Speaking from the prospective of when I was a wanna-be sport pilot student pilot:
Of course it will not hurt to advertise if you have an LSA to rent and want to attract sport pilots (except ads can be costly) but I doubt they'd need to advertise to prospective sport pilots who are even half-seriously interested in getting sport pilot training or to any sport pilots around who want to rent.
In my experience in most locales it's the prospective sport pilot renters who will aggressively seek out any possible source as in most localities there are few.
I would have found the sport pilot training plane and CFI even if they didn't advertise.
When I was looking for sport pilot training within 75 miles of a city of over 150 thousand if surroundings are counted several flight schools, dozens and dozens of rental aircraft within that radius there was (and still is) not one LSA or sport pilot legal standard aircraft available for training or rental.
A sport pilot I know recently in Hawaii spent hours on the web and calling trying to find a rentable sport-pilot-legal plane with no luck.
Point is, IMO, if you have LSAs or rent or traing sport pilots and sport pilot students will come.
Bob's report of the flight schools that DO own Skycatchers having sufficient students using them seems to bears that out.
(Just FYI: I bit the bullet and scheduled two weeks off work started my sport pilot training 500 miles away from home at a FBO that had LSA's and was specializing in sport pilot back in 2008. Figured in two weeks of intensive training (had done my book study before going) I'd have my sport pilot license.
Quit after one day of training when I realized I'd get back home and have a useless certification (that had cost me $4000 not counting travel and lost work time) due to lack of LSA rentals near home.
My story has a happy ending: I purchased a used ELSA -- Skyranger-2, Rotax 912, etc. -- with a partner last year and am now a happy low hours pilot and owner.)
But buying an aircraft simply isn't on the table for many folks who would otherwise love to fly as sport pilots.
Flying as renters is their only option. Remember, half the attraction for the sport pilot concept is that by costing less to get into it that becomes an option for the lower-budget pilot wanna-bes, and they are the ones LEAST able to buy their own aircraft.
I suspect many prospective sport pilot students after hearing of this supposedly easier more attractive route into flying has run into gotacha's l similar to mine. Most their stories don't end up like mine.
And yes, cost of S-LSAs is a huge factor.
I recently asked the local flight school (which is happy to train the rare occasional sport pilot student who has their own LSA ) why they don't have an LSA trainer/rental. Here's why: For the price of adding one Skycatcher or any S-LSA they can buy several decent condition used 152s.
The base price of the SkyCatcher new is $112,250 (ready to fly), but with options most go out the door at $120,000 to $135,000.
Even _used_ I see them in the $120,000 to $135,000 range. Other standard LSAs are up in the same price range. The experimental LSAs are cheaper but can't be use for training or rental. Even the prices of the sport pilot legal standard vintage standard category aircraft (J3, Taylorcraft, etc) used have been driven up (presumably in part by the older GA pilots wanting to fly as sport pilots without medicals.)
On the other hand Cessna 152's -- very popular as trainers and student rentals -- in fair-to-excellent conditions/equipment range from $25,00 to $50,000.
It would take a heck of a lot of sport pilot students and renters to off-set the economics of that difference.
between the FBO or CFI or flight school shelling out $130K for a Skycatcher vs $35K for a good 152.
The one I spoke to is a typical small FBO/flight school that owns a 152 , Cessna 152, and a Piper Apache PA-23.
And they just don't have the cash to lay out for $130K for something like the Skycatcher that will take a long haul to break even on.
In short, their issue isn't going to be whether or not to run ads promoting sport pilot students.
They'll never get to that point because of the upfront cost of LSA trainer aircraft.
Bottom line is the sport pilot and LSA concept (although working well for me and a small number of new sport pilots, and good for the many older private pilots switching to flying LSAs) which was supposed to open wider the door to GA flying ,and offset the trend (still going on) of reductions in numbers of pilot and incoming pilots, would appear to not have done so.
In fact by killing off the two-seat ultralight trainer and the BFI (which in the 80's and 90's brought many into UL flying) is would appear to me on net as far as I can see have actually reduced the net number of new pilots in the air in the future (if we count ultralight pilots.)
My two cents.
Alex
-----
Posted by: "Bob Comperini" bob@fly-ul.com Comperini
Thu Apr 12, 2012 3:23 pm (PDT)
> Anyone have info on how the Skycatcher is doing in
>their locale?
I recently did two practicals for students at two different airports here in southern California, both with their own SkyCatcher. They are making good use out of them. But, both of these flight schools actually advertise and promote SP. If the CPC near you isn't advertising, or promoting SP, then they won't get any SP students.
__._,_.___
No comments:
Post a Comment