Sport Pilot Limitations gyrocopter flight training
Getting your Sport Pilot rating comes with a lot of responsibilities and privileges. FAA regulations typically tell you what you can’t do. FAR Part 91 spells out a number of restrictions on your flying that applies to all pilots and not just Sport Pilots.
There are a few additional restrictions placed on Sport Pilots that are spelled out in FAR Part 61.
Specifically, with a Sport Pilot certificate you cannot:
Fly for compensation or hire
Use your rating in the furtherance of a business
Carry more than one passenger
Fly at night
Fly above 10,000 feet or 2,000 feet agl, whichever is higher
Fly in Class A airspace
Fly in Class B, C or D airspace without a special endorsement unless you are already a rated private or above pilot
Fly outside the U.S. without prior authorization from the country in which you seek to operate
Fly when flight or surface visibility is less than 3 statute miles
Fly without visual reference to the ground
Tow any objects
Participate in a passenger carrying airlift sponsored by a charitable organization
Requirements
If you do not hold any sort of FAA certificate the following are the minimum number of flight hours you are required to have in order to take your Sport Pilot Gyroplane check ride.
20 hours total flight time
15 hours of dual instruction in a gyroplane
5 hours of solo flight time
2 hours of cross country flight training
10 takeoffs and landings to a full stop with each landing involving a flight in the traffic pattern
1 solo cross country of at least 50nm total distance with at least two full stops at two separate locations and one leg at least 25nm in length
2 hours of flight instruction within 2 months of taking the check ride
Additionally, you will need to have received ground training from an authorized instructor covering a number of areas spelled out in FAR 61.311 and have it logged to prove you have received such training.
