Medical Woes, to roll the dice, or no

exncsurfer

exncsurfer

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exncsurfer
Well, I am stuck with a decision. My AME informed me that he would have to defer my application to the FAA(due to a condition which was resolved many years ago). He suggested that it is likely that I would be approved, but, it is possible they could require more confirmation that the condition is resolved. This would come at my expense of course and could provide evidence to either grant the cert, or provide evidence to deny.

options:

a) Roll dice:
-best case: wait several weeks, approved
-next best case: wait several weeks, pay for expensive diags and wait more weeks and get approved
-worst case(and here is the dilemma):
expensive diags provide evidence for denial, never fly anything ever, option c) out. Kite maybe.

b) pay for expensive diags prior to submitting anything, have an expert($$) review the case, then back to a) roll dice and hope FAA agrees with said expert.

c) Sport Pilot
no planes to rent in my area, otherwise I might lean this way.

d) hold breath, wait for drivers license medical


If you commit to a) you have to commit to doing whatever it takes to get the approval or c) is out. This is a drag.

Just had to vent.

:(
 
This should prob. be posted in the medical section, but..

I'd say that all depends on what your situation is. If it is that you had 4 DUI's and drug addiction, then this isn't for you. If you had been on SSRI's and not related to anxiety, diabeties or have something like sleep apnea, then I would pursue it with the right person like Dr. Bruce.

From what I know, I would make sure you don't submit anything to the FAA if you think it is likely you will get denied because that will throw away the sport license route which would fill most of a pilots desires.
 
Thanks JM, My problem is, it is LIKELY that I would get approved. But likely doesn't help in the worst case. And like so many say on here, you can't unring the bell.

If an admin can move this thread, that would be fine, you are correct should've used the 'medical topics' board.
 
You wanted to get back into it right? The medical change is coming. What I would suggest you do is find a place that has a SP suitable plane as well as 172 or other GA instrument trainer. Just fly dual working on your IR and SP until it happens.

If you can't make that work for you, roll the dice, but I would suggest you contact Bruce before you do, he knows how to get stuff done in the minimum time.
 
As Pilots get older more things pop up in the Medical woes department. Most of them are not disqualifying they just cost $$$ to prove to the FAA your ok.:mad2:
 
You can trust your AME or you can get a second opinion from a different AME or from an organization like AOPA pilot protection services (a $99 access fee applies) or seek a professional aeromedical consulting firm (Google some) to have them review your file and comment on issuance probability. I've had SI medicals for many years. My fear during the initial issuance was the possibility of a denial. With AOPA assistance I got my files together, amended a couple of items per their suggestion, and got my SI. I continue to maintain it directly with the regional flight surgeon's office. I know many here are proponents of putting your future in an AME's hands. Personally there's no better advocate for my pilot status than me. I just needed a little expert advice. Decide for yourself what's important to you and get some counseling from an objective source regarding the process. Good luck!
 
Stewartb said:
You can trust your AME or you can get a second opinion from a different AME or from an organization like AOPA pilot protection services (a $99 access fee applies) or seek a professional aeromedical consulting firm (Google some) to have them review your file and comment on issuance probability. I've had SI medicals for many years. My fear during the initial issuance was the possibility of a denial. With AOPA assistance I got my files together, amended a couple of items per their suggestion, and got my SI. I continue to maintain it directly with the regional flight surgeon's office. I know many here are proponents of putting your future in an AME's hands. Personally there's no better advocate for my pilot status than me. I just needed a little expert advice. Decide for yourself what's important to you and get some counseling from an objective source regarding the process. Good luck!
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True, but if you hire a seasoned pro to teach you how to navigate it correctly the first time and avoid making errors, you can save a lot of time and money getting to that point of experience and ability. When you want flight instruction, do you hire the cheapest or the best?
 
Henning,
Thanks, you're thinking of another guy I think, I'm actually a student pilot, 20ish hours. well i guess that remains to be seen :)

No LSA options in my area, smallish area, one FBO town.
 
jimbilly said:
Henning,
Thanks, you're thinking of another guy I think, I'm actually a student pilot, 20ish hours. well i guess that remains to be seen :)

No LSA options in my area, smallish area, one FBO town.
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Fly dual for your PP and IR requirements, that should last a while. You only need a medical to solo. No reason not to take instruction, but I would wait a while to see what shakes out with the revisions on the medical. The risk you face is that they pull what they did with Sport Pilot, disqualifying the Driver's License medical for people who had failed medicals.

If things aren't progessing in a couple of months, call Bruce Chein and get his opinion on what it will take to get your medical and re evaluate what you want to do at that time.

If you want to fly, there are ways to do it no matter what, but you don't want to burn through options too quickly.
 
e) Ultralights
f) Sailplanes
g) Hang or paragliders
h) Skydiving
i) Balloons
 
I might be way off base on this, but my feeling is that you could get a better level of certainty than you have now about whether you'd be approved. Maybe I am wrong because I have no details on your case, but I thought I'd at least throw it out there. My recollection of Dr. Bruce Chien is that he has an incredibly solid handle on what can and cannot be done, and if you're honest with him I imagine he could come up with the accurate odds for you.

Now if the whole thing truly hinges on the results of diagnostics and you truly do not know whether those results would arrive in your favor, I guess that is a different story. In that case, if you love to fly and want to leave your options open, I would recommend finding an entry into aviation that does not involve the medical.
 
Go sport pilot,and hope for the medical to change,in the least I would talk to Dr. Bruce,and get a professional opinion. See if you can find someone in your area with a sport airplane,see if they have an interest in partnership.
 
If I read your post correctly, you've already applied and your application was deferred. If so, Sport Pilot is no longer an alternative unless your application is approved, in which case you can go Private. Problem is, once you submit an application, it will eventually be either apprived or denied -- it doesn't just disappear after some amount of time and you cannot withdraw it.
 
Ron, I took some good advice and asked the AME to review my paperwork before I provided my official confirmation number. So I still have the option to not submit.
 
Email Dr. Bruce he will tell you what you need to know. He was a big help to me. Worth every penny.
 
Yes thanks. If only every town had a Dr Bruce. He is quite the expert. I'm pretty sure I have all the info I need just have to decide to jump the hoops or not.
 
Hi Jimbilly.

Others have said it, but if I were in your shoes, I would wait and see what the revisions to the Class III bring. I think something is going to be done, and likely before too much longer.
 
Waiting on legislative relief is silly. Sometimes you need to embrace YOLO. Spend the money with Dr. Bruce, Lie/cheat(only after you've determined if Dr Bruce can't help you, don't lie to him.) or fly something that doesn't need a medical. The funnest stuff doesn't require a medical, you just have to look past Flying magazine to find it, and you won't get mutual appreciation from the Flying mag crowd.
 
jimbilly said:
Ron, I took some good advice and asked the AME to review my paperwork before I provided my official confirmation number. So I still have the option to not submit.
Click to expand...

Not necessarily a reply to you, but a general rant...

I just got my Class II from a doc that required you to provide your confirm number before they would give you an appointment. Or at least his office did. I really didn't have the time to go doc shopping, so I just went with it knowing I wouldn't have any issues.

However, there was a college student there that was going for his initial Class III just to see if he would qualify. Apparently he had open heart surgery when he was just 2 days old and obviously wasn't sure how much of an issue it would be.

When I heard that, I pulled him aside and told him he needs to ask the doc to not pull up his confirmation number until he's certain he could pass. I gave him Dr. B's info as well.

No idea how he made out. Hopefully he doesn't get jacked around too much. He told me he was medically cleared for and played 4 sports in high school.
 
Before your AME defers, make sure he and you understand all the criteria and tests that it will take. Then take those tests and make sure you pass them. Before he defers.

If your AME doesn't know the answers, find a new AME. Dr. Chien is a good choice, but not the only one. I don't have other names, but I know there's a gentleman in Atlanta and another Houston. I suspect there's one or two on the west coast.

Do it this way and you're taking the dice out of the equation. Don't roll and guess, know beforehand.
 
The initial navigation of an SI issuance is always the most stressful. After that it gets easier mostly because you learn about the process. What starts out as unfamiliar becomes normal. Is it worth jumping through some hoops? It was for me. Maintaining it isn't intimidating at all. I just got my one year SI renewal in the mail today. Absolutely painless.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Waiting on legislative relief is silly. Sometimes you need to embrace YOLO. Spend the money with Dr. Bruce, Lie/cheat(only after you've determined if Dr Bruce can't help you, don't lie to him.) or fly something that doesn't need a medical. The funnest stuff doesn't require a medical, you just have to look past Flying magazine to find it, and you won't get mutual appreciation from the Flying mag crowd.
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Funnest flying next to the Beech 18 on floats I've done is in an Eipper Quicksilver MX-II on amphibs. You can fly those on SP and you can get them used for $7500.
 
Not real familiar with these rules, but I thought flying sport the pilot had to self certify. If he already knows there may be a problem with his medical, how is it possible to do that?
 
Stewartb said:
The initial navigation of an SI issuance is always the most stressful. After that it gets easier mostly because you learn about the process. What starts out as unfamiliar becomes normal. Is it worth jumping through some hoops? It was for me. Maintaining it isn't intimidating at all. I just got my one year SI renewal in the mail today. Absolutely painless.
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The medical process, particularly for those with benign and nearly trivial disqualifying conditions, reminds me of this phrase: When you dance with a bear, you stop when the bear wants to, not when you want to. Expansion of DL medicals can't get here soon enough.
 
ClimbnSink said:
Waiting on legislative relief is silly. Sometimes you need to embrace YOLO. Spend the money with Dr. Bruce, Lie/cheat(only after you've determined if Dr Bruce can't help you, don't lie to him.) or fly something that doesn't need a medical. The funnest stuff doesn't require a medical, you just have to look past Flying magazine to find it, and you won't get mutual appreciation from the Flying mag crowd.
Click to expand...

Before you choose to lie/cheat based on Greg's advice, ask Greg if he will pay your legal bills and any fines/civil penalties, and potentially do your jail time if you violate 14 CFR 61.59 and/or 18 CFR 1001.
 
bflynn said:
Before your AME defers, make sure he and you understand all the criteria and tests that it will take. Then take those tests and make sure you pass them. Before he defers.
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Check with Bruce to be sure, but I do not believe an individual AME has the option to wait on deferring your application if you do not qualify for in-office issuance. AFAIK, the AME must either issue, deny, or defer at the time of the examination.
 
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Kritchlow said:
Not real familiar with these rules, but I thought flying sport the pilot had to self certify. If he already knows there may be a problem with his medical, how is it possible to do that?
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As long as your last FAA medical application was neither denied nor deferred, and you hold a valid US drivers license, you can in consultation with your personal physician make the determination that you can safely fly as a Sport Pilot despite the existence of a condition which you know would affect your medical certification under Part 67.
 
Ron Levy said:
As long as your last FAA medical application was neither denied nor deferred, and you hold a valid US drivers license, you can in consultation with your personal physician make the determination that you can safely fly as a Sport Pilot despite the existence of a condition which you know would affect your medical certification under Part 67.
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Thanks... I knew someone could clarify that for me.
 
Deferred with subsequent special issuance is as good as any medical. Only a denial will disqualify you.
 
Ron Levy said:
Check with Bruce to be sure, but I do not believe an individual AME has the option to wait on deferring your application if you do not qualify for in-office issuance. AFAIK, the AME must either issue, deny, or defer at the time of the examination.
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If the airman refuses to give his confirmation number, in essence, the exam never took place. Sort of like getting the exam prior to filling out the paperwork in the pre-MedXpress required days.
 
Stewartb said:
Deferred with subsequent special issuance is as good as any medical.
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Correct as far as it goes.
Only a denial will disqualify you.
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A deferral is also disqualifying unless/until it results in issuance. You can't fly under the "DL in lieu of medical certificate" rule in the interim between deferral and issuance.
 
Anymouse said:
If the airman refuses to give his confirmation number, in essence, the exam never took place. Sort of like getting the exam prior to filling out the paperwork in the pre-MedXpress required days.
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If you go to an AME and ask for a medical certificate examination, you must provide the confirmation number. If you want a "consultation" to identify any potential issues, that's what you must ask for, and you won't have to submit an FAA medical application to get that. However, to issue a medical certificate after that "consultation", the AME must give you a complete by-the-FAA-book examination which doesn't start until you submit the application by giving the confirmation number. Whether the physician charges you for one exam, two exams, or something in between, is entirely up to the physician involved.
 
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