Sport pilot may be just the right place to get you in the air. The FAA has recently massively expanded the privileges of a sport pilot. As of October 22nd, 2025, a sport pilot can now fly almost any single engine airplane out there! As long as it has a clean stall speed of 59knots or slower (essentially this means, the airplane can stay airborne at a speed of 68mph or slower) then it counts as a sport airplane. There is a little more to it but that is the biggest part.

Sport pilot is a pilot certificate that the FAA has designed with the express purpose of making aviation more accessible to the public. Its goal is to decrease the training requirements and cost without compromising safety. This is accomplished by removing the training requirements for things such as flying into towered airports and night flying, things which most pilots do not use often anyway. This trims off the “fat” and distills your flight training down into the essence of flying: stick and rudder skills.