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Nub_Pilot

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Jeremy's new interest
I've always want to get my PPL (25+ years now) and have a couple friend with theirs, but was worried about not being able to pass the medical due to some of my conditions. I talked with a long time commercial pilot and she stated that there may be some hoops to jump through in getting the medical, but typically they will work with you to ensure you are in a good medical state to safely pilot a plane.

Now to my main question:
I am based out of CT, but am on work travel to VA for a couple months and would like to try and start some training. I know it can be difficult to start with one training center and then transfer to another later one, but I am looking at conducted some online ground school (Sporty's Learn to Fly Course) which could allow me to complete the written prior to returning home. Once I return I can start the flight portion of the training and it might save me some money in the long run.

I have taken a lot of online college courses, so I understand what would be required for this online training course.

Is this an effective path with my situation to be able to start some level of training and does anyone have any experience with this course in preparation to the written exam?

I am also working on starting my medical while I'm on travel also, but would have some limitation if documentation would be required for my forms. I assume the medical can be completed at ether location, but wanted to get started on this now and out of the way.

Thank you for any information, your time, and recommendations you can provide.
Jeremy
 
A couple of tracks to follow:

How to do flight training... best to keep it in a single locale. You'll have less repetition and reconfirming your knowledge from "the other guy." Changing CFI's always adds cost, unless the 'school' changes CFI's for you, in which case it is presumed you are right there. (ask me how I know)

Medical... you'll get a few go do the consult and then maybe get the 3rd before you proceed recommendations. You can preview them with the site search feature. IF you think it is remotely an issue you should train to Sport Pilot. Doing so means you can fly Sport with your driver's license.

Non-flying learning... go for written prep like Gold Method or Kings and knock that out. You can drill and kill the test and when you're flight training it will either 'click' or inform your questions.

All that said: GO FOR IT! Flying is fun.
 
Thanks Rob, I'll look into those 2 training course you recommended.

My concerns with my medical are sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and chronic headaches. I heard that everything can be waiverable, so we will see. All these conditions have been controlled by machine or medications for 5+ years now.

Thanks again.
 
I had read some other posts about their medical and I would start with that to figure out what additional items will be required. I'd like to have all the documentation and paperwork ready the first official review so that it can be done and over. I assume that I might need an SI for the items I'm concerned about above.
 
Before proceeding any further, make sure you can get a medical. You don’t want to spend any money on flight training, just for it to be in vain if you’re not able to hold a medical.
 
Have you heard of others not getting medical due to those conditions?

The other issue I would like to try to avoid is starting my medical and it ends up dragging out past the time and end up going home and have to see a different AME. Any issues transferring my application to a different AME in a different state?
 
Nub_Pilot said:
Have you heard of others not getting medical due to those conditions?

The other issue I would like to try to avoid is starting my medical and it ends up dragging out past the time and end up going home and have to see a different AME. Any issues transferring my application to a different AME in a different state?
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Those conditions will be obstacles, nothing insurmountable, but obstacles nonetheless. You’ll have to get a Special Issuance (SI) so there will be a few more hoops to jump through. I’d probably wait until you’ll be stationary for a little while so you don’t have to try and use multiple AME’s. It might complicate things a little more than necessary.
 
Thank you for the recommendation and it seems that shifting to different AME's can cause some other issues not related to the clearance of the medical. I do understand that if I receive the medical with SI's that I could shift to BasicMed for all follow medical clearances.
 
Talk around for a good AME...

Im not advocating a doc pencil someone a medical on their deathbed but some have a reputation foor working with pilots to get there and others are known to look for reasons to not get you in the air...
 
Huckster, I understand what you are getting at. I used to go out to the airports and just sit and watch everything going one, there was this website when you can listen to the tower comms. what is the etiquette to meet some of the people in the instructing\medical industry, I'm I can't just roll into the pilots lounge at the airports or FBO's. Trying to figure out how to get the word-of-mouth info regarding instructors and AME's.

Thanks for all the replies and look forward to starting my training.
 
Nub-I'm in CT as well and have heard some positive things about Oxford Flying Club at Oxford Airport, hope that helps
 
There are some other ways to get in the cockpit and fly which do not require a medical (though you do have to self certify that you are safe).

Gliders or light sport aircraft. One idea might be to start that in VA. You can either obtain one of those certificates and then do a private “add-on” using that time, or apply most of the time spent to a PPL later.

Who knows, you might even find you like gliding and soaring for its own sake
 
Cody, I'm down by Norwich and was looking into either Coastal or the one at the Westerly airport. I think there is another one in Windam too. Do you know of any AME's in that area?

Peter, my alternative would certify for sport but that would limits some of the things I'd like to accomplish. Have you ever heard about upgrading from sport to PPL? what would that process be?
 
Oh its not hard to chat with pilots swing by a local airport, tell em they have a beautiful plane, ask em a question or two about flying, pretend they arent on an overly detailed 30 minute monologue and ask em. Local instructors know whos who too. May be easier at a more quaint setting than a fancy flight school with brand new glass trainers too... idk but it would be for me. There's a lotta S shooting over bad coffee in styrofoam cups at local airports... see if theres a fly in you could drive to, probably once weather breaks a bit.

Most pilots will tell ya all they know, get as many opinions as you can so you can triangulate off the BS to find the info you need...
 
Huckster, I started looking into the fly-in for the surrounding areas both in CT and VA (while on travel). Thanks for all the info and recommendations.
 
No problem, just become an information sponge any chance you get!

I will tell you when i got in, i worried i would be odd man out as i wasnt aa wealthy as what I assumed most pilots were and that it would be an arrogant group... NOT TRUE. Sure theres a few, will be in any group, but more often than not the three guys sipping coffee; one flies a decked out twin, the other a nice 172 and the other a hand propped old ragwing and they chat n argue like the brothers they are...
 
sounds like a group like I used to work with while in the Navy.
 
Don’t see anything specific about the medical conditions, so hard to give advice.

I would do the Medical first. Schedule a consult to see what documentation you will need to have him issue. Get the documents requested and then schedule the real exam.

If you are denied, it can adversely effect other flying options.
 
Maj,
My conditions with my medical are sleep apnea, high blood pressure, and chronic headaches. When I get my medical application together, I will schedule a consultation which should help me get the documents in order before the official exam.
 
Peter,
Thanks for the link as I see that some of the training could be applied toward the PPL with some restrictions.
 
PeterNSteinmetz said:
Most of the time you spend on a sport pilot can be applied to the private. See the answer here for details - https://aviation.stackexchange.com/...-to-get-a-private-pilot-certificate-in-the-us .
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That link is out of date, and this part is no longer true:

Does it depend on the type of your flight instructor's certificate? Yes. If the instructor has only a sport pilot instructor certificate, none of the dual instruction hours are able to be counted for the private pilot dual hours criteria. They are not an "authorized instructor" for private pilot privileges. If the CFI had a CFI-airplane certificate then those dual hours working towards the sport pilot certificate will count toward the dual hour requirements of the private pilot.​

Last summer the rules were changed and now all Sport Pilot instruction may be applied toward a Private ticket, regardless of whether the training was provided by a Sport CFI or a full CFI. Generally speaking, to upgrade is fairly straightforward once you have the medical. If you do the upgrade in a non-LSA expect some transition time, but you could stick with the same LSA you used to get the SP. Beyond that,

  • You will need a minimum of 3 hours instrument instruction for private; instrument instruction is required for sport, but there's not a minimum number of hours, so you may need to do some extra instrument training to upgrade.
  • You'll need 3 hours of night training, which must include a night XC of >100 miles and ten landings.
  • As a sport pilot, you can't fly into towered airports without extra training and endorsement. If you don't get that while a sport pilot, you'll need towered airport training and 3 solo landings at a towered airport.
  • PPL requires a longer solo XC than SP (150nm instead of 100), but if you fly a while as a SP you'll likely do a long enough trip anyway.
  • You will need to pass the PPL written exam, and do a new checkride of course.

Chances are that the extra training above will get you close to the required 40 hour minimum for PPL, depending on how many hours the SP took. Getting the SP in the minimum 20 hours is unlikely.
 
Half,
Thank you for the updated info and I'll need to keep my options open depending on how my initial medical goes.
 
You might consider doing the SP while you're in VA, then work on the medical and the PPL at your leisure after you return to CT. You might even enjoy just exercising SP privileges for a while.

Just a thought.
 
That might be a good option too, I'll look and see what the local flight school has to offer.
 
Sometimes sport pilot instruction can be a bit difficult to find. If that is not to your liking locally, another idea is to work on gliding in VA. There is an add-on path from glider to private single engine also which uses much of the time invested.

Gliding really does teach the feel of an airplane in the air and energy management and landings very well. Enjoy the journey!
 
You can get sport pilot instruction at Chester (SNC); they have a J-3 Cub and a Kappa KP-5.
 
Peter, I can completely understand the reasoning why gliding can create a better understanding aerodynamics since its al you have without the use of an engine. I guess you could learn to respect the physics portion fo flying.

Dana, I'm about 40 minutes for Cheshire and will keep that in mind if my medical ends up going sideways. If there is a long delay I may end up going the Sport or Glider path first as I continue to work on the medical.

Another separate question, If I do the ground school online and pass the written exam, does it expire? So, basically if I do the ground school now and it turns out that I can't get the medical right away and complete the sport license path (which doesn't required the written, as far as I read somewhere), would it still be valid in a couple years if my medical takes that long?

Thanks
 
Nub_Pilot said:
Another separate question, If I do the ground school online and pass the written exam, does it expire? So, basically if I do the ground school now and it turns out that I can't get the medical right away and complete the sport license path (which doesn't required the written, as far as I read somewhere), would it still be valid in a couple years if my medical takes that long?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Written exams are good for 2 years from when you pass. The more time which goes by, the more review will likely be needed to pass the oral part of the practical, of course.
 
Peter, Thank you for that info as it will become part of my determination on where to just get it done now or wait. In the end it couldn't hurt to have that knowledge even if I end up only getting my sport license.
 
Others here on POA are much more knowledgeable about the process for someone with a "medical history" getting a medical. Get the consult first to discover the hoops you will have to jump through. I haven't seen it mentioned, but know that if your medical is denied, going the Sport Pilot route is off the table, per FAA regs. As I understand it, you can take your training in non-Light Sport aircraft. However, you would have to take the flight test in an LSA.
 
Ken, thank you for that vital information about a denial for medical. That would make everything a non starter I think.
 
Just to be completely clear, because of the non-starter comment. You can go and do an AME consult, per the link I provided in an earlier post. That will clarify whether you will likely need an SI or not. Doing a consult only will not result in a denial, so you can still fly gliders or go the sport pilot route, so long as you have not been denied and are able to self certify you are safe to fly.
 
Peter, I understand that the preferred method is to have a consultation with an AME first to ensure I can get any required documentation to complete the medical.
 
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