As an ultralight pilot, the farthest Larry Clayton has ever flown was from De Soto to Mason City and back. But once he completes his training as a sport pilot, a jaunt to Montana to go fishing or a day trip to Minneapolis for lunch won’t be out of the question.

After waiting more than six months for it to arrive from the factory in Tulsa, Clayton took delivery of a brand-new CT sport aircraft in January. Now that he’s flown about 20 hours in it with an instructor and passed a written and oral test, he expects to take a flight examination within a few weeks to complete his certification to fly as a sport pilot.

“My goal is to be able to go anywhere in the United States with it,” said Clayton, who retired from Meredith Corp. in 2001. “I always thought it would be neat to get up one morning and say, ‘I’d like to go up to Minneapolis for lunch today.’ There’s all kinds of possibilities.”

Clayton is among a small but growing number of people across the country who have discovered light sport aircraft as a quicker, less expensive way to earn their wings.

Under a new certification approved in July 2004 by the Federal Aviation Administration, someone can become certified after a minimum of just 20 hours in a light sport aircraft. In comparison, it can take anywhere from 40 to 70 hours of instruction time in a full-size airplane to earn a private pilot’s license. Additionally, some ultralight pilots may be able to use the hours they’ve already logged toward the new certification.

The change is nothing short of revolutionary, said Bob Ellefson, owner of Aircraft Super-Market Inc. in De Soto.

“Instead of spending $20,000 to learn to fly, you spend about $2,000,” said Ellefson. “There’s never been a change like this for general aviation in the past 50 years.” Ellefson is currently instructing seven people for the sport aircraft designation, and has sold four CTs, which he said is currently the top-selling sport aircraft in the country.

“The public doesn’t know about this yet,” he said. “Once word gets out, there will be huge growth.”

Dick Knapinski, a spokesman for the Experimental Aircraft Association in Oshkosh, Wis., said their best estimate is that about 800 light sport aircraft have been purchased in the United States since the new FAA rule became effective in September 2004. About 300 of those aircraft have yet to be delivered to customers from the manufacturers, he said.

These aircraft typically range in price from about $50,000 to $80,000, in comparison with the popular Cessna 182, a four-seat plane that costs about $200,000.

Besides appealing to ultralight pilots who are looking to move up, the light sport aircraft category is also attractive to licensed private pilots who are seeking a recreational alternative to a full-sized plane, Knapinski said.

“The third group, and the one we’re very excited about, is people who have always been very interested in flying, but didn’t have the time or money,” he said. “We know that of every 100 people who start flight training, only 35 continue with it. So the light sport aircraft really speaks to that group, to help them get over those hurdles.”

Ellefson said sales of ultralights have virtually stopped since the rule change, because people are concerned about whether the FAA will continue to allow them to continue flying those aircraft.

“We still sell ultralights, but our emphasis is on the sport aircraft,” he said. “But (the ultralights) are going to stay legal. We have to get the word out.”

Like many of the enthusiasts who have been bitten by the sport aircraft bug, Clayton first learned to fly in an ultralight.

“After I took one flight in it, I knew I wanted it,” said Clayton. He bought an ultralight kit for $25,000, and spent three months assembling it.

“That was one of the most challenging things I did, but also the most satisfying,” he said. He spent about 25 hours flying with a flight instructor before he soloed for the first time, and has logged about 160 hours in flying time with it.

“When I was thinking about the CT, I drove down to Tulsa to take a flight in that,” Clayton said. “I fell in love with that also. I’m somewhat impulsive, because it doesn’t take me long to decide on something.” That aircraft cost him about $94,000, fully assembled.

“There are other accessories I could have gotten that would have boosted up the cost,” he said. “For example, I could have gotten a three-axis autopilot vs. a one-axis autopilot. You just have to count your dollars and see what you can afford.”

Weighing in at just 675 pounds, the two-seat CT is only about 100 pounds heavier than the ultralight that he subsequently sold, but flies much more like a full-size airplane, Clayton said.

“With an ultralight, if the engine gives out you’ve got time to make one turn and then you better find yourself a place to land,” he said, whereas the CT can glide considerably farther if the engine were to fail.

“I enjoy the sense of responsibility that this requires,” he said. “You can’t make a whole lot of mistakes and come out all right. I’m interested in the capabilities of this airplane and the possibilities that this presents. To be able to fly to Wyoming or to Canada in a day, that’s intriguing to me. But I’m never totally relaxed; I’m always aware that things can go wrong.”

With the earlier ultralights, the little 9-horsepower engines failed frequently, said Ellefson, who has flown experimental aircraft for the past 26 years.

“Maybe 20 percent of the time the engine would keep running,” he said. “Now it’s very seldom that we have engine problems.” Other aspects of the aircraft have improved as well. “It used to be that you’d shift your weight to steer. Now they have three-axis controls just like the big boys, the Cessnas and Pipers. And we can control these airplanes at very slow speeds, and land them just about anywhere.”

The sophistication comes at a cost, however, as the price of the ultralight kits continues to go up, Ellefson said. However, you can still buy a nice little entry-level ultralight for between $8,000 and $9,000.

As for the CT sport aircraft, Ellefson currently has a waiting list and has been receiving about one every other month from the factory. Next year, he expects to be getting about two each month to sell.

Clayton said his experience with both types of aircraft has been “indescribable.”

“I’ve been known to have a lot of different hobbies,” he said, “but this hobby, just the thrill that someone can separate themselves from the earth, that’s really something.”