Sport vs Recreational vs Private
There are actually 2 more types of certificates between a student pilot and private pilot: Sport and Recreational.
How are they different?
- Sport Pilot’s Certificate (started from 2004): min 20 hours
- limited to planes with lower take off weight (smaller, lighter aircraft) with no more than two seats: less than 1,320 lbs at takeoff and landing and 1,430 lbs at takeoff from the water.
- Recreational pilot certificate: min 30 hours. Fewer hours of cross-country navigation training because you must remain within 50 nautical miles of your home base unless you have additional endorsements. You also won't have to learn to fly in airspace requiring communications with air traffic control. And night operations and flight by reference to instruments, which are part of the private pilot training, are eliminated from the recreational pilot's curriculum.
- restrictions:
- your flying must be during daylight hours in good weather.
- can carry only one passenger in single-engine aircraft of 180 horsepower or less with up to four seats.
- You can fly no higher than 10,000 feet unless you happen to be flying over terrain, such as a mountain, that is higher than 10,000 feet.
- restrictions:
- Private: min 40 hours.
Which one should you pursue?
FAA publishes stats of airmen annually: https://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/civil_airmen_statistics
| 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student | 316,470 | 280,582 | 250,197 | 222,629 | 197,665 |
| Recreational | 71 | 79 | 85 | 105 | 127 |
| Sport | 7,144 | 6,957 | 6,801 | 6,643 | 6,467 |
| Private | 167,711 | 164,090 | 161,459 | 160,860 | 161,105 |
As you may notice, there are very few Recreational pilots, and the number is decreasing every year; Recreational pilot license may become outdated if the trend continues.
On the other hand, Sport pilot license is gaining popularity, however it is very small comparing to PPL. FAA is proposing to make some changes so sport pilots are not limited 1,320 lb MTOW. Once that takes place, the number of Sport pilots may increase further.
In summary, if you are considering getting a Recreational Pilot License, probably it is better to just get a Private Pilot License instead; if Sport Pilot License is all you need, anticipate some positive changes in the near future.