Published October 2004

‘Sport pilot’ rules to spur
general-aviation growth

Image courtesy of Arlington Sport Air Park Celebrating the release of new FAA rules creating new sport pilot licensing, owner Bruce Angell is ready to break ground soon on this long-planned Sport Air Park at the Arlington Airport, home of the NWEAA Fly-In, the nation’s third-largest annual general-aviation air show.

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

The recent FAA approval of new rules governing “sport pilots” and “sport” aircraft took effect Sept. 1, a move that is expected to rejuvenate the entire general-aviation industry in America, as well as making a significant impact on the Arlington Airport, Snohomish County’s largest small-plane airfield.

“We anticipate a hugely expanded general-aviation community over the next few years because of the new sport flying rule,” said Ron Wagner, program marketing manager for the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), addressing a crowd at the recent Arlington Fly-In.

Those changes are already beginning.

Bruce Angell, who owns the airfield’s regional ultralight center, plans to break ground in a few months for his new Sport Aviation Park.

“The new rule is exciting because now we know what the sport aircraft will be, what training materials will be needed and the test standards for check-rides and written exams,” Angell said. “The ultralight culture will have to learn a new set of rules, register their aircraft and earn a sport pilot license. Ultralight manufacturers also will have a new set of standards to follow.”

Angell said he’s “very optimistic for the sport plane industry in general. ... Every (survey) trend in the last 20 years has shown aviation activity is going down, the age of the pilots is going up along with the age of the aircraft ... manufacturers are making 250 to 300 deliveries a year, about 5 percent of what they sold in 1976.”

He said the new sport aviation rules aren’t a guarantee of anything, but “they’re the best chance we have to turn those trends around.”

Even though Angell is excited about the coming changes, he’s impressed with how many others are, too.

“I’ve talked to 15 to 20 aviation-related groups in the Seattle area, and the amount of excitement about flying and the new FAA rule has even surprised me,” he said.

Nationally, immediately following the FAA’s publishing of the final sport flying rule, Sport Planes Ltd. of Draper, Utah, unveiled plans to launch 20 Sport Aircraft Regional Centers across the United States to provide flight training, aircraft sales and maintenance services. The centers also will promote enrollment in the Sport Pilot Squadron, which includes a one-year EAA membership.

The flight centers will use sport planes as their primary trainer, making advanced training available for those who want to obtain a private pilot license or an IFR rating. Pilots who purchase an aircraft at one of the centers can receive flight training at the center and be checked out in their own aircraft.

Sport Planes Unlimited, in Sun City, Ariz., is one of the first sport plane dealerships and service centers to announce it’s ready for the new industry. The center will market Rans aircraft kits such as the Coyote II and nine other models.

Changing the economics of flying is critically important, Angell said, noting that a Cessna 172 retails at $150,000 and up, while earning a private pilot license can cost as much as $5,000 to $7,000. New sport planes will cost between $35,000 and $65,000 — comparable to boats and other recreation alternatives.

“Also, don’t overlook the operating and maintenance costs of a sport aircraft. One fellow I talked to said it costs him $100 an hour to fly his Bonanza. My four-seat Trinidad TB-20 is pretty expensive, too, compared to a two-seat sport plane. I burn 14 gallons an hour, a sport plane would burn 4 gallons,” he said.

Angell’s plans for upgrading his ultralight center to serve sport planes include starting with a 19,000-square-foot building near the runway to house classrooms, meeting space, an aircraft sales office and maintenance space, along with room for some of the vendors at the airport’s annual NWEAA Fly-In, which draws 50,000 people each year.

A pilot for 26 years, Angell believes “we have a huge market out there now that we’ve lowered the entry-level price. ... It means the American dream of flying is alive and kicking.”

He plans to build new hangars on the site, too, and establish a “full FBO service center for sport aircraft,” offering flight training, ultralight certification, a pilot’s lounge, briefing room, weather station, aircraft maintenance and seminars on sport aviation.

“The new rule really does promote access to the dream of flight and ease the regulatory requirements for manufacturers, opening a mass market for ‘low and slow’ planes,” according to Earl Lawrence, the EAA’s vice president of regulatory affairs.

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