Third class medical for older person

FormerHangie

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FormerHangie
I just turned 60, and am thinking of getting my medical back and getting current again, though this time in weight shift trikes. I'm a healthy person, take no medications, have never been diagnosed with cardiovascular problems, blood pressure around 110/70, normal weight. About the only issue I can think of is that I had radial keratotomy done about 35 years ago, and now I wear contact lenses to correct my vision, last time to 20/20 in each eye separately, and that I'm developing a cataract in one eye.

Since I'm way out of currency, I'll need a lot of dual to both learn to fly a weight shift aircraft and to get back to current, probably enough to get me to where I could add the weight shift rating to my private airplane certificate. To do that, I'd need my medical back. I hear older pilots talk about the difficulty keeping their third class medicals, but since I have no health issues, should I expect difficulties getting mine?
 
Are there weight shift trikes that are not LSA?
 
Are there weight shift trikes that are not LSA?

Not that I know of. There's always the option of flying as a private pilot using Sport Pilot privileges. I was just going to go ahead and get my Private back since the effort level is similar.
 
Not that I know of. There's always the option of flying as a private pilot using Sport Pilot privileges.
Right. But you don't need a medical to be a private pilot exercising sport pilot privileges. Medical certificate requirements are based on the privileges you exercise, not the pilot certificate you hold.
I was just going to go ahead and get my Private back since the effort level is similar.
I don't understand what you mean by that. Did you surrender your pilot certificate or have it revoked for some reason? :dunno: Pilots certificates don't expire (well, technically, paper ones sort of did)

BTW, to answer your original question, I'm 66 and had no problem getting my third class medical this past summer. But it's usually a good idea to review your medical history with a qualified AME - on a consulting, not application basis - in case of any doubts.
 
Right. But you don't need a medical to be a private pilot exercising sport pilot privileges. Medical certificate requirements are based on the privileges you exercise, not the pilot certificate you hold.

I don't understand what you mean by that. Did you surrender your pilot certificate or have it revoked for some reason? :dunno: Pilots certificates don't expire (well, technically, paper ones sort of did)

BTW, to answer your original question, I'm 66 and had no problem getting my third class medical this past summer. But it's usually a good idea to review your medical history with a qualified AME - on a consulting, not application basis - in case of any doubts.

I haven't flown an airplane since 1983. Someone here posted his experience getting back into airplane flying after a similar break, and it came out to around 25 hours of dual. Minimum for a PPASEL to add on a weight shift rating is 20 hours of dual plus 10 solo. I figured that if I need that much dual, I might as well go get a Private weight shift.
 
Is Weight Shift a new category for which ASEL does not cover? I'm really not familiar with them.

Otherwise, you don't need a medical to fly LSA or less, including weight shift.

Edit: Ok, what I missed is that Weight Shift IS a different category, probably because when I think weight shift, I think of ultralight trikes. So here's the deal -

1) you want to fly an ultralight. No certification required, get a helmet and go flying.
2) you want to fly a LSA WS trike - you need a logbook endorsement. You will get training from one instructior and then the logbook endorsement from a different one. There is no minimum hours to do this. You need a driver's license to prove your medical fitness to fly light sport.
3) You want to fly a large weight shift aircraft that does not meet the LSA requirements - the requirements are listed in 61.109 (j). You will also need to renew a medical.

I'm drawing a blank right now, but somewhere there is a statement that a pilot with a private certificate may exercise the privileges of sport pilots. So you don't need any specific new qualification.

Keep in mind that you also need a flight review to "renew" your private certificate.
 
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FWIW, After 31 years of not logging nutten, I ended up with about 12 hours of dual to get flight reviewed and to wake up my tailwheel feet.
 
Does this qualify under basic Med?

If I didn't need to exercise my CPL/ATP even as a young guy I'd go basic med if it worked for my mission.
 
Is Weight Shift a new category for which ASEL does not cover? I'm really not familiar with them.

Otherwise, you don't need a medical to fly LSA or less, including weight shift.

Edit: Ok, what I missed is that Weight Shift IS a different category, probably because when I think weight shift, I think of ultralight trikes. So here's the deal -

1) you want to fly an ultralight. No certification required, get a helmet and go flying.
2) you want to fly a LSA WS trike - you need a logbook endorsement. You will get training from one instructior and then the logbook endorsement from a different one. There is no minimum hours to do this. You need a driver's license to prove your medical fitness to fly light sport.
3) You want to fly a large weight shift aircraft that does not meet the LSA requirements - the requirements are listed in 61.109 (j). You will also need to renew a medical.

I'm drawing a blank right now, but somewhere there is a statement that a pilot with a private certificate may exercise the privileges of sport pilots. So you don't need any specific new qualification.

Keep in mind that you also need a flight review to "renew" your private certificate.

Awright, let me clarify:
  • I received my Private Pilot, Airplane Single Engine Land in 1978.
  • I quit flying in 1983 to go sports car racing
  • I flew hang gliders from 2006 to 2013
  • I'm now interested in flying light sport trikes
  • To the best of my knowledge, there are no non-light sport trikes, but even if there are, I'm not interested in flying them.
  • I realize it is possible for me to become eligible to fly light sport trikes by getting a signoff to fly them as a sport pilot, without getting any sort of medical, using the driver's license medical option.
  • It is also possible for me go add a Weight Shift Single Engine Land rating to my Private by taking a minimum of 20 hours dual and flying 10 hours solo, plus passing a checkride given by a DPE.
  • In order to be signed off to exercise Sport Pilot privileges, I will have to take some amount of dual and pass a checkride given by another instructor.
  • In my estimation, the amount of dual instruction needed to achieve either of these is similar. I'm most likely not the ace that @Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe is. :D
  • Since it's a similar effort, why not go ahead and get the Private? Maybe it's more of a personal pride thing than anything else, much like the guys who get their commercials even though they don't fly for a living.
  • Since I'm in good health, why not go ahead and get the third class medical now. That way if I do decide to start flying airplanes again, all I have to do is to get current in ASEL, and can continue on using BasicMed.
  • Since I do have some experience flying weight shift hang gliders, I know that there is a physical component to flying weight shift, and at some point I will probably move back to flying some sort of airplane as I get older. It's easier to find something that's not light sport to rent than something that is.
Anyway, for those of you who answered the question, thanks, I'm going to go get my medical sometime early next year.
 
Should be a piece of cake for you, do it. I just got my medical after 26 years, I had an issue where I needed to be deferred, I figured all this out before I went for the FAA medical exam, determined which tests I needed, got the tests with good results, had the exam and I got my cert in the mail a few weeks ago. Sounds like you would just get issued. DUI's, convicted or not are an issue and SSRI meds are a problem, as long as you don't have any of these issues you should be fine. If something comes up then contact Dr Bruce or someone else for a consult BEFORE you go live with faa med form, but it sounds like you are fine.
 
Should be a piece of cake for you, do it. I just got my medical after 26 years, I had an issue where I needed to be deferred, I figured all this out before I went for the FAA medical exam, determined which tests I needed, got the tests with good results, had the exam and I got my cert in the mail a few weeks ago. Sounds like you would just get issued. DUI's, convicted or not are an issue and SSRI meds are a problem, as long as you don't have any of these issues you should be fine. If something comes up then contact Dr Bruce or someone else for a consult BEFORE you go live with faa med form, but it sounds like you are fine.

Thanks. I have no medical or traffic court history, and I'm going to the eye doctor shortly before I go for my medical.
 
Finding two weight shift instructors to give you the endorsement for SP privileges will probably be a LOT easier than finding a weight shift DPE for a Private rating.

If you've been flying hang gliders it should take you a lot less hours than 20/10 to be competent for the SP endorsement.
 
Awright, let me clarify:
  • In order to be signed off to exercise Sport Pilot privileges, I will have to take some amount of dual and pass a checkride given by another instructor.
A small correction - you do not need any instruction to fly under sport, other than a current flight review. You only need instruction/endorsement to fly weight shift because it's a different category. That might have been what you were saying since weight shift is your goal.

Flight reviews might be new since 1978 - you have to do an instructional/evaluation flight every 2 years, called a flight review in order to use the privileges of your certificate.
 
A small correction - you do not need any instruction to fly under sport, other than a current flight review. You only need instruction/endorsement to fly weight shift because it's a different category. That might have been what you were saying since weight shift is your goal.

Flight reviews might be new since 1978 - you have to do an instructional/evaluation flight every 2 years, called a flight review in order to use the privileges of your certificate.

I suppose from a regulations standpoint that's true, but since I haven't flown an airplane in 34 years, I'm certain I will need some instruction to be able to pass a flight review. The OP in this thread https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/flight-review-done.106728/#post-2393718 required 20 hours of dual and some ground study, I assume I will need something similar.
 
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