First Sport Pilot Flight Instructor Examiners (Click Photo to view full sized image)

The Light Sport Aviation Branch is proud to announce that the first eight Sport Pilot Flight Instructor Examiners were appointed on Saturday, January 22nd, in Sebring, FL. The following individuals successfully completed all of the requirements of the first Sport Pilot Examiner Initial course: William Bardin, Sacramento, CA, ASEL; John Beaman, Portland, OR, WSCL; Roy Beisswenger, Greenville, IL, PPCL; Bob Bleadon, Selma, OR, ASEL; Brian Carpenter, Corning, CA, ASEL; Eric Johnson, Chandler, AZ, WSCL; Larry Littlefield, Boyton Beach, FL, PPCL; and Romke Sikkema, Sebring, FL, ASEL. All of these newly appointed sport pilot examiners completed initial sport pilot and sport pilot flight instructor evaluations during the course. They also put in many hours studying the new regulations, practical test standards and examiner handbook. They are a credit to the light sport aviation community. We also received valuable feedback from these newly appointed examiners in helping to make the course an effective tool in preparing future examiners for their responsibilities.

The Light Sport Aviation Branch would like to extend special thanks and recognize the efforts of Phil Lockwood and his staff for helping to make this a successful course. Because of his efforts we were able to certificate the first five Experimental Light Sport Aircraft (ELSA). We would also like to extend our thanks to Morris Yoder for providing his Powrachute Pegasus and Tom Peghiny for his Flight Design CT2K. It is because of the commitment of these fine individuals and organizations that we were able to meet the training needs of the initial course.

The Light Sport Standardization Board will be meeting January 25th and 26th to evaluate the next large group of sport pilot examiner candidates. We will be putting the next two classes together by mid-February. The next Sport Pilot Examiner Initial course will be held in Sebring, FL starting March 21st. Invitations to attend this course will be sent to selected candidates by the end of February.

Martin Weaver,
Manager, Light Sport Aviation Branch