The frustrating economics of aviation

"Dylan Smith" wrote in message
...
In article , tscottme wrote:
The adviocates of Rec Pilot thought it would produce a flood of new
students. If the big problem keeping the public from flocking to CFIs
was
the difficulty in licensing, any lessening of that difficulty should
produce
significant increases. It seems clear that Rec Pilot is producing
almost no
results. It seems foolish to to keep making the process easier and
easier,
when the public doesn't seem to be taking advantage of the previous
efforts.

This is because the Recreational Pilot certificate is almost as hard to
get as the full private, but a lot more restricted. There is virtually
no savings in time, difficulty or cost in getting the Rec over the
Private. You have to take the same medical, and the only thing you
really save is a few hours cross country and night - it's barely above
being a newly-soloed student pilot when it's done privilege-wise, yet
takes almost as long as the full PPL to complete. In short, the Rec. is
nearly pointless.

Nevertheless, Sporty's uses the Recreational Pilot certificate as a waypoint
towards Private Pilot. This makes some sense; for the cost of a check ride,
the student gains considerably more flexibility than he would have as a solo
student. Personally, I would rather my solo students not have that
flexibility (in fact, I usually have quite a few more restrictions than the
regulations require), but apparently some instructors find it a useful tool.