Advice, please: too old to fly?

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.

Thanks for the headsup on medical standards. I checked your link and see no
problems there except perhaps hearing. I do have hearing aids in both ears:
is that a showstopper? (The leftseat.com site wasn't clear on that.)
Thanks.

Dick B.


"abripl" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

As I recall, if you've lost your medical, sport pilot is closed to you until
you get your medical reinstated. Being 72 myself, and unless a four-place is
vital to your enjoyment, I'd keep my focus on buying a sport pilot qualified
plane and go sport pilot all the way without risking being disqualified for
both. Good luck either way!
"R.W. Behan" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the headsup on medical standards. I checked your link and see
no problems there except perhaps hearing. I do have hearing aids in both
ears: is that a showstopper? (The leftseat.com site wasn't clear on
that.) Thanks.

Dick B.


"abripl" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

I have to agree with Stan.

The only reason to try to get a medical would be if there's something
like a 172 or Cherokee around that you want to get some of your
training in.

The key to the Sport Pilot category is to never *LOSE* your medical,
and never be turned down for one. If you think you have to try for a
medical, find an AME and ask him for a NON-FAA physical exam, to find
out if you will pass a real FAA physical. If he says you wouldn't,
don't take the real exam and fly on your driver's license.

Do the same thing when it comes time to renew. Get a pre-exam, if you
are going to fail, just let the old medical run out.

You should read and internalize the Richard Riley post
very carefully.

If you try and fail on a class III medical, you are totally
screwed virtually forever. Failure on class III eliminates
you from the sport category unless you can somehow
qualify for the class III later.

If you never fail and you have no medical problems,
you can fly sport without any further checking.

I'm with those that say you should find a completed
701 and get started!! Bill Hale

"R.W. Behan" wrote in message
...
Thanks for the headsup on medical standards. I checked your link and see
no
problems there except perhaps hearing. I do have hearing aids in both
ears:
is that a showstopper? (The leftseat.com site wasn't clear on that.)
Thanks.

Dick B.


Do a search for the deaf pilots association. You'll find the answer is that
it's not a showstopper.




"abripl" wrote in message
oups.com...
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.

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