Flight review required?

This came up today on askacfi.com.

Most of us have seen someone who used to fly but hasn't for years and decides to take up soaring. These people have no medical, no flight review, and no 90-day currency. They cannot fly whatever it is they used to fly, but with some - maybe a lot - of time and money they could.

The specific issue was whether a "lapsed" commercial pilot could do a glider add-on rating without getting an ASEL flight review. I was of the opinion that 61.31 lets the pilot solo as part of a training program to add an additional category/class to an existing ticket. The guy does not want to do any more powered flying.

In 2014 the FAA wrote in the Beard Letter "because this exception [not needing a flight review for solo] applies to student pilots, a pilot who holds a higher level certificate and has an endorsement for solo flight under 61..31(d) must comply with the flight review requirements in 61.56 before acting as pilot in command of any aircraft."

(Link to letter: http://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/...rpretation.pdf)

Does this mean that if an ex Air Force pilot had a military competency ticket with ME commercial and T-37, T-38, and C-17 type ratings he/she would have to find a multi-engine jet to use for a flight review before doing glider add-on training because all he/she had ever flown was multi-engine jets? Not to mention the V-22 Osprey pilot...

Based on the letter, this seems to be the case. A 14 year old could solo a glider, but not the former military pilot?

Rather than mailing his ticket back to the FAA, I suggested the following: Commercial includes private and light sport privileges. Most training gliders fit in light sport. Train to proficiency with one instructor. Fly with a second instructor to add light sport glider via a log book endorsement. This could count as the flight portion of a flight review. Now, the pilot can "solo" the glider as PIC on light sport privileges, rack up 20 solos, a recommendation ride, and after a check ride be a commercial glider pilot.

So, two parts 1) is there some legitimate way around the first part of the issue? and 2) what do you think of the light sport approach if a flight review is required.