For years, I have been interviewing suppliers of Light-Sport Aircraft about how functional and durable their SLSA are for flight training. Contrary to what many think many SLSA actually make good trainers (see this recent article). Old timers might think you have to stick with Cessna or Piper to have an airframe built robustly enough to handle student flight training. Those who feel that way are behind the times. LSA are here and now in flight schools. This is a tale, not of two cities, but of two coasts, the Pacific and Atlantic yet the story is unfolding in several other locations, too. Based on multiple flight schools deep into using LSA (as portrayed in the linked article above), current LSA appear more than up to the job. That has been ongoing for some time. The new development that is popping up on the coasts and elsewhere in between are entirely new flight schools, ones organized completely around Light-Sport Aircraft as primary trainers.
Look Out, Legacies! Light-Sport Aircraft in Flight Schools Operated by the Aircraft Representative
Student, Victor Ponte celebrates a new Private Pilot certificate following his check-ride with instructor Kathryn Stanley.
East and West Coast Flight Ops
Both Sling Pilot Academy (SPA) and Sebring Flight Academy (SFA) are relatively recent starts but both already have students well trained enough that they can begin taking some of the chores of training the next batch, under controlled and highly supervised leadership, of course. This is serious stuff. These students could be piloting the airliner in which you are flying in just a few years.Classes are filling at both SPA and SRA. This scene is from Sling Pilot Academy.
Compare this luxurious and superbly-equipped cockpit to a 50-year-old Cessna 172 (or any number of legacy flight aircraft). Which do you think your average millennial would prefer flying?