OK, I will try to sum it all up as I understand it. Just my opinion of course....
Since Sport pilot inception regular CPC (Cessna Pilot Centers) or normally most of the 'on airport' training schools, refuse to teach Sport Pilot. That has been back to before the year 2004. They were not going to budge on this and could see no reason to do so on there part. I have been told by them that I don't fly a real plane, "isn't that one of them Ultralights" your flying. Anyway, many sport pilot instructors were going to be necessary to teach those that wanted to participate in the Sport class. Many have done so and even set up shop as Sport Specialist for training. Many have bought LSA's with the idea of using it for training then renting it out for use if they wanted. All this because CPC refused to participate. Recently, the rules have changed to where training at the sport CFI level only, can't be used for transition time to higher tickets. Of course this was because they didn't want to teach it, but wanted you to learn what they taught for (regular) airplanes because this is the way it had been done for years and years. They had an empire out there and didn't want anyone messing with it, and still don't. Those that were regular trainers, can simply go back to what they did before, so won't hurt them at all. The smart ones. right?
Now that Cessna has decided to not use the 2000 hour Rotax 912 engine and use the continental 0-200D instead, that brought the other side of the training, the repair and inspection side, along with the instructors, to keep out most of the LSA (non Cessna side) and to keep them locked out. The orgs just wanted to get their people back into flying and they worked to do just that. They have not really stood behind the LSA groups emerging all over the place. EAA surely did most of the marketing of the Sport license. They made quite a project out of it and did good with it, but don't seem to care about the training part that much.
Since Cessna envisioned the SkyCatcher C-162 as a sport ready plane it put a lot of interest back into the class. They were using the Rotax 912 at the time. They removed that engine due to concerns over the pilot centers ability to repair or have parts for the Rotax. Then Rotax sealed the deal by making anyone working on their engines, in any way, would need to have THEIR special factory trainings to do so. That sort of put a taboo on using their engine even more in favor of the repair/training facilities, and hurt the LSA market even more since Rotax was the 99% engine of choice of most SLSA.
The rest should be simple to understand. As soon as Cessna changed the engine to the 0-200D they suddenly pre-sold over 800 planes to the CPC's and have started delivery recently. You can notice the comment, "sport/private" in there statement connecting the two with the CPC's now.
The word Hijacked comes to mind, but then they should have done all this in the first place I think. This of course leaves the other than SEL/S craft for the non true CFI, supposedly in tack, as they are. CPC could care less about parachutes, trikes, weight shift and the like. They are also trying to close out the airports they might use as well, it seems to me.
This is purely my take on all of this and I could be all wrong, but I think it will help put meaning into the statement that E-Pilot made today.
Gary Orpe
Gary,
I'm a little lost on this (or clueless might be a better term). What is this a result of or for?
Thanks,
Brian
--- In Sport_Aircraft@yahoogroups.com, "Gary Orpe" <garyo@...> wrote:
>
> Taken from the AOPA epilot release. They wouldn't and now they will. Rotax
> A&P's next? Now it starts...
>
> "Four CPCs get FAA approval for sport/private training regimen
> Four Cessna Pilot Centers have gained FAA Part 141 approval to use a new
> sport/private pilot training curriculum, Cessna announced Dec. 14. The
> four flight schools are Air Fleet Training Systems Inc., Fairfield, N.J.;
> Pensacola Aviation Center, Pensacola, Fla.; Snohomish Flying Service,
> Snohomish, Wash.; and Trade Winds Aviation (doing business as Skyworks
> Inc.), San Jose, Calif. Many other CPCs are in the approval process to add
> the course to their training programs, Cessna said. The new curriculum was
> developed in conjunction with King Schools Inc."
>
> Gary O.
> "Mitfield"
>
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