Do's and don'ts

R

Rene

Guest
I am a female HS student in the USA who wishes to obtain a PPL as soon as I don't need anyone's permission. I have read "horror stories" about people who have been tripped up obtaining a medical. Yes, my high school hands out Methylphenidate like the Wehrmacht . . . and, well, there is also a whole lot of illicit drug use by those who've already given up. TBH I haven't seen a doctor or dentist in I don't know how long, but I'd rather wait a little while until I get to make those decisions.

If I want a career in aviation what should I do and more importantly not do, medically speaking, to help ensure that I'm not the cause of being rejected.
 
You said your school hands these out all the time, but you didn't say if you use them or not. Methylphenidate is a disqualifier for an FAA medical. You need to see if any drugs you are taking are flagged by the FAA. The quick and cheap way to see is simply do an online search for the drug followed by FAA. Another way is to join AOPA and ask their medical experts for advice. The cost is reasonable and might save you a lot of time and energy down the road. Hope this helps
 
Rene said:
I am a female HS student in the USA who wishes to obtain a PPL as soon as I don't need anyone's permission. I have read "horror stories" about people who have been tripped up obtaining a medical. Yes, my high school hands out Methylphenidate like the Wehrmacht . . . and, well, there is also a whole lot of illicit drug use by those who've already given up. TBH I haven't seen a doctor or dentist in I don't know how long, but I'd rather wait a little while until I get to make those decisions.

If I want a career in aviation what should I do and more importantly not do, medically speaking, to help ensure that I'm not the cause of being rejected.
Click to expand...
I would be asking why the school is dispensing drugs without a prescription. Are they now doctors and pharmacists?
 
Rene said:
I am a female HS student in the USA who wishes to obtain a PPL as soon as I don't need anyone's permission. I have read "horror stories" about people who have been tripped up obtaining a medical. Yes, my high school hands out Methylphenidate like the Wehrmacht . . . and, well, there is also a whole lot of illicit drug use by those who've already given up. TBH I haven't seen a doctor or dentist in I don't know how long, but I'd rather wait a little while until I get to make those decisions.

If I want a career in aviation what should I do and more importantly not do, medically speaking, to help ensure that I'm not the cause of being rejected.
Click to expand...
If you are healthy now, just stay that way.
 
Don’t go to a doctor unless you believe you have a medical problem. If you do, there are some folks on this forum who can get into specifics for the situation and lay out the course to take with the FAA.

Do go to a dentist and get regular checkups. Exercise daily, eat sensibly, 100% avoid recreational drugs, tobacco, and alcohol. Commit now to staying physically fit for life and you’ll prevent many future health problems. Don’t hang around with dopers or alcohol abusers. Don’t drink underage - it can cause problems with the FAA in the future.

Do more than the minimum required in every aspect of your life. Take classes that challenge you, that will take more study time and aren’t an easy A. When school is out for the summer, get a job and work as many hours as you can. You’ll really enjoy and appreciate some growing financial independence, and your overall life skills will grow more quickly.

And plan an alternate career. Every pilot is one unexpected medical event away from being a pedestrian, and many professional pilots are a 9/11 or stock market downturn away from at least temporary loss of income.

And don’t give up. You could run into speed bumps on the way, but keep pushing forward, and never be the one to remove your name from a hiring list, a scholarship application, team roster, whatever. You’ll do this.
 
Hello Rene,

The only reason you should see a doctor at this point in your life is if you break a bone, pull a muscle,
have a car accident, etc. etc.

Stay away from them if at all possible.
 
I just read a book called "Healthy to 120". It says the same thing. Stay away from doctors unless you have to see them, and stay away from medicine that isn't FAA approved
 
Rene said:
…If I want a career in aviation what should I do and more importantly not do, medically speaking, to help ensure that I'm not the cause of being rejected.
Click to expand...
Interesting word choice. The best thing you can do is understand the process, control alcohol, pot, and certain prescription medication use, and take care of your self.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
You said your school hands these out all the time, but you didn't say if you use them or not. Methylphenidate is a disqualifier for an FAA medical. You need to see if any drugs you are taking are flagged by the FAA. The quick and cheap way to see is simply do an online search for the drug followed by FAA. Another way is to join AOPA and ask their medical experts for advice. The cost is reasonable and might save you a lot of time and energy down the road. Hope this helps
Click to expand...
I don't partake. And I know speed is a no-no even if the school says yes-yes.

Since schools are not a place to learn, I guess the "golden rule" is to remain invisible until my parole . . . oops . . . I meant graduation.
 
BillTIZ said:
I would be asking why the school is dispensing drugs without a prescription. Are they now doctors and pharmacists?
Click to expand...
The district employs a nurse practitioner.

Now, I'm just 17 . . . I'll be a senior in the fall . . . but dispensing free speed to adolescents you saw for 15-seconds -- if at all -- just doesn't sound like a very prudent policy to me.

Meanwhile, a nearby state charged an insurance company executive -- individually -- for practicing medicine without a license.
 
TCABM said:
Interesting word choice. The best thing you can do is understand the process, control alcohol, pot, and certain prescription medication use, and take care of your self.
Click to expand...
Seriously, if I walk to my high school I pass three dispensaries and four liquor stores. If I drive to the airport where I work I pass two different dispensaries and four different liquor stores. (Good thing that the economy has never been better, and we are all enjoying those 4 million new jobs.)
 
Rene said:
Seriously, if I walk to my high school I pass three dispensaries and four liquor stores. If I drive to the airport where I work I pass two different dispensaries and four different liquor stores. (Good thing that the economy has never been better, and we are all enjoying those 4 million new jobs.)
Click to expand...

What does any of that have to do with getting your PPL without anyone’s permission? In some aspect’s though you’ll eventually need your CFI’s permission to fly solo and then again to take the practical exam.

Have you started studying for your written exam yet? You don’t need anyone’s permission to do that; all the content is freely available to download and there’s several freely available outlines if you want to organize your learning journey.

Looking forward to following your progression in the Pilot Training forum. Good luck.
 
TCABM said:
. . . . you’ll eventually need your CFI’s permission to fly solo and then again to take the practical exam.
Click to expand...
That's fine. If my CFI doesn't think I'm ready it's based on his assessment of my skills and what I need to work on. As opposed to my parent's refusal to sign a form allowing me to rent an airplane.
 
I am just curious here... how many hours do you have so far?
Everyone progresses at different rates, and everyone has certain aspects of flying they get right away, and other aspects they have trouble mastering. Sometimes during your training doing some external research can be a big help.

I had a problem understanding and interpreting VOR navigation. During a supervised XC I dialed up a BRV and started navigation but I had a FROM indication instead of a TO indication and it got me lost. How did I get past it? I got a road map and plotted BRV on the map, then drew out the radials in the areas I would be flying, then I put TO and FROM arrows on the radials, showing proper airplane orientation on each radial.

Sorry about the rambling...
 
Perhaps a talk with your parents is in order. Are they concerned about your safety in a small airplane, or about their own liability?

Good for you to recognize the ADHD drug trap and avoiding the other stuff too. Don't shun doctors for physical ailments, but be very cautious about discussing any mental or emotional issues with a doctor who can enter a troublesome psych diagnosis in your medical record... if you ever feel the need, a non physician counselor is a safer place to start.
 
The Troll Meter is reading high yellow here. “…my high school hands out Methylphenidate like the Wehrmacht”

I’d like to see some evidence ANY school is “handing out” a Schedule II medication without a prescription and/or documented evaluation. If it’s a school nurse (properly) dispensing doses needed during the daytime for a student under another provider’s care, that’s entirely appropriate and no different than them getting their insulin for their Type I diabetes or something. And I didn’t realize the Wehrmacht was into Ritalin.

This may all be a bit of hyperbole but I’m sticking with yellow on the meter for now - and not just because of that.
 
Rene said:
Seriously, if I walk to my high school I pass three dispensaries and four liquor stores. If I drive to the airport where I work I pass two different dispensaries and four different liquor stores. (Good thing that the economy has never been better, and we are all enjoying those 4 million new jobs.)
Click to expand...
Even though our society celebrates and encourages substance abuse, including SSRI's and other legal medications, they throw all those hedonistic indulgences out the window when it comes to aircraft drivers. And all that talk about sharing feelings, even the sad, bad ones? Keep them to yourself and never tell a professional!
 
BillTIZ said:
I would be asking why the school is dispensing drugs without a prescription. Are they now doctors and pharmacists?
Click to expand...
There's usually an in-house nurse. Plus the schools are now "recommending" meds to the parents, and who are the parents to say no? I'm sure if today's culture of "better living thru modern chemistry" existed when I was in grade school, I would have been put on everything...I was bored. Got banned from the school library because I was checking out a book every day, returning it the next. Read the book during algebra and still got an A. Would have read a second book during physics class but my high school didn't offer physics.
 
Llewtrah381 said:
The Troll Meter is reading high yellow here. “…my high school hands out Methylphenidate like the Wehrmacht”

I’d like to see some evidence ANY school is “handing out” a Schedule II medication without a prescription and/or documented evaluation. If it’s a school nurse (properly) dispensing doses needed during the daytime for a student under another provider’s care, that’s entirely appropriate and no different than them getting their insulin for their Type I diabetes or something. And I didn’t realize the Wehrmacht was into Ritalin.

This may all be a bit of hyperbole but I’m sticking with yellow on the meter for now - and not just because of that.
Click to expand...
But it's such a great description “…my high school hands out Methylphenidate like the Wehrmacht”

How many teenagers would even know about the Wehrmacht these days?

Question to Rene - what state are you in?
 
Llewtrah381 said:
The Troll Meter is reading high yellow here. “…my high school hands out Methylphenidate like the Wehrmacht”
Click to expand...

If a discussion is interesting and informative, I can't think of a reason to care whether it was started by a troll or not.

Llewtrah381 said:
...And I didn’t realize the Wehrmacht was into Ritalin....
Click to expand...

Maybe not Ritalin, but stimulants in general were apparently encouraged.

en.wikipedia.org

Drug policy of Nazi Germany - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
Last edited:
Palmpilot said:
If a discussion is interesting and informative, I can't think of a reason to care whether it was started by a troll or not.
Click to expand...
Because if it’s “normalizing” an incorrect - intentionally misleading - narrative, such as Schedule II drugs being “…hand(ed) out like the Wehrmacht”, it would seem to be feeding an overall narrative disguised as a “legitimate” conversation.

If this a post by a no-kidding high schooler with legitimate questions, then great.

IF it’s someone misrepresenting (i.e. lying about) who they are, then there’s a motive for that, and probably not honorable. By contrast, if it was cast - by an anonymous guest - as “I’ve heard they hand out methylphenidate in schools like the Wehrmacht. What’s a kid to do these days to avoid ruining their chances for a flying career?”, then I’d agree it’s a reasonable way to get a discussion going, even if I don’t think the premise is true.

The amount of intentional misinformation is astonishing and happens very subtly in some cases. It’s rampant on PoA, in my opinion.
 
There's so much misinformation on the Internet that fact-checking is necessary whether the discussion is started by a troll or not.
 
murphey said:
. . . . Read the book during algebra and still got an A. Would have read a second book during physics class but my high school didn't offer physics.
Click to expand...
Well . . . how dare you read books in school of all places!

I hear you, one of our coaches, who I doubt can count to 26 . . . let alone 27 or 28 :rolleyes: was my study hall teacher this year. But I got all of my work for all of my other classes done in there and still got a math credit towards graduation.
 
William Pete Hodges said:
I am just curious here... how many hours do you have so far?
Everyone progresses at different rates, and everyone has certain aspects of flying they get right away, and other aspects they have trouble mastering. Sometimes during your training doing some external research can be a big help.

I had a problem understanding and interpreting VOR navigation. During a supervised XC I dialed up a BRV and started navigation but I had a FROM indication instead of a TO indication and it got me lost. How did I get past it? I got a road map and plotted BRV on the map, then drew out the radials in the areas I would be flying, then I put TO and FROM arrows on the radials, showing proper airplane orientation on each radial.

Sorry about the rambling...
Click to expand...
Right now no official hours.

I don't think that I can get a medical for about a year, because the folks I know about say I'd need a parent to sign. But that doesn't matter right now. When one of "our" planes returns I type the condition and time on a tablet, make sure nobody barfed (oh . . . that's fun to clean up) check the sticks and top off the tanks of liquid dinosaur. Then, every two weeks I sock the proceeds away for next year, when I won't need permission.

I can't rent a plane here without a parent to sign a waiver of liability.

Every so often some guy . . . always a guy :cool: . . . usually a much older guy . . . offers me a ride . . . which for some reason they call "stick time". A couple have even taught me a thing or two. I mean about airplanes. Mom wouldn't approve, but in a tandem it seems safe enough. :rolleyes:

Bob Harder, in "Flying from the Black Hole" had a cute story about a lead-navigator who misread a heading and took a flight on a training mission out to sea on the reciprocal.
 
murphey said:
But it's such a great description “…my high school hands out Methylphenidate like the Wehrmacht”

How many teenagers would even know about the Wehrmacht these days?

Question to Rene - what state are you in?
Click to expand...
As stated the school employs a Nurse Practitioner. NPs can write scripts. I never said the school janitor was handing out speed, or that anyone was handing it without a script. But, you know, back in the 70s USAF and USA officers were handing out speed in SEA.

Ritalin is "Meth-lite", and no German would drink a "Bud-light". But, Methylphenidate or Pervitin, it's a distinction without a difference.

"A military doctor, Otto Ranke, experimented with Pervitin on 90 college students and decided, based on his results, that the drug would help Germany win the war. Using Pervitin, the soldiers of the Wehrmacht could stay awake for days at a time and march many more miles without resting." - The History Channel

Why yes, I do have AP credits in History, why do you ask?

1720295011775.png
 
Llewtrah381 said:
Because if it’s “normalizing” an incorrect - intentionally misleading - narrative, such as Schedule II drugs being “…hand(ed) out like the Wehrmacht”, it would seem to be feeding an overall narrative disguised as a “legitimate” conversation.

If this a post by a no-kidding high schooler with legitimate questions, then great.

IF it’s someone misrepresenting (i.e. lying about) who they are, then there’s a motive for that, and probably not honorable. By contrast, if it was cast - by an anonymous guest - as “I’ve heard they hand out methylphenidate in schools like the Wehrmacht. What’s a kid to do these days to avoid ruining their chances for a flying career?”, then I’d agree it’s a reasonable way to get a discussion going, even if I don’t think the premise is true.

The amount of intentional misinformation is astonishing and happens very subtly in some cases. It’s rampant on PoA, in my opinion.
Click to expand...
I'm smart enough to stay away from speed. But, I certainly know other "smart kids" who happily accept scripts for things they really don't "need", because it's offered. I have plenty of classmates who drink alcohol and ingest THC (be it obtained by older siblings, friends, parents, or "grown out back, you know dog-poop is an excellent fertilizer". If they go on to become a CPA or state representative it probably won't matter.

The way I probably should have phrased it was, "beyond the obvious, what should I avoid so as not to trip myself up."
 
I'm so sad . . ..

I even missed out on lawn darts!
1720298542716.png


Although Martha Lunken's version with sacks of flour sounds like more fun. :rolleyes: (Don't worry, I'll stay away from bridges.)
 

Attachments

  • 1720298494953.png
    1720298494953.png
    4.9 KB · Views: 8
Last edited:
Zeldman said:
Romper Stompers


I did not have a pair because I was outside the recommended age of 2.5 to 6 years of age....
Click to expand...
Yeah, me too, but my little sister had some, I think. I know we also had some much older things that were more like tin can stilts that strapped to your shoes… I seem to recall some sort of circus theme graphics on them. Dim memory though.
 
Dana said:
Perhaps a talk with your parents is in order. Are they concerned about your safety in a small airplane, or about their own liability?
Click to expand...
I don't think that my parents are all that different from most of the adults that I know. They lack the ability to make rational risk to reward assessments and have a false binary "safe" - "dangerous" model in which the familiar is safe if it hasn't bitten them (so high school football, ice fishing, fireworks, snowmobiles, and ATVs are "safe" (and "Luke" who blew three fingers off with an M-80 is a m***n) while the unfamiliar (chilaquiles, boiled bagels and small airplanes) are "unsafe".

That's just the way it is.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top