Well the inevitable has happened. My ancestry and hard living has finally caught up with me. Had a quadruple bypass a few weeks ago. My medical of course is out the window. I know about the six month wait,but how many of you have experience dealing with the FAA.

Getting mixed signals from the AOPA and have been advised to go light sport. My cardiologist was unfamilar with FAA requirements but he did some homework and does not give me much hope. Just looking to get input from anyone with similar issues.

What do you fly now?

Tim

There is an aero medical forum over on supercub.org. A couple of the members are AME's and are very willing to help answer these kind of questions. Give it a whirl!

Sorry to hear about that, by the way. It might be a pain in the ass for you, but don't give up.

gb

I'm not totally familiar with the LS regs. either, but I was under the impression that if you just stopped getting a medical you were OK, but if your medical was denied, revoked etc. you were not eligible for light sport flying.

Tex,

Glad to hear that you are at least still kicking and that no farms were purchased. This article provides a little optimism, but I understand that every case is unique. Like gbflyer said, you should find a AME or someone intimately familiar with the certification process to assist you. Your normal cardiologist may be a fine doctor, but the FAA stuff is an art of its own.

Here's the link to the SC.org thread that was mentioned.

Currently live about 250' away from 2500' grass runway. House is inside hangar . Flying is kinda important to my lifestyle. Have been flying Champs, T-Craft, Cessnas 150 thru 182,Vultee BT-13 and SNJ (AT-6),Piper Cherokees and several shortwing models.

Havr found some doc's that are willing to try to help, but I am scared of losing it all with a turn down. This forum looks like it has a great bunch of people and I appreciate your support. Gotta get a new doc as cigars and bourbon sipping whiskey are now off the agenda as with flying. Besides women what else is there.

Go look at Virtual Flight Surgeon, some great info over there. I've been learning alot from it with my upcoming hip implant and the pending disability stuff with military retirement for a whole bunch of stuff.

porterjet wrote:I'm not totally familiar with the LS regs. either, but I was under the impression that if you just stopped getting a medical you were OK, but if your medical was denied, revoked etc. you were not eligible for light sport flying.

I think your right, don't fail a medical, just go straight to sport...

How many times you been ramp checked at your House?

I don't think the quad bypass is a deal stopper. My friend who is a FAA DPE had it done about 8 years ago and he is still flying. From what I understand he did have to go through some extra testing and paperwork to initially get it back. He doesn't seem to have any issues renewing it every year now.

I had out-of-the-norm med issues and was about to develop other med issues just from dealing with the fed. I went light sport. Have had more fun than ever . I fly much more now. I highly recommend it if you anticipate massive medical headaches (and you do....) and mostly fly for enjoyment. Champ and T-cart + a pile of other really fun a/c are out there. Just have to 'eddy out' of the stream and make the medical safety decisions with your own Dr - who really knows you....

m2c

k

I am on a SI for diabetes. I have to go to the doc every year now. If I do my part I should be able to fly like anybody else for a long time.

You should be the same if you do your part. Lose weight, BP under control, exercise. Until you get your SI just fly with another pilot. If you don't take care of your self you won't be flying, coffins don't fly!

Glad you are doing ok! Now do what you need to do.

Cheers...Rob

Cheechakotex:

Get healthy first. The rest will follow.

Unless you suffered massive damage, you can recover functionality and get a special issuance. You will have to do an annual stress test to a specified level on the Bruce Protocol, but after your experience, that's not such a bad idea anyway. Keep in mind that LSA has a catch-all phrase that limits it to folks who have no "known disqualifiying condition".

A critical parameter of your recovery is VEF or Ventricular Ejective Fraction, a ratio of how much blood the heart pumps out compared to how much it holds when relaxed. If it's too low, the FAA will balk. Normal is 50-60%. I believe anything in the 30's is considered congestive heart failure.

You'll probably be scheduled for cardio rehab. DO IT!! Since you had your chest split, it won't be much fun in the beginning, but don't give up on it. It will do more for your recovery than just about anything else.

Good luck, keep your head down and work at recovery. Flying is secondary to living.

YB

Call AOPA back. Talk to their aeromedical staff. Follow their instructions. A Special Issuance is going to depend on the extent of damage incurred.

The folks at AOPA aeromedical can walk you through the steps, and make sure you fill all the squares on your way back to certification. I have an acquaintence who does a SI every year after stents installed. If I were him, I'd drop back to Light Sport, frankly.

Call AOPA. And, for those who aren't AOPA members, this is a REALLY good reason to join: Non threatening independent assistance with medical issues.

MTV

AOPA saved my bacon on some medical paperwork screwup by my doctor's staff...USE THEM!

Use whatever resources you have, a friend of mine had a triple bypass and was able to get his 1st class medical back. It cost him his position at Nippon Cargo, but he flew for a US carrier for 10 more years. Some of the unions have pretty good medical/legal that may help you out.
JW

I would't be afraid of going sport. I have my private and still own a certified plane but i recently started flying a carbon cub lsa and its a lot of fun, it will out preform my friends topcub all day with the same load.
Biggest thing in my mind would be not to not get my medical denied. Lifes to short to spend it fighting the Fed.
Good luck
Blu