OK, I know this is not KR but I do know there are several members of this list who have lost their medicals and are anxiously awaiting the final draft of the Sport Pilot Certificate. It came out of the rules part of the process on December 23. It is now open for another 90 days. I spent a couple hours this evening reading various parts of the proposal after the FAA studied recommendations from the Aviation Rule Making Advisory Committee. It seems they are once again talking out of both side of their mouths. As the first sentence says, "has reason to know of any medical condition that would affect his or her ability to operate a light-sport aircraft". This is a whole lot of gray area. They then go into how they cannot prove a medical would enhance safety based on quantitative data. At the end however, they say the following: "Proposed section 17 of SFAR 89 consists of a table that sets forth the circumstances under which a medical deficiency would preclude a student pilot or sport pilot from operating a light-sport aircraft. These provisions would be consistent with the prohibitions against operating with a medical deficiency specified in § 61.53".
I have included those parts of the table, which I found something like 80 pages past this point, listed as B & C below. B reinterates the "has reason to know............affect ability" sentence. The C part says if you do not have a drivers license,but you have a medical issued under 67.14, then the "have reason to know........unable to meet requirements of 3rd. class" come into play. It is interested to note, I haven't found a thing in there that says if you have had a 3rd. class but lost it phrase. I would feel certain, as encompassing as this document is, typical legal document with cost/death analysis, that it is addressed somewhere. Keep you hopes up!! Cut and pastes follow: Under the proposal if a pilot knows or has reason to know of any medical condition that would affect his or her ability to operate a light-sport aircraft, then the pilot would have to refrain from acting as a pilot in command. Data available in the National Aviation Safety Data Analysis Center (NASDAC) accident database indicates that a pilots medical condition is rarely a causal factor in general aviation accidents. A review of balloon and glider accidents contained in that database from 1990 to 2000 revealed that only two accidents occurred because of a pilots medical condition. The absence of any medical certificate requirement for persons operating balloons and gliders has not resulted in a demonstrated reduction in safety. The ARAC, in its findings, provided accident summary data from 1986 through 1992 indicating that the percentage of aviation accidents involving medical causal factors is lower for those activities that do not require medical certificates than for those activities that do. During this 7-year timeframe, the ARAC indicates there were 761 accidents in lighter-than-air aircraft and glidersoperations that do not require airman medical certification. Only one of the 761 accidents showed a medical cause, according to ARAC (slightly more than one-tenth of one percent of total accidents). For general aviation operations requiring airman medical certification, ARAC indicates there were 46,976 total accidents, 99 of which (slightly more than one-fifth of one percent) showed a medical cause. The FAA believes, therefore, that medical conditions are not a significant cause of accidents in aircraft that are used for sport and recreational purposes. Copies of the following items are filed in the docket for this rulemaking: examples of medical questions asked on selected U.S. drivers license application forms and on FAA Form 8500-8; NASDAC accident data; and ARACs final recommendation containing its accident data findings. Proposed section 17 of SFAR 89 consists of a table that sets forth the circumstances under which a medical deficiency would preclude a student pilot or sport pilot from operating a light-sport aircraft. These provisions would be consistent with the prohibitions against operating with a medical deficiency specified in § 61.53. (b) Other than a glider or balloon, (1)You hold a U.S. drivers license (regardless of whether you hold an airman medical certificate issued under 14 CFR part 67), You must not act as pilot in command of the aircraft if you know or have reason to know of any medical condition that would make you unable to operate the aircraft in a safe manner. (c) Other than a glider or balloon, (1) You hold an airman medical certificate issued under 14 CFR part 67, but dont hold a U.S. drivers license, (i) You must not act as pilot in command of the aircraft if:(A) You know or have reason to know of any medical condition that would make you unable to meet the requirements of at least a third-class medical certificate; or(B) You are taking medication or receiving other treatment for a medical condition that results in you being unable to meet the requirements of at least a third-class medical certificate. Dana Overall 1999 & 2000 National KR Gathering host Richmond, KY RV-7 slider, Imron black, "Black Magic" Finish kit Buying Instruments. Hangar flying my Dynon. http://rvflying.tripod.com do not archive _________________________________________________________________ There are now three new levels of MSN Hotmail Extra Storage! Learn more. http://join.msn.com/?pgmarket=en-us&page=hotmail/es2&ST=1
