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Time for FAA to end all hope?

By General Aviation News Staff · March 24, 2006 ·

John “JT” Helms clarified his point very well and his concern for rising insurance premiums is mine as well. And I think we can agree that insuring Sport Pilot pilots is a can of worms that will sort itself out as a history of insurance claims develops.

If John’s point of view is the basis for being insurable, then nothing has changed. A third class medical, or its equivalent in some other form, is mandatory to legally pilot a general aviation aircraft, no matter what category it is in. How do you feel about gliders and balloons, including motor gliders? They have no “standards for medical certification” and never have according to AIM 8-1-1. Does Part 67 override here also? Is the insurance industry going to require medical forms be filled out with penalties for not disclosing every hangnail? Are these penalties already in the fine print?

Just for the record: I don’t self certify based on “how I feel.” Between my cardiologist and my exercise program I remain free of any symptoms that might suggest I am not fit to fly. When was the last time you reached your maximum heart rate? I do it three times a week. This type of information carries no weight with the FAA because they can’t control it. They require a very expensive test and if there are too many ahead of you in Oklahoma, they will request that it be run over again because too much time has passed since it was taken. My point of view is shared by every pilot I know that is facing the “medical problem” some time in the future. If the Sport Pilot program is not what it seems to be, the FAA should say so, in as few words as possible, and end the hope we all have of relaxed medical requirements.

Morrie Caudill
via email

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