Looking for Advice..

"Private" wrote
I agree there can be major differences between a Licence (or License)
and a Certificate or a Permit. AFAIK, Permits are not valid or
recognized outside of their country of issue. I do not fully
understand the difference in the USA between a License (correct
spelling in US usage?) and a Certificate. I would appreciate
enlightenment.

I post below a bit of dialog that I had a few years ago with one of the
editors of AVWEB, Russ Niles, who just happens to be from Canada.

I can understand the idiots at the local TV station constantly referring
to "pilot's licenses", but how did supposedly "aviation savvy" writers
for AVWEB mistake a certificate for a license in the lead article
pertaining to medical certificate fraud?
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A little journalistic license, Bob, as approved by the FAA.
Check it out under the Airman Registry subhead in the link provided
below.
It now appears that license is the preferred term and (certificate) is
bracketed
: ie less used... http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/
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-------------------------
A quick call to the FAA confirms that there has been no change and that,
just like the newscasters, the webmaster has inserted his own slant on
the subject.
Since the page seems to be intended for the general public, the
webmaster probably felt that they would understand license better than
certificate.

However............from Wikipedia

A license (American English) or licence (Commonwealth English) is a
document or agreement giving permission to do something.

A certificate is an official document affirming some fact.
A certificate may also certify that a person has received specific
education or has passed a test.
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It is the following little bit of freedom granted to citizens of the
United States of America that makes the difference between license and
certificate.

United State Code TITLE 49 - TRANSPORTATION
Sec. 40103. Sovereignty and use of airspace
(2) A citizen of the United States has a public right of transit
through the navigable airspace.

No further granting of permission (license) is required, however, a
demonstration of training or ability (certification) may be required.

There is no such federal code granting a citizen the right to operate a
vehicle on public roads, or to practice medicine, therefore allowing the
government to require a license.
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My response from the FAA webmaster

Subject
Has the FAA really switched "pilot certificate" to "pilot license" as is
indi...

Discussion Thread
Response (FAA Expert) 07/22/2005 03:51 PM
It's a web error. Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We are
in the process of restructuring our entire web site. I have initiated
action to correct this page to reflect "pilot certificate" and "mechanic
certificates."
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Would you mind if I wrote about this for Monday, Bob?

Write away Russ....just bear in mind that I'll be checking each and
every word. :-) :-)

What started out as just a gentle chide to the AVWEB editor turned out
to taking-on the FAA, something that I've done many times in the past.
I've been in this flying business for 50 years and have learned that the
FAA probably makes more mistakes than I do. Getting them to admit it as
easily as happened Friday came as quite a shock to me. My first call
was to the local (Tampa) FSDO and what a waste that was.
A simple yes or no question and after a five minute dissertation, I
still did not have a firm answer.

My name since leaving Naval Aviation and joining PanAm in 1967 has been
"Bob (It's a certificate not a license) Moore". The basic indoctrination
course at PanAm taught us a lot about aviation law and history. At 74
years of age, I am still an active Flight Instructor. I instructed for
three years in the Navy, probably ten years in the airline industry and
six years in the GA business and one thing that I learned early-on from
my students was to very carefully weigh each and every word that I
uttered for accuracy. This is much more important for those who would
commit words to paper, or now-a-days,to the internet. :-)

BTW, that little bit of Federal Code had its origins in the Air Commerce
Act of 1926. Just try discussing that with your friendly local FDSO
inspector! :-)
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Bob Moore
ATP B-707 B-727 L-188
CFI ASEL-I
USN S-2F P-2V P-3B