In some FAA regions there are no glider DEs or qualified FAA
examiners. This has been a long standing problem in the Farmingdale,
NY FSDO. In this case, the Sport Pilot can be a logical goal the pilot
can attain, before building additional time for the private, and
looking for a place to go for the test.

We never get to 10,000 feet here on the East coast, and have plenty of
Schweizers that meet the LSA requirements. So it can be well worth it.

(Michael) wrote in message . com...
Bruce Hoult wrote
Most, yes. But you said that having a sport pilot ticket prevents you
from EVER flying anything even vaguely high peformance. It only takes
one example to disprove that claim.

Very well, consider the claim disproved. If you take the time and
effort to seek out one of the minority of reasonably high performance
gliders with Vne under 120 kt, you're OK. BTW - any of those two
seaters? If not, well, a single seater can always be flown on a solo
endorsement - and AFAIK, the solo endorsement given to a rated pilot
for purposes of operating a different category and class of aircraft
does not expire. In fact, I'm not sure what privilege a sport pilot
operating a single seat glider in solo flight has that a private power
pilot operating the same glider on a solo endorsement does not have.
Can't think of any, really. In fact, it seems like the private pilot
with solo endorsement has MORE privileges - certainly with regard to
landing at controlled fields, marginal visibility, etc.

It all depends on how much harder it is to get the PP-G.

That's sort of the point. The requirements for solo are the same, and
so are the maneuvers. The difference is that to get the private, you
have to make 10 solo flights and fly with a DE. To get the sport, you
have to make 3 solo flights and fly with another instructor.

Given the reduction in privileges, it hardly seems worth it.

Michael