Sporty’s has launched its new Cessna 172LITE project, acquiring Cessna 172s and equipping them with basic flight instruments. In fact, the only avionics are a communications radio and a transponder.
A factor not usually considered in attracting new pilot starts is today’s trainers overwhelm beginning students as they stare at dozens of switches, buttons and knobs providing access to unneeded information, Sporty’s officials note. For solo training, the mission is simple: To launch an airplane into the sky and return it safely to the runway, officials say.
“For a basic trainer — whose primary purpose is to train a client to solo — the communications radio and transponder are all the avionics needed,” says Sporty’s Founder and Chairman Hal Shevers.
The Cessna 172LITE teaches the fundamentals of airmanship and engine management with only the needed instruments to monitor airspeed, altitude, engine health, and simple communications, officials explain.
Each Cessna 172 in the program undergoes a thorough inspection by Sporty’s technicians. Any parts not meeting Sporty’s standards are replaced. The engine and propeller are removed and overhauled. The 172LITE includes a new metal panel with new, durable switches. Old wiring is removed and replaced if needed and exterior lighting features modern LEDs.
The 172LITE will boast new paint for an attractive first impression, Sporty’s officials note. The rear seat is removed, creating a cargo area. In addition to newly upholstered seats, the cabin’s sidewalls, head liner and floor covering are replaced, along with any bad Plexiglas. Control cables, hinges and torque tubes are inspected, lubricated and replaced as needed. Each airframe system (electrical, fuel, etc.) is checked and components overhauled or replaced and the entire aircraft is inspected for corrosion and corrective action is taken.
“The result is an aircraft that looks new to the client. Due to the low acquisition cost, we can offer it for just $99 an hour, lowering the cost of admission in a Part 23 certified aircraft capable of flying with two real-sized adults,” says Shevers. “With only essential instrumentation the student will learn fundamental airmanship. After mastering those necessary skills the student can then advance to more expensive aircraft to complete their training, but it is simply all the airplane a pilot needs all the way through the Recreational Certificate.”
The future of the program includes adding a second aircraft to Sporty’s flight school and sharing resources, best practices and information with other flight schools interested in assembling their own basic trainer, he concluded.
Sounds like a great idea to reduce costs, there are also some really great alternatives, there is a company called PlaneSet LLC in Dallas, TX they do not have hourly fees on their Cessna 172 !
A great idea, that I as well have exposed in the past, the name of Hal Shevers and Sporty’s will get it noticed in a serious light. Sporty’s also promotes the recreational certificate, it (along with Sport Pilot), allows the student to get a certificate sooner. With that very real accomplishment they can fly when they want and take a passenger to defray the cost.
As for the lack of a nav. radio at a multi aircraft/instructor facility it would not be a problem, simply move to another airplane to complete the PPL certificate. At a single aircraft FBO a nav/com would be an inexpensive addition to allow the one aircraft to be used for the full Private Pilot course. The FAA will accept VOR navigation regardless of it becoming “obsolete”, not so with all portable devices. The FSDOs all interpret differently, they will however all allow the use of a single OMNI ,(VOR Nav/Com).
Excuse the typos are please I typed out on a mobil device and it looks like it 🙂
thoughbi like the idea this is not that smart of a move unless you are in BFE with no airspace, no tower, and have failed to read Sportys Syllabus for private which assigns material and rightfully so describes all of the 20+ lessons prior to solo. The focus should be on the license and not on this solo garbage people keep throwing around. I have been teaching and developing courses for well over a decade and while I like the idea of a cheaper aircraft, the answer is relevance. This plane is not the kind of plane that the average Individual wants to rent and fly to the Bahamas, and most students who are this right on cash will want to stay in their training aircraft for a while. All of that said, I commend Sportys on innovation and working to improve aviation, this just isn’t progress in my view and takes GA another step backward from where aviation is headed especially with TAA aircraft.
Remember in this article, key word is “solo.”
“For a basic trainer — whose primary purpose is to train a client to solo — the communications radio and transponder are all the avionics needed,” says Sporty’s Founder and Chairman Hal Shevers.
We have offered this for years using a Piper Warrior, but with 2 Nav/Coms and a VFR GPS, for $98/hour wet. See http://www.AlphaZuluLLC.com
There is absolutely zero reasons why a student pilot needs to learn how to use a VOR. Please stop with the comments that this airplane at least needs a VOR. I understand that you old timers get sentimental about the equipment in your panel, but its ancient technology and is a worthless feature for a VFR pilot.
Once you learn how to fly the plane, land and takeoff, throw in some pilotage and dead reckoning, then pick up an iPad with ForeFlight and all your electronic navigation needs are fulfilled.
Please don’t call people wanting a VOR, “Old Timers”. Old Timers remember when radios were rare and weren’t required to make an airplane leave the ground.nor required in any airplane not used for instrument flight. The VOR is on the way out. When I was getting my instrument rating in the mid fifties, the CAA, forerunner of the FAA for those old timers, required us to use Low Frequency Range for our instrument rating approaches even though VOR’s and ILS’s were available. We weren’t allowed to use the artificial horizon or D.G. instruments. It was needle ball – airspeed so to speak. Now that we have GPS, the FAA is still having us use VOR’s on our tests. It is outdated and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them shutting down VOR stations and then you’d have a bunch of planes with useless equipment in them like those that had LORAN installed in them. These airplanes Sporty’s are building up are for the basics. The radios can come later after the student is finished being overwhelmed by just learning the basics. Adding anything other than what is necessary just adds to the cost of the plane which defeats the purpose.. The idea was to make them as inexpensive as possible. The FAA, like its forerunner, is slow to change requirements for tests, I might add. We should all be using GPS now. Merry Christmas Y’all.
Forget about a “VOR” head. That’s just something else to have to learn that is outdated; however, I do recommend a portable GPS unit mounted on the yolk and hard wired to the buss. Students can get lost very easily and the GPS does not add that much difficulty to the training. Just keeping it simple though is a wonderful idea. Forget the “glass” (forever in my opinion) and the third class medical too while you are at it. Oh yeah, we don’t need no stinkin ADSB either.
Remind me not to fly with you. Hard-wiring a portable to the avionics bus of a certified aircraft (like in this 172) is illegal. Yoke mounts often restrict movement too…
As for ADS-B, the technology rocks – people don’t want to to equip because of the cost (~$3-5k). By the way, the FAA has provided ~10 years notice on the program… Get equipped, stay away from big airports, or stop flying – pretty simple. Can’t afford it, find a cheaper hobby. This technology makes us all safer – learn it and embrace it. By the way, an iPad connected to an ADS-B “IN only” device (like iLevil or Stratus) does NOT give you the full TIS-B (traffic) picture. You must be “Out” equipped for that, which is covered in the CY2020 mandate.
The “Self-Endorsed” or “Driver’s License” medical idea is scary. Far too many people honestly feel they are medically suitable to fly when they’re really not. Seriously, if a GA pilot is physically capable of flight, obtaining a class-3 medical is cheap, convenient, and extremely easy to get. If you’re over 40, it’s a quick doctor’s visit every 2 years (5 years under 40). So the real issue here is some folks can’t legitimately pass from a doctor (or are borderline), so they’d rather not have any “fit for flight” requirements at all. Thus, they masquerade their reasoning behind it by acting like it’s a huge inconvenience; all so they can continue flying when they probably shouldn’t. Understandably, losing a medical is a dream killer, but I knew that getting into it, as did you.
Be Safe!
Hard wiring a portable GPS in a certified aircraft may be illegal, but lots of people do it for safer, cheaper VFR flying. I would guess those people will not be begging you to ride in their aircraft anytime soon ‘cuz you might rat them out.
I doubt you know anything of substance about ADS-B installations. Please head over to Mac’s most recent column on the EAA website and get yourself schooled about actual costs, government intentions and other “big boy” stuff.
As for the self-certification medical issue, your flippancy is evidence of your age and admirable state of good health. Please be aware that gliders, hot air balloons and LSA have been operating without medical certificates for some time and there is no evidence they are unsafe due to that.
Also, do you actually own an aircraft? If so, how would you like to be told that you have an unexpected health problem (by FAA standards) that will either ground you, or more likely require regular and expensive medical care increasing the cost of flying. Oh heck, I guess I’ll just write off my investment in training, equipment and so on because I want to make sure the world is “safe” according to the FAA.
For your information, the current direction of recreational GA is into the waste basket. Current Fed policies are mostly anti-GA. Why? Homeland Security views it as a national security threat (remember 9/11?). The DEA and CBP believe it facilitates drug trafficking. The airlines regard it as a nuisance at best and a threat to safety at worst. And both Big Business and the Military would like to clear the skies of piloted bug smashers to make way for drones (or whatever acronym you prefer), large and small.
Anything that promotes new pilot starts, including but not limited to cheaper trainers, is good for GA.
Let’s have this discussion again in 5 or 10 years and see how you feel then.
Hey Brett, Thank you for putting that idiot know-it-all in his/her place. I’ll call him/her Smart One(You know what I mean) since he/she is ashamed to use their user name. You took the words right out of my mouth. He obviously doesn’t know that some avionic shops do hard wiring of the portable GPS’s. He is probably a government employee since he thinks like one. What a phart smeller he is.
Inoperable instrument/equipment covers wouldn’t suffice?
What a God send. Makes more sense than staring at a glass panel trying to interpret what one is looking at. It is all outside the window. Pilotage and sectional use needs to be taught since too many pilots do not know which way they are going unless they watch the magenta line. However, I do think one good VOR head would be nice to have. Great show Sporty.
I think there’d be a much larger market for this than the reimagined 150 that AOPA is doing with Aviation, if Sporty wanted to sell them. A legitimate, comfy two place trainer
that could carry three or four 170-ish pounders after the training mission was complete. It’d be a boon to flight schools, I would think. No nav radio, certainly, which would preclude IFR flying, but that’s not the mission for this airplane. With Foreflight, the proliferation of handheld GPSs, etc…the days of a VOR head being a necessity to fly cross country are coming to a close. True VFR flying using pilotage, dead reckoning etc,,,a VOR isn’t necessary anyway.
I’d buy one if Sporty put them on the market.
Great idea. These airplanes are just what is needed. I commend Sporty’s for doing this. After a student solos and builds a little time, he might elect to just go for a recreational pilot certificate and this airplane has all he/she needs. When ready to go for a private certificate, they can “advance” to a 150, 152, or even a 172 or Cherokee with the radio equipment needed to get that certificate, and they have saved money on the airplane rental cost while building time towards their goal.
I LOVE IT! I was shocked when I heard last year that ALL new 172s come with the G1000 panel. Most students will not, nor want to move onto aircraft with advanced panels. However, I thought a plane had to at least have a VOR installed to be used on the Private Pilot check ride. With the exception of minimum IFR equipmennt to teach IFR, I’ve been slowly de-equipping my plane to as basic a configuration as possible. Even with this basic configuration, there’s still plenty of dials and switches to produce a gee wiz factor. I know it did for me in the 70s.
If we are talking about cost, an LSA is the right alternative, for example C162, Sport Cruiser
LSAs might work well for training, outside the US. Too many Americans (myself included) weigh too much to safely (and legally) fly an LSA with an instructor aboard.
Sporty’s knows its market.
I got my private certificate in an aircraft with only a single VOR nav radio and two comm radios. I feel this is a great idea. It keeps your head outside the aircraft and learning the basics. Good way to keep costs low.
This sounds like a great idea. I am a pre solo student with about 21 hours. I found the extra gauges in the piper warrior a little distracting and confusing for the first 12 hours or so. I think my memorization of the panel would have gone twice as fast with just the basics.
Great idea! I’ve owned 2 172 i-Lites and it really allows me to focus on what is important.
Good going Sporty’s! Next we can chop the nose wheel off and replace it with a tail wheel….
awesome !
Sportys is showing some real initiative, cutting edge, but back to basics- stick and rudder stuff!
Now…. How do we get one?
What happens when the student wants to continue towards an instrument rating? I don’t feel a few more steam gauges are going to make that much of a distraction and it allows for a wider range of appeal to potential flight schools and students. Perhaps their will be a C172 LITE-i version
You can rent another airplane when you want to use the instruments. This plane exists to give the cheapest practicable option for getting time in a trainer. Before a private pilot gets to the instrument stage they don’t need to spend an extra hundreds of dollars to get more avionics. You just rent a different plane when that time comes.
i think this is a GREAT idea and agree completely that a new student pilot does not need distractions while learning to taxi, take-off, look out for other aircraft, visually navigate, and land!
I don’t believe Sportys can come close to covering their costs of refurb and operation at $99/hr and am convinced that it would be a lot better for the industry and struggling FBOs survival if they published that this is a generous donation.
I think this is a wonderful idea! Maybe they should consider a single VOR. This would give the prospective client/student the opportunity to make it all the way to the private pilot level. If worried about the “extra” distraction by another instrument, keep it covered with an instrument cover used for partial panel training
Great idea.
1. Aviate (Fly the airplane)
Then when the student has “that” down, move-on.
Good idea and I applaude the good intention of making flight training cheaper and more approachable. One downside of this approach, as a flight school owner, is that this airplane can only be used for presolo training, which would make it very inefficient in terms of utilization, which would raise its cost…
I applaud the initiative, but Sporty’s is doing an incredible disservice if they think Private Pilots should be turned out with no operational knowledge of navigation outside of pilotage and dead reckoning. I understand not wanting to overwhelm pilots with a glass panel or a big GPS, but for God’s sake, a single flip/flop King Nav/Com would at least allow students to understand VOR navigation. A lost pilot can at least use VOR’s for assistance from ATC.
This is a great idea!
I was trained in bare-bones Citabrias which had nothing other than the engine/electrical/fuel instruments, compass, altimeter and airspeed. I loved flying them – the planes taught me how to actually FLY the airplane and the relative “lack” of gadgets made me and my colleagues proficient aviators and aware navigators who relied on nothing more than “feeling” the airplane, a clock and a sectional.
I really hope this project takes off really well. The price is more than reasonable and the program should be a great chance for people to get into aviation and get a solid, quality understanding of pure flying. Way to go Sporty’s!
Good on Sporty’s!! We all know that the biggest deal-killer for potential students is cost.
I am sure some people are put-off when they climb into an un-refurbished aircraft with fading paint, worn upholstery and cracked plastic for the first time. Having a proven aircraft which looks new provides a good first impression. If it can be offered for, say, $30/hour cheaper than a full glass panel aircraft, it will make a difference. I believe AOPA is trying to do something similar with cleaned-up 152’s.
Glass cockpits may be fun for a bored CFI dreading his/her 10,000th trip around the pattern, but newbies should be focusing on the basics including visually monitoring airspace, head-on-a-swivel type stuff, not twisting knobs and trying to locate icons on a screen. If they progress quickly and have the dough, they can switch to a glass panel aircraft at will.
Sorry Garmin et al, but anything that lowers the cost of basic flight training is a good thing for the survival of GA.
Great way of thinking keep simple and it will fly.
Excellent, but change the word “Recreational” to “Private” certificate! It’s all you need for a Private Certificate.
THIS… is a great idea! Keep it simple!
As much as some are impressed with the “gadgets”, let’s leave the glass-equipped Avidyne and Garmin airplanes alone until we produce pilots who are well trained in the life-preserving fundamentals of flying.
Great pilots are always learning!
I have paid more expensive Cessna 152 with the same equipment… so obviously is a step forward. A great idea indeed.
Love it! This is exactly what I have been preaching for years. You HAVE to learn how to fly before you start with the fancy gadgets. God bless Sporty’s for doing this.
Wouldn’t a VOR indicator make it good to go all the way through a Private certificate?
It’s good to go, as equipped, right up until the final stages of the PPL. Solo cross country requirements only require “instruction in the use of equipment in the aircraft to be used for the flight.” (FAR61.3 e 8) The only catch would be the three hours of ‘hood time’ required before taking the PPL check ride during which the “use of navigation systems/facilities and radar services appropriate to instrument flight” is demonstrated. (FAR61.109 a 3) One could use another aircraft for those three hours, still reducing the cost, greatly, of the PPL.
Interesting idea. The panel looks shockingly sparse, but it really is all you need I suppose. Many 152s rent for around the same price. I wonder if a 152LITE or 150LITE would be even more affordable, or if the cost of the airframes and overhauls are about the same anyway.