rainbowaviation.com