Medical certificate

[disneymoon]

I'm a 43-year-old woman... I just got my first-class medical today! I had to wear glasses for the eye exam, but I passed... But I was worried... the medical is so important for my career... and I'm also feeling stressed about having to get checked every six months... Could you give me some tips on what to do and avoid to maintain my first-class medical as I get older? Also, what are my chances of getting a job as an airline pilot at my age?
P.S. I am starting to get a PPL.

 

[HornedFrogGrant]

Could you give me some tips on what to do and avoid to maintain my first-class medical as I get older?

If any medical condition arises between your flight physicals, no matter how benign it may seem to you and/or your personal physician, schedule an informal “consultation” with your AME before submitting ANYTHING in FAA MedXPress portal or scheduling a flight physical.

In MedXPress and during a flight physical, don’t lie, but also don’t volunteer any more info than exactly what is being asked of you.

 

[rhkennerly]

Also, there a completely anonymous thread here on POA to specifically ask medical questions. You don’t want to leave a paper trail of any kind. As Grant said, get an advisory with an AME if something comes up. But rule #1 is never ask OKC a question you do not already know the answer to. Once you get on at an airline they have an entire department devoted protecting their investment & keeping you in the cockpit. Until then you are mostly on your own.

What are your chances? That’s too far into the future to tell. Maybe as you get closer to 2k hrs it will be clearer.

Enjoy the journey, & remember that there are many pilot positions out there besides the Bigs. You might decide that you want to branch out into corporate, instruction, or ag as you build hours. It’s a quite big field.

good luck & don’t be a stranger around here.

 

[bbchien]

Corporate jets would be the usual path for a start, in your 40s....but you CAN do this. Find an AME who is interested in your LONG TERM survival in the biz, whom you can call....heck I've been called from the PCP exam cubicle.....and don't regard it as an - "just every six month" encounter. With good and timely advice, you can influence the future course. But you don't get that unless you have a long term relationship.

Pilots are notorious for planning 3 hours ahead. This stuff is best if you look 3 years ahead.

 

[wbcor]

Good advice on the other posts. Move expeditiously through your ratings. Becoming a CFI is likely the earliest opportunity to build time. I got my first professional job as a medevac SIC at age 43 having ~1200 hours, commercial, multi etc. Great way to build time but not much money. As far as maintaining health to consistently pass first class medical:
1) Height /weight proportionate.
2) Healthy diet.
3) Strictly limit sugar.
4) Limit alcohol.
5) Routine exercise.

 

[M20K]

Doesn't really matter if you're going for our 1st or 3rd Class, what @HornedFrogGrant said about "CONSULTATIONS" if something comes up is the way to go. Don't go in for your 6mo exam and bring up something new. Like the attorneys in all the moves... Don't ask a question you don't know the answer to, so don't tell your AME about something you don't know how they (or the FAA) is going to react to.

The other one is on Medications! Don't take anything new for one of those benign issue without making sure the FAA does not have an issue with it. I've seen numerous people start taking one drug that the FAA grounded them for when they could have taken a different one with no issues. And odds are there won't be an issue, but you just need to check before you start taking anything new.

 

[Palmpilot]

...don't tell your AME about something you don't know how they (or the FAA) is going to react to....

I don't see how it would be possible to follow that advice without falsifying the MedXpress form. Isn't there a question about "any other condition" on the form?

 

[midlifeflyer]

I don't see how it would be possible to follow that advice without falsifying the MedXpress form. Isn't there a question about "any other condition" on the form?

I think it can and should be followed. @M20K only said to know in advance how the FAA would react. To me that’s the kind of thing advance consults and other prep are all about.

You might, for example, know that the AME Guide requires supporting documentation. So you get it in advance instead of dealing with a revolving door deferral.

For another example, I knew someone who was concerned about a health issue. They went to a specialist who excluded the bad thing. But the last thing they wanted was to disclose that visit in case the FAA asked for all sorts of extra tests and documentation. So he didn’t disclose them - legally. By exercising sport privileges until the 3-year window for disclosing health care visits closed.

 

[LogScanPro]

I'm a 43-year-old woman... I just got my first-class medical today! I had to wear glasses for the eye exam, but I passed... But I was worried... the medical is so important for my career... and I'm also feeling stressed about having to get checked every six months... Could you give me some tips on what to do and avoid to maintain my first-class medical as I get older? Also, what are my chances of getting a job as an airline pilot at my age?
P.S. I am starting to get a PPL.

It's never too late to start over. If you get into trouble with your medical, there are companies out there who help pilots get back into the air if they have a medical issue. One such company, and I have no affiliation with them, is https://www.harveywatt.com. I have an aviation logbook company, so I keep tabs on hiring trends, and those are still fairly strong for the foreseeable future.