Hi Mike, Lots of nice people here to help you. The Ercoupe is a nice airplane. With regard to your training here are my ideas and others will offer some as well...
1. The EAA has a site dedicated to Sport Pilot. You should visit there as it has many resources, Here is the link to their instructor database. I am not sure if you are in the Missouri or Kansas KC, but there are some instructors in both states with LSA aircraft available. St. Charles Flying Service has a good reputation. http://www.sportpilot.org/instructors/index.html 2. You do not have to do all your training in an LSA aircraft. You can certainly start in any airplane, but once you get to solo, you would need a medical to fly in a Standard Category airplane that does not meet the specifications for Light Sport. At that point you can buy your plane or make other arrangements. 3. You can study for your FAA Written Knowledge exam using a number of alternate books. The test guides that offer the pool of questions used by the FAA are published by ASA and GLEIM. They provide brief overviews of the required knowledge areas with the related multiple choice questions for each area. Be sure to purchase the Sport Pilot Knowledge exam book as the rules differ from Private. A more comprehensive guide is also offered by GLEIM for when you get to your cross country and solo work (good to have at beginning of your training too). It is the Gleim Pilot Handbook in its 8th or 9th edition right now. Many other books are available, but I would start here... I just had two nephews earn their Sport certificates and they were happy with the GLEIM knowledge exam book and Pilot Handbook. Good luck, John On Sat, Jan 17, 2009 at 8:54 PM, mikeno1049 <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all! I ran across the group while searching the web for anything > Ercoupe. After years of > dreaming of flying I've finally (at age 59) started taking the first steps. > The first setback was > a medical condition which prevents me from earning a PPL. However, the > option of a Sport > Pilot certificate will still allow me to fly within limits. So while > spending hour perusing various > LSA (primarily Aeroncas, Luscombe, Taylorcraft, etc..) I kept running > across Ercoupes. My > Dad was a pilot and A&P for 50 years and I can remember he always spoke > highly of Ercoupe > stability and reliability. And most are within my budget. So here I am - > ignorant but eager to > learn and this site looks like a wealth of information. > One problem I having in my area (Kansas City) is finding a Sport Pilot > instructor with a LSA. > As crazy as it seems I've almost reached the conclusion that the only way > I'm going to get my > ticket is to buy a plane and take my lessons in it. > So I'm open to any advice you all might have on any of the above. If you're > aware of an > instructor with a LSA in the vicinity and/or a Ercoupe for sale please let > me know. > thanks all - Mike > > >
