Basicmed for training

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dp342b

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Derek
Hi, I recently decided to get back into flight training and I went to a flight instructor for advice on basic med. He said it is for sport pilot only. I was issued a normal 3rd class medical with no SI/SC back on 4/14/2005. It never got suspended or revoked either. I soloed back then but never got a PPL because I ran out of money and time. (I was in college at the time)

Now I want to get back into training and my question is... Can I get back into training for a PPL under the basicmed program. I've seen alot on faa.gov about it but nothing that says I can flight train on basicmed.

Thanks
 
Yes you can.

Unless you misunderstood the instructor, he doesn’t know what he is talking about. BasicMed has nothing to do with sport pilots (other than the ability of the holder of a sport pilot certificate to be endorsed for night flight).

They don’t talk about flight training under BasicMed much simply because your situation is rare. But check out FAR 61.23[a)(3) which authorizes exercising student pilot privileges and taking checkrides under BasicMed.
 
Refer your CFi to CFR 61.23(c) and ask him if his answer is final or if he would like to change it.

Operations requiring either a medical certificate or U.S. driver's license.

(c) Operations requiring either a medical certificate or U.S. driver's license.
(1) A person must hold and possess either a medical certificate issued under part 67 of this chapter or a U.S. driver's license when—
…
(v) Exercising the privileges of a student, recreational or private pilot certificate if the flight is conducted under the conditions and limitations set forth in § 61.113(i);

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-14/part-61#p-61.23(c)(1)(v)
 
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In order to get BasicMed, you have to have had an FAA medical issued after July 15, 2006. So, while your instructor was wrong, you can't use BasicMed because you don't meet the requirements.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
In order to get BasicMed, you have to have had an FAA medical issued after July 15, 2006. So, while your instructor was wrong, you can't use BasicMed because you don't meet the requirements.
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His last medical certificate was issued 4/14/2005 so without an SI it would have expired no sooner than 4/30/2007. So the OP makes the cutoff, as it is “held” not “issued”.
 
Brad Z said:
His last medical certificate was issued 4/14/2005 so without an SI it would have expired no sooner than 4/30/2007. So the OP makes the cutoff, as it is “held” not “issued”.
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Correct as long as it was a normal 3rd class and not an SI that stipulated a shorter duration.
 
Bill said:
Correct as long as it was a normal 3rd class and not an SI that stipulated a shorter duration.
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Even if it was a SI, if he had completed the requirements of the term and then let it expire, he is good to go with BasicMed. Been there, done that. :)
 
OneCharlieTango said:
In order to get BasicMed, you have to have had an FAA medical issued after July 15, 2006. So, while your instructor was wrong, you can't use BasicMed because you don't meet the requirements.
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Not quite. You have to have had an FAA medical which was valid on July 15, 2006 or later. That would include a medical issued to a pilot under age 40 as early as July 2001.
 
robin ardoin said:
Even if it was a SI, if he had completed the requirements of the term and then let it expire, he is good to go with BasicMed. Been there, done that. :)
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That kind of depends. If the medical said, "not good for any class after 4/20/2006" (a common 1-year duration), he wouldn't qualify because it wasn't valid in July 2006.
 
Do not forget about mosaic. As long as your last medical has never been denied, revoked, or suspended you can fly on your drivers license.

The
FAA's Modernization of Special Airworthiness Certification (MOSAIC) rule (effective 2025/2026) expands Sport Pilot privileges, allowing them to fly heavier, faster aircraft (up to 4 seats) using a valid U.S. driver’s license instead of an FAA medical certificate. For most operations, no medical exam is needed, but for night flying, a third-class medical or BasicMed is required.
 
midlifeflyer said:
That kind of depends. If the medical said, "not good for any class after 4/20/2006" (a common 1-year duration), he wouldn't qualify because it wasn't valid in July 2006.
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My medical was issued on 4/14/2005. I was 21 at the time and since I was under 40, my 3rd class medical was good for 60 months. (5 years) It would have expired on 4/30/2010. That's well after July 15, 2006.
 
midlifeflyer said:
Yes you can.

Unless you misunderstood the instructor, he doesn’t know what he is talking about. BasicMed has nothing to do with sport pilots (other than the ability of the holder of a sport pilot certificate to be endorsed for night flight).

They don’t talk about flight training under BasicMed much simply because your situation is rare. But check out FAR 61.23[a)(3) which authorizes exercising student pilot privileges and taking checkrides under BasicMed.
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Kinda wondering if I should shop around for other instructors. If he's not well versed in the current FAR, what else isn't he versed in, ya know.
 
I chose the BasicMed route cause I wanna start training now. I've been on some meds that the FAA says are "conditionally acceptable." (I don't wanna jump through hoops and wait a year for the FAA to respond)

So why is the FAA so strict when it comes to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class medicals and not really strict with basicmed?

The FAA has stated that the pilot in command (regardless of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and/or basicmed) must utilize the IMSAFE checklist before every flight, ultimately shifting the responsibility to the PIC, as to, if their medically qualified to perform a flight that day.
 
dp342b said:
He said it is for sport pilot only.
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Find a new instructor. This one is too ignorant to be trusted.

@Brad Z gave you the correct answer above about eligibility. If you read any of the FAA's material about Basic Med, there's a decent chance Brad is the one who wrote it. He is POA's mole inside the FAA and his answer can be trusted.

I did my Private Pilot checkride using Basic Med. It's perfectly acceptable for training, and Basic Med has nothing to do with Sport Pilot. Sport Pilot only requires a valid driver's license for a medical.
 
ateamer said:
I’d be a bit concerned about a CFI who doesn’t know something that basic.
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The ability to use BasicMed in training is unusual enough that I can see a CFI who doesn't deal with it misunderstanding (assuming our OP didn't misunderstand the CFI). And when it comes to sport and MOSAIC, I've seen enough downright wrong things said, I wouldn't be surprised at anyone being confused. I've actually seen people say that a private pilot now needs a special night endorsement under 61.329. People who you would absolutely expect to know better.
 
bbchien said:
What is disturbing about the CFI is he doesn't know what he doesn't know. We are trained to look it up. He did not.
I wonder what else he doesn't know that he doesn't know.

Go elsewhere.....
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I always tell my students who ask "So what's the advantage of a PhD?" Other than the money and women, I usually tell them "Look... you have this vague sense of all the things you don't know. Well, I have studied enough to have a very concrete and vivid sense of the enormous range of things I don't know. The PhD makes me humble."
 
Lawson_Stone said:
I always tell my students who ask "So what's the advantage of a PhD?" Other than the money and women, I usually tell them "Look... you have this vague sense of all the things you don't know. Well, I have studied enough to have a very concrete and vivid sense of the enormous range of things I don't know. The PhD makes me humble."
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A little Dunning-Kruger effect action?
 
dp342b said:
My medical was issued on 4/14/2005. I was 21 at the time and since I was under 40, my 3rd class medical was good for 60 months. (5 years) It would have expired on 4/30/2010. That's well after July 15, 2006.
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Your wasn't an issue. You said at the beginning it was issued in April 2005 with no SI. Even if you were 90 years old, it would still be valid in July 2006 :D
 
dp342b said:
I chose the BasicMed route cause I wanna start training now. I've been on some meds that the FAA says are "conditionally acceptable." (I don't wanna jump through hoops and wait a year for the FAA to respond)

So why is the FAA so strict when it comes to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class medicals and not really strict with basicmed?

The FAA has stated that the pilot in command (regardless of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and/or basicmed) must utilize the IMSAFE checklist before every flight, ultimately shifting the responsibility to the PIC, as to, if their medically qualified to perform a flight that day.
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Well, regardless of the type of certification or none at all, the regulations always require you to self-assess your medical condition. That not a mnemonic; that's regulation. (There is nothing that says you have to use the IMSAFE mnemonic.)

With BasicMed, the FAA decided that for the operations it covers, it's enough that a physician doesn't see a problem based on their directed examination (directed in the sense that there is a form telling them things to look at). You've been put of the loop for a while, but it has worked out well. It's a safe bet we would not be seeing the expansion of sport privileges under MOSAIC if it didn't.

Your question about the CFI? I dunno. First there's the possibility of simple miscommunication. Then, the real test for me isn't whether the CFI made a mistake, but what they say when you do what @TCABM suggested - ask him to look at the regulation and check again. If he corrects himself and you otherwise "click," I'd give him a shot. OTOH, if he sticks to his guns and celebrates his ignorance as a virtue, then, I'd be looking elsewhere so so many reasons.
 
dp342b said:
So why is the FAA so strict when it comes to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd class medicals and not really strict with basicmed?
Click to expand...

midlifeflyer said:
With BasicMed, the FAA decided that for the operations it covers,....
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Basic Med's requirements aren't up to the FAA, and the FAA didn't create it. Basic Med was created by Congress, legislatively, and essentially rammed down the FAA's throat. The FAA doesn't even get a report from your Basic Med physician; you just have to keep the signed form in your logbook.
 
Half Fast said:
Basic Med's requirements aren't up to the FAA, and the FAA didn't create it. Basic Med was created by Congress, legislatively, and essentially rammed down the FAA's throat. The FAA doesn't even get a report from your Basic Med physician; you just have to keep the signed form in your logbook.
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Thank you. I accept the technical correction. But since the FAA has had a chance to make modifications and has gone way beyond BasicMed with MOSAIC, I stick by the essence of my comment.
 
rockyfatcat said:
Do not forget about mosaic. As long as your last medical has never been denied, revoked, or suspended you can fly on your drivers license.
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To take the Private checkride you need at least a class 3 or basicmed. Once you have the PP certificate you can "exercise Sport Pilot privileges" with just a DL.
midlifeflyer said:
Your question about the CFI? I dunno. First there's the possibility of simple miscommunication. Then, the real test for me isn't whether the CFI made a mistake, but what they say when you do what @TCABM suggested - ask him to look at the regulation and check again. If he corrects himself and you otherwise "click," I'd give him a shot. OTOH, if he sticks to his guns and celebrates his ignorance as a virtue, then, I'd be looking elsewhere so so many reasons.
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:yeahthat: A lot of CFIs know next to nothing about SP and Basicmed because it doesn't apply to them. A smaller percentage of CFIs look down their noses at sport pilots as not "real" pilots, and think of Basicmed as for "people who are hiding something so they can't get a medical." Educate the first group and avoid the second.
 
Mosaic.
    • Previous Denials: If a pilot has previously applied for an FAA medical and was denied, revoked, or suspended, they cannot use their driver's license until that issue is resolved with the FAA.
 
rockyfatcat said:
Mosaic.
    • Previous Denials: If a pilot has previously applied for an FAA medical and was denied, revoked, or suspended, they cannot use their driver's license until that issue is resolved with the FAA.
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"resolved with the FAA" means a special issuance. Get that once, let it expire, and you're good to go.
 
Dana said:
A lot of CFIs know next to nothing about SP and Basicmed
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Probably true but a lot do have BasicMed knowledge. I know many CFIs who not only know about BasicMed, but are themselves operating under BasicMed. Their primary students may have FAA medicals, but many instrument trainees and renters and fligh review candidates are BasicMed. Personally, I’ve been BasicMed since 2017 or 2018.
 
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