Sport Pilot vs Private Pilot: which certificate should you start with?
A Sport Pilot certificate takes a minimum of 20 hours and uses your driver’s license in place of an FAA medical; a Private Pilot certificate takes a minimum of 40 hours, needs a third-class medical, and lets you fly any airplane you are rated in. At Pilot Training Las Vegas you can earn either in the same Piper Cherokees.
By Pilot Training Las Vegas
Both certificates let you fly with friends and family. The difference is how far the certificate reaches and what it takes to earn it. Here is the short version, using the FAA minimums we publish on our program pages.
Sport Pilot
- Age: 17 to be certificated, 16 to solo.
- Minimum time: 20 hours total, including 15 hours of flight instruction and 5 hours solo.
- Medical: a valid U.S. driver’s license stands in for the FAA medical certificate.
- Tests: the FAA written and practical exams.
Sport Pilots at our school fly the same Piper Cherokee PA-28s as everyone else. A heavier, higher-horsepower Cherokee is a stable platform to learn in, and the certificate is a real one: you can take passengers up and go somewhere.
Private Pilot
- Age: 17 to be certificated, 16 to solo.
- Minimum time: 40 hours total, including 20 hours of instruction and 10 hours solo. The national average is closer to 65 to 70 hours.
- Medical: a third-class FAA medical from an Aviation Medical Examiner before you solo.
- Tests: the FAA written and practical exams.
A Private Pilot certificate lets you fly any airplane you are rated in, and it is the foundation for everything that follows: the Instrument Rating, Commercial certificate, Multi-Engine rating and the flight instructor certificates, all of which we teach in-house.
How to choose
If your goal is a career, or you want the Instrument Rating next, start with Private Pilot. The hours you fly count toward it from lesson one.
If you want to fly for fun, would rather not go through the medical process, and are happy with the Sport Pilot limits, Sport Pilot is a shorter path to a certificate, and the training happens in the same airplanes with the same instructor.
Either way, the first lesson is the same. A Discovery Flight puts you at the controls of a Cherokee with a Certified Flight Instructor beside you, and it is the easiest way to find out which path fits. Call or text 702-372-7552 if you would rather talk it through first.
