A Modest Proposal

[wyoranch]

Kscessnadriver,
What in the heck does having a medical have to do with decision making? I have flown 25 years with medically certified professional pilots (both airlines and corporate) that I would not trust to open a jar of pickles because of their "decision making". Nowhere in a 3rd class medical is there a psychological exam. A valid medical has NO bearing on whether a person has skills and the correct mindset. Kscessnadriver, you need to correlate the two, because I am just missing it. Are you against the Sport Pilot or Rec pilot? As far as punishing someone for having a free thought and attempt at humor (even if you missed the "tongue-in-cheek part) is even more sickening than the OP's post if he was COMPLETELY serious.

Now that I have that off my chest, rather than worry about the "what if's" why not focus on the what we "can do" to get this through.
Wyo

[kscessnadriver]

Kscessnadriver,
What in the heck does having a medical have to do with decision making? I have flown 25 years with medically certified professional pilots (both airlines and corporate) that I would not trust to open a jar of pickles because of their "decision making". Nowhere in a 3rd class medical is there a psychological exam. A valid medical has NO bearing on whether a person has skills and the correct mindset. Kscessnadriver, you need to correlate the two, because I am just missing it. Are you against the Sport Pilot or Rec pilot? As far as punishing someone for having a free thought and attempt at humor (even if you missed the "tongue-in-cheek part) is even more sickening than the OP's post if he was COMPLETELY serious.

Now that I have that off my chest, rather than worry about the "what if's" why not focus on the what we "can do" to get this through.
Wyo

The way I read the OP's post is he is advocating just flying without the medical regardless of what the FAA decides on. I'm absolutely against sport pilot being totally medically free. I'm for a 4th class medical in which a doctor has to at least sign something, rather than self enforcement.

[steveinindy]

What in the heck does having a medical have to do with decision making?

Judging by the number of CPs and ATPs who died in CFIT or in-flight breakups due to flying into convective weather? My money- or at least a beer at Oshkosh- is on absolutely nothing. Sometimes you just can't cure stupid not matter how much technology, training or experience you throw at it.

[steveinindy]

I'm for a 4th class medical in which a doctor has to at least sign something, rather than self enforcement

On that note, I kind of agree with you, but I think it should be left up to the patient's primary care doc and not some doc who doesn't know the patient.

[wyoranch]

Kscessnadriver,
To quote you.....
"Simply there will be too many idiots flying in the air. More air in their head than good decision making ability."
You still have not answered the question. I respect right to their opinion, but what tells you that a medical has anything to do with a pilots decision making? If you are going to make comments like the one you did, please be prepared to answer or stop, lest you be labeled a troll.

Regarding a "4th class" medical. What does getting a doc sign a pice of paper get you? For all intents and purposes that is a 3rd class medical. If you can make it into the office, have a pulse and no obvious tumors you get a signature? My friend who is 77 and still flying could throw a stroke tomorrow just as easily with his 4th class medical as the 2nd class he maintains now. At my current age I have 729 days for something serious to occur between 3rd class medicals. I could get sick whether or not I went to see the AME or not. What you suggested does not seem to hold up.

Again I am just asking for your thoughts, convince me that the proposal should be shot down.

Kscessnadriver, just to be clear you don't like the LSA or sport pilot?

[wyoranch]

Judging by the number of CPs and ATPs who died in CFIT or in-flight breakups due to flying into convective weather? My money- or at least a beer at Oshkosh- is on absolutely nothing. Sometimes you just can't cure stupid not matter how much technology, training or experience you throw at it.

You are the man!!!! So does this mean you owe me a beer at Oshkosh?

[steveinindy]

You are the man!!!! So does this mean you owe me a beer at Oshkosh?

How about we each buy the other person one Thursday night?

My friend who is 77 and still flying could throw a stroke tomorrow just as easily with his 4th class medical as the 2nd class he maintains now. At my current age I have 729 days for something serious to occur between 3rd class medicals.

I think it's funny how many folks focus on the "old guys" when it comes to this. As part of our research, we just completed an analysis of something like 530 GA fatalities (we have data for 1400 or so but were looking at something really specific and there was only sufficient information about that in 530 cases). That included all of the medically incapacitated pilot induced crashes in that series. All three of them....aged 44 (ultralight crash), 56 and 68.

[kscessnadriver]

Kscessnadriver, just to be clear you don't like the LSA or sport pilot?

No. I very much like many of the LSA planes out there and enjoy flying them. I'm not fond of having pilots that can have whatever condition they want to have and fly without having ever seen a doctor on if its safe or not to fly with said condition. I don't like the idea of having people flying around with no medical doing something incredibly stupid and getting GA shut down for all of us.

[steveinindy]

I don't like the idea of having people flying around with no medical doing something incredibly stupid and getting GA shut down for all of us.

Not to pick a fight, but can you point out any significant differences in the crash rates between sport pilots and private pilots directly attributable to the lack of medical certification? I had a lot of the same concerns when the proposal for sport pilot was put forth but those have largely never been supported by the actual events that have transpired.

As for LSA getting GA shut down for all of us, if the suicidal pilot punching a hole in the IRS office didn't do that, the only thing that is going to do it is if we thumb our nose at the NTSB and FAA over the recent issues raised regarding our crash rate. You drop the body count through both prevention efforts and survivability improvements (which are most easily accomplished in the experimental category because of our leeway) and you drop back off the NTSB's scopes.

[martymayes]

Judging by the number of CPs and ATPs who died in CFIT or in-flight breakups

Judging them how? Are all CP and ATP fatalities the result of bad judgement?