Difficult Parents

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Hello, my parents have put me through groundschool and now I am
ready to take my FAA written exam and get my medical license and
begin training. But now, my parents say I must wait a year until I
can do anything that has to do with aviation. I can't even get my
medical license. They say it is too dangerous to think about flying.
I'm 16 and I just want my 3rd class medical license. How can I
persuade them to let me get my 3rd class medical license? Gak!

-- Ole Olson, January 11, 2006

Answers

Flying is unnecessary, dangerous, and expensive. On the other hand, if you are hanging around with general aviation folks, you will be with sober middle-aged guys. There are worse crowds in which a young person might be found. There is no need to have a medical in order to learn to fly. You only need the medical to solo and get a rating. There are plenty of people who are great pilots who never got a medical and never got a certificate. In the military helicopter world, for example, pilots fly almost 1000 hours before they do any significant solo work or take on the pilot-in-command responsibility for a helicopter.

-- Philip Greenspun, January 26, 2006

Their buck - their choice

I know you're not going to like my answer, but as it's their buck you want to fly on, it's their choice. Wait until you grow up a bit and get your own job, and then you can do whatever you like. The price of your medical is a drop in the bucket on your way to get a private pilot's license. BTW, you might want to go for a sport pilot license - if you hold a driver's license (which I kind of doubt), you don't need a medical.

Meanwhile, you may want to try to fly radio-controlled airplanes, they are a lot of fun and much cheaper.

Tal.

-- Tal Reichert, January 17, 2006


Re: "There is no need to have a medical in order to learn to fly. You only need the medical to solo and get a rating."

A medical is not necessarily required to get a rating. It's not even strictly required to get a certificate. You can get a sport pilot certificate without a medical, for example.

What the medical IS required for is acting as pilot in command of an aircraft while exercising privileges requiring a valid medical.

A medical IS required for SOME tests. For example, a practical exam that is performed in an airplane for a certificate or rating at a recreational, private, commercial, or ATP certificate level.

A person is not required to hold a medical certificate when exercising the privilege of a flight instructor certificate if the person is not acting as PIC or serving as a required pilot flight crewmember, when exercising the privilege of a ground instructor certificate, or when taking a test or check for a certificate, rating, or authorization conducted in a flight simulator or flight training device.

-- Ron Rapp, July 16, 2006