Steve, Besides getting the "fat" ultralights registered and certified, and then pushing their pilots to become more knowledgeable and skillful pilots, the important advantage of the Sport Pilot rating for those who have or have had medical problems, is to be able to continue to fly without taking several thousand dollars of medical tests every year to prove their physical condition for flying.
I disagree on your other point though. Saying a plane is "high performance" is relative and needs a definition. Getting a PPL certainly doesn't automatically ensure your flying success with any aircraft. I believe the KR is NOT "too hot to handle" for the average pilot and shouldn't be for the properly trained Sport Pilot. I hope no one would shy away from a KR thinking it is a "high" performance airplane that takes extra-sharp flying skills and lots of flying experience. Flying a KR IS different (but certainly not more difficult) than driving a Piper Cherokee around, if you have a tailwheel endorsement for those KRs having the nosewheel on the wrong end. I can attest to that. A KR driver would have similar experience (maybe even have a little more difficult time) hopping in an ultra-light type aircraft and flying for the first time. Didn't Ken Rand have only a couple hundred hours before the first flight in his KR-1 prototype? Ed Ed Janssen mailto:ejans...@chipsnet.com ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve Bray" > If you want to fly a KR get a PPL. If you have medical problems that is one > thing but if you just don't want to go to the trouble to get a PPL you may > not be a KR pilot. These are NOT ultralites. > If you don't have what it takes to get a PPL you do not need to set your > butt in one of these. This IS a high performance aircraft ! > Things happen fast and if your to slow for a PPL you are to slow for a KR. > Sometimes the truth hurts, deal with it. > > Steve Bray > Jackson, Tennessee
