Advice, please: too old to fly?

Thanks Rich...I wanted to be clear we were talking the same language. I
will investigate flying with diabetes for my dad...

Scott




Rich S. wrote:

"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*&^%$ tests are out of date.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.

Rich S. wrote:
request for new tests AND YOU GO BACK TO THE END OF THE LINE!


Rich S.
much snipping!

Yes Rich same experience here and my insurance paid for it but it was sooooo
frustrating going through all the hoops for only 6 months of flight.
The really frustrating part was my on my second special issuance I having
more experience with it dotted all the i's etc etc and one of the
requirements was a written eval from the cardiologist which he provided as
part of the test results, but noooo they wanted a SEPARATE eval so he had
to write basically the same things on a separate page which they accepted
but like you said I was put to the end of the line, another 2 months!
I let it expire this last time (March) and will fly SP, the aggravation
would be more likely to cause a heart attack than the original condition!
John

PS in the 3 years since my angioplasty and stent I have run about 15
marathons(some as fast as 7:15 per mile pace) and 10 to 12 races longer
than a marathon plus I've logged over 10,000 (yes ten thousand) miles
running since then with out a blip. Yet they still consider me such a
serious risk! I know a lot of Class 2's or 1's are worse off than me!

("UltraJohn" wrote)
PS in the 3 years since my angioplasty and stent I have run about 15
marathons(some as fast as 7:15 per mile pace) and 10 to 12 races longer
than a marathon plus I've logged over 10,000 (yes ten thousand) miles
running since then with out a blip. Yet they still consider me such a
serious risk! I know a lot of Class 2's or 1's are worse off than me!


Heck, I thought Ultra was for Ultralight. My mental picture of you has just
changed. :-)

Have you run the Twin Cities Marathon?
"The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America"

I dated a gal in the early 90's who was bummed out with her 3:40:37 time
because 3:40 was the cut-off for Boston. The next day she learned "anything"
in the 3:40 time period qualified. She was very happy - and she ran Boston
the next year.


Montblack

"UltraJohn" wrote in message
ink.net...

PS in the 3 years since my angioplasty and stent I have run about 15
marathons(some as fast as 7:15 per mile pace) and 10 to 12 races longer
than a marathon plus I've logged over 10,000 (yes ten thousand) miles
running since then with out a blip. Yet they still consider me such a
serious risk! I know a lot of Class 2's or 1's are worse off than me!

Good for you, John! I wish I could say the same, but I'm afraid my worn out
vertebrae won't let me get out and bounce up and down.

I could legally drive a gasoline tanker across the Tacoma Narrows bridge
during rush hour, but I couldn't fly a Cessna 140. Does that make sense?

Rich S.
Private, Commercial, Instrument, CFI and now - Sport Pilot.

Rich S. wrote:
"UltraJohn" wrote in message
ink.net...

PS in the 3 years since my angioplasty and stent I have run about 15
marathons(some as fast as 7:15 per mile pace) and 10 to 12 races longer
than a marathon plus I've logged over 10,000 (yes ten thousand) miles
running since then with out a blip. Yet they still consider me such a
serious risk! I know a lot of Class 2's or 1's are worse off than me!


Good for you, John! I wish I could say the same, but I'm afraid my worn out
vertebrae won't let me get out and bounce up and down.

I could legally drive a gasoline tanker across the Tacoma Narrows bridge
during rush hour, but I couldn't fly a Cessna 140. Does that make sense?

Rich S.
Private, Commercial, Instrument, CFI and now - Sport Pilot.



Rich,

I thought the "medical" for a CDL was pretty much the same as for a
Third Class....

BTW, how does the Emeraude manage to qualify for SP? I would think it
was too heavy and can fly too fast. Isn't it pretty close to the RV6 in
weight and speed?

John

"John Ammeter" wrote in message
newsPGdnYhdgI_3gRrZnZ2dnUVZ_vGdnZ2d@cablespeedwa .com...

I thought the "medical" for a CDL was pretty much the same as for a Third
Class....

Oh - I wouldn't do it for hire. Just drive my personal tanker around. . .

BTW, how does the Emeraude manage to qualify for SP? I would think it was
too heavy and can fly too fast. Isn't it pretty close to the RV6 in
weight and speed?

I can tell you haven't flown in the Emeraude, John. While the Super
Emeraudes are a bit bigger and weigh a bunch more, the earlier design, like
mine, is well within the weight limit, even with an O-290. I think the
prototype was just over 700 lbs. and mine weighs in at 820 dry, giving a 500
lb. useful load.

As far as speed goes well, I used to wish it was faster, but it doesn't
compare with the RV series. It is a bit strange because they use virtually
the same airfoil (23012 on the Em) and have the same wing area. Mine cruises
right at 120 knots at 2475 rpm (75% and maximum sustained cruise speed).
Sure, I can push it faster than that, but I don't.

We took three days to get to Oshkosh last year. My RV friends won't fly long
cross country's with me.

Rich S.

Montblack wrote:

Heck, I thought Ultra was for Ultralight. My mental picture of you has
just
changed. :-)

Have you run the Twin Cities Marathon?
"The Most Beautiful Urban Marathon in America"

I dated a gal in the early 90's who was bummed out with her 3:40:37 time
because 3:40 was the cut-off for Boston. The next day she learned
"anything" in the 3:40 time period qualified. She was very happy - and she
ran Boston the next year.


Montblack

I've run Boston 15 times! Mainly as a fun race, it's too late in the season
for me, I'm past my peak by then! I've had a few friends with the same
situation, thinking they missed the cut-off by seconds only to have me
inform them they were in, like you said they got happy quick!
One of my best friends (a 2:58 marathoner) she lives in Venice,CA now but
she was born and raised in New Brigton which is a suburb of Minneapolis.
Her parents are still there. I will run it either this or next year!
John
PS She a darn nice looking thing too! Unfortunately about 18 years my
younger! Drat!

I can tell you haven't flown in the Emeraude, John.

We took three days to get to Oshkosh last year. My RV friends won't fly long
cross country's with me.

Rich S.

Trust me, Rich....
Your plane is NOT the problem. g

- Barnyard BOb -

The more people I meet,
the more I love my dog
and George Carlin humor.

"- Barnyard BOb -" wrote in message
...

I can tell you haven't flown in the Emeraude, John.

We took three days to get to Oshkosh last year. My RV friends won't fly
long
cross country's with me.

Rich S.

Trust me, Rich....
Your plane is NOT the problem. g

So that was *you* standing behind me at Arlington when those ten oysters I
ate started to work!

Rich S.