Money is it
It does come down to money secondarily though for many people. While some claim that a school sports physical is less intrusive, that is simply not true. There is nothing known to me to be illegal about failure to disclose your FULL LIFE medical history bc you want to play basketball. It is however, a federal offense to do so on an FAA medical, and they know your history. Lots of conditions are automatically disqualifying or need special issuance.
Ever had migraines? better check and pay someone to find out. ADHD? Alcohol abuse/dui? infarct? thrombosis in your leg? medications for pain, allergies, depression? mental illness? people with prosthesis... put it on and welcome to the altitude chamber at mike monrony... hemorrhage, bleeding disorders, ever been knocked unconscious... better check with the dr and likely get an extensive writeup as to why these kinds of things will not be a safety of flight issue.
The point is, if you and your spouse weigh as much as most Americans, and you want to fly her on a weekend 400 nm round trip with fuel reserves, SP may be too small, motor gliders are not widely available, and your best bet would be say a cherokee 161 or cessna 172. But then that person may have to pay 5-10G out of pocket just to get the tests to prove they are not a risk to fly with the one they love. That's the entire flight budget for many ga pilots out there. To avoid this, I'll bet there are tons of people out there flying light sport either entirely overweight, or short on fuel, both of which are huge risks that are needlessly pressed upon their psyche because of a couple hundred pounds of 'safety' in structure and fuel reserves which could make aviation actually safer if they were able to fly a 172, cherokee 140, etc.
Money is king... For a person like that, it now costs twice as much to fly as the guy in front of him on the flight line.
I'm hoping for some good news in this regard from the FAA somewhere between tomorrow and.... well who knows when. lol
