Advice, please: too old to fly?

"Rich S." wrote

My advice is to ignore any advice you receive on Usenet and get ahold of
AOPA. Their medical staff are the most authoritative resource on the
subject and have *your* interest at heart - not the FAA's. If you need to
join the AOPA to gain the benefit of this, please do - it will be the best
investment you can make.

I would not argue against contacting AOPA, in any way. However, the only
advise he should pay attention to (in this case) from usenet, is to not
necessarily give up on flying (or his dad flying) because of diabetes.

That is certainly good advise, in this situation, I think you would agree.
--
Jim in NC

abripl wrote:
With your enthusiasm and past experience you should be able to pass
your private training.

The main issue is your health. Is it OK to pass the FAA medical. For
FAA medical standards see http://www.leftseat.com/FAAforms.htm

Also expect to pay about $6K for your training. The average training
flight time is more like 60 hours and not 40.

That's because most civilian flight training is an unorganized joke.
40 hours is more than enough in a structured program. How many hours do
you think Air Force UPT consists of?

"RapidRonnie" wrote in message
ups.com...

abripl wrote:
With your enthusiasm and past experience you should be able to pass
your private training.

The main issue is your health. Is it OK to pass the FAA medical. For
FAA medical standards see http://www.leftseat.com/FAAforms.htm

Also expect to pay about $6K for your training. The average training
flight time is more like 60 hours and not 40.

That's because most civilian flight training is an unorganized joke.
40 hours is more than enough in a structured program. How many hours do
you think Air Force UPT consists of?


You also realize that the Air Force has a selection process that only takes
a very small percentage of the applicant's. Out of that they are under no
obligation to help out those selected. If a student struggles for any
reason, the military just washes them out.

Yes there are many areas where civilian flight training could be improved,
but to paint the whole industry as an unorganized joke is both inaccurate
and unfair.

I would also encourage those with diabetics to look into the light sport
aircraft. Lots of fun without the hassles of jumping through the FAA hoops.
Once you start the FAA paperwork though, you lose the self certify function
of LSA if you do not get the medical. If a Light Sport Aircraft will meet
your needs, then I would avoid the entire process.

mark wrote:
"RapidRonnie" wrote in message
ups.com...
abripl wrote:
With your enthusiasm and past experience you should be able to pass
your private training.

The main issue is your health. Is it OK to pass the FAA medical. For
FAA medical standards see http://www.leftseat.com/FAAforms.htm

Also expect to pay about $6K for your training. The average training
flight time is more like 60 hours and not 40.
That's because most civilian flight training is an unorganized joke.
40 hours is more than enough in a structured program. How many hours do
you think Air Force UPT consists of?


You also realize that the Air Force has a selection process that only takes
a very small percentage of the applicant's. Out of that they are under no
obligation to help out those selected. If a student struggles for any
reason, the military just washes them out.

As a military flight instructor (and a former student) I have experience
on both sides of the classroom and cockpit and so I respectfully
disagree with the last statement of this paragraph. This is not to say
I completely disagree, the reality is in the middle. It depends on a
lot of things, but "struggles for any reason... just washes them out" is
far from true.

Military training has some unique advantages. It is condensed so
students have to "relearn" less on each flight. The threat of washing
out is a great motivator, although that stress is also an impediment to
learning.

Yes there are many areas where civilian flight training could be improved,
but to paint the whole industry as an unorganized joke is both inaccurate
and unfair.

I agree with this.

I think that both systems (civil and military) success depends more on
students than instructors. A good student will be successful in either
system, a good or bad instructor can make or break an OK student, and
finally a bad student will likely fail no matter what. No absolutes
though

I think you'll find differences in organizational culture (don't I sound
like a bean-counter) between different civil and between different
military schools. I also think you'll find some brilliant, some
mediocre, and many "in between" examples in both. Neither is perfect,
but we're talking apples and oranges.

Jim Carriere wrote:

I think you'll find differences in organizational culture (don't I sound
like a bean-counter) between different civil and between different
military schools. I also think you'll find some brilliant, some
mediocre, and many "in between" examples in both. Neither is perfect,
but we're talking apples and oranges.

My daughter won a flying scholarship with the Canadian Air Cadets.
Canadian rules require 45 hours for a private pilot license and her
course was 48 hours at a flight school, plus a place to live for 6
weeks. All of the dozen people in her course passed within the allotted
time and many had an hour or two left for a checkout in a 172.
There were a couple of reasons they were so successfull. There is
stiff competition for these courses, and the winners are motivated,
young, smart and have done considerable work with at least the theory
of flight. The course is intense, and when you are not flying, you are
watching others fly, studying flight or hanging out with others who are
as keen as you. It is very different from taking a course once a week.

John Halpenny

"Morgans" wrote in message
...

I would not argue against contacting AOPA, in any way. However, the only
advise he should pay attention to (in this case) from usenet, is to not
necessarily give up on flying (or his dad flying) because of diabetes.

That is certainly good advise, in this situation, I think you would agree.

As a fellow who takes Glucophage twice a day, I do agree. However, you know
I was referring to the contradictory advice that was appearing regarding FAA
regulations concerning AME's and what they can or cannot do.

Rich S.

"Rich S." wrote

As a fellow who takes Glucophage twice a day, I do agree. However, you
know I was referring to the contradictory advice that was appearing
regarding FAA regulations concerning AME's and what they can or cannot do.

Right. I just wanted to be sure that the message got though, (not to you,
but to the OP) that diabetes is not necessarily a flight ending problem.
--
Jim in NC

Just to be sure I am clear on this, you still have a (3rd class) medical
and do fly or do you fly as a Sport Pilot?

Scott



Rich S. wrote:




As a fellow who takes Glucophage twice a day, I do agree. However, you know
I was referring to the contradictory advice that was appearing regarding FAA
regulations concerning AME's and what they can or cannot do.

Rich S.

"Scott" wrote in message
.. .
Just to be sure I am clear on this, you still have a (3rd class) medical
and do fly or do you fly as a Sport Pilot?

Scott..........

I let my medical expire a couple of years ago and now fly under S.P. rules.
To be clear, I had a valid Class III medical and also had Type II diabetes,
well controlled with oral meds and a stent in one coronary artery.

I can still pass the cardiac tests - the big problem is they will only
validate the medical for 1 year and then I must retest. The test includes
either an angiogram (which is very expensive and carries surgical risks,
i.e. 1% of subjects die during the procedure) or a nuclear imaging study
(which is very expensive and not all that accurate). There are many other
tests involved as well, a maximal treadmill stress test, blood lipid
profile, hemoglobin A1c, statements from your primary physician,
ophthalmologist & cardiologist

The delays in Oklahoma City are such that it takes six months to grant the
waiver. In effect, this results in six months of flying and then six months
of waiting for renewal. Another snag is that by the time your application
arrives at the desk of the person who will review the extensive tests, the
*&^%$ tests are out of date. Then they send back a request for new tests AND
YOU GO BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE!

Without assistance from someone like AOPA, it is likely you will forget to
dot an i or cross a t when submitting all the paperwork. Guess what happens.
They send it back for re-submission AND YOU GO BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE!

For me, it is not worth the hassle. I am happy to fly under Sport Pilot
limitations.

Rich S.

Here is a milestone that few of us has experienced:

The Hobbs, New Mexico, newspaper, the News-Sun, featured an article on Paul
Elliott on the front page of Sunday's edition. It seems Paul is celebrating
the 65th aniversity of the issuance of his pilots license. Paul is a local
Hobbs luminary, having been a glider pilot, tow pilot and CFI-G for many,
many years. He is a member of the Hobbs Soaring Society and is currently
serving as Vice President.

Wayne
HP-14 N990 "6F"
http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/HP-14/N990/N990.html