Looks like this may actually happen! Latest is that the FAA reauthorization bill includes third-class medical reform, per AOPA website. About time!

www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/20 ... -extension

Greg

Keep our fingers crossed.

I hope we get reform.

Just what it will look like, and when, and how helpful it will be all remain to be determined. I am hopeful but not particularly optimistic.

As MTV and others have pointed out, it is not a perfect solution, and it will not help everyone. In some cases, apparently it will not change much at all. But it is definitely better for a lot of people, and more importantly it continues the FAA trend towards more common sense and less red tape. That alone is worth supporting and applying pressure toward. We have to support this on principle IMHO.

Absolutley

Sounds like as of today, it's headed to the President to sign.

Hmmmm.

Just read the AOPA briefing. Not sure I see this as much of a victory?? If I am reading this right, we will still be required to have a medical with a "FAA list of questions" present every 4 years (just doesn't have to be an approved FAA examiner). Also have to take an online "medical" test every two years??

What happened with being able to operate with a drivers license???

Hope I am reading it wrong, but if not, it sure doesn't seem like much of a change?

Maybe you guys are seeming something in this I'm not??

88H wrote:Hmmmm.

Just read the AOPA briefing. Not sure I see this as much of a victory?? If I am reading this right, we will still be required to have a medical with a "FAA list of questions" present every 4 years (just doesn't have to be an approved FAA examiner). Also have to take an online "medical" test every two years??

What happened with being able to operate with a drivers license???

Hope I am reading it wrong, but if not, it sure doesn't seem like much of a change?

Maybe you guys are seeming something in this I'm not??

Well, it's not perfect, but instead of going to an AME, and electronically documenting every sneeze you've emitted over the last few years, you'll be able to go to your family doc (or an AME) and get him/her to simply sign a form that says you have no conditions that in their opinion would preclude you from operating an aircraft safely. To me, the possible rub is whether a doc will be willing to assume this liability, but I suspect till there's a legal history, they probably will.

So, all you'll have to do is see a doc every four years, get them to go down a checklist, sign it, and you put that in your logbook.....NOT in the FAA's record system.

Now, understand that an Act of Congress means very little until a set of regulations implementing that Act is prepared by the agency with jurisdiction. So, the FAA will still have a shot at screwing this up, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of wiggle room for them.

Nevertheless, the FAA has a year to get those regs out there. Good luck with that, since the FAA has missed every time target recently.

BUT, consider that THIS Act opens the MD certified pilot to fly up to six seat aircraft, multi engine aircraft, in IMC, and several other categories. It is much more liberal in the types of aircraft available to pilots operating under this policy than the original PBR as written by AOPA and EAA.

Time will tell what the regs actually look like at the end of the day, and I'll bet the FAA drags its feet right up to the precipice. Nevertheless, I think this could be a really pretty good deal.

MTV

Yeah you read it correctly, I am disappointed too. They are supposed to ask you the questions then you make a logbook entry. Pretty dumb in my opinion.

MTV:

Thanks for the clarification. Getting to fly IFR with the 4 yr medical is certainly an improvement over having to go every yr.

Sorry for the slight thread drift, but there is another aspect of this medical cert issue that really bears discussion. In this day and age, under these previously unthinkable political and security circumstances, I believe that the emotional, mental, and psychological factors affecting pilots are probably as much or more of a concern than physical health. This needs to be addressed by us (the GA community) before someone else with a different agenda tries to address it for us.

There are airline pilots who have gone bonkers and crashed medium size transport aircraft (or vanished with a 777). There have been pilots who landed small GA aircraft on the lawns or in front of government buildings. As I mentioned elsewhere I personally witnessed a student pilot pull a glider apart in the air because his girlfriend dumped him. All of these tragedies had nothing to do with physical fitness, they all were problems related to emotional and mental health.

I'm sorry to be the one who brings this up, and I'll be lambasted by a lot of people, but there needs to be a useful psychological screening as part of the medical certification. If we don't come up with a proposal for how to do it in a way that is least intrusive and onerous, somebody else will do it. The next time somebody lands their Cub on the White House lawn, even if not one blade of grass is harmed, ALL of us can look forward to difficulty and restrictions we don't have now. Especially if the !(#*@ Wicked Witch is living in that house. Heaven forbid someone takes an AG airplane and tries to put some kind of bio-shit into a crowd, what do you think will happen to the rest of us?

Again, I'm sorry as hell that this is even worthy of discussion, but I'm afraid that it is.

EZFlap wrote:Sorry for the slight thread drift, but there is another aspect of this medical cert issue that really bears discussion. In this day and age, under these previously unthinkable political and security circumstances, I believe that the emotional, mental, and psychological factors affecting pilots are probably as much or more of a concern than physical health. This needs to be addressed by us (the GA community) before someone else with a different agenda tries to address it for us.

There are airline pilots who have gone bonkers and crashed medium size transport aircraft (or vanished with a 777). There have been pilots who landed small GA aircraft on the lawns or in front of government buildings. As I mentioned elsewhere I personally witnessed a student pilot pull a glider apart in the air because his girlfriend dumped him. All of these tragedies had nothing to do with physical fitness, they all were problems related to emotional and mental health.

I'm sorry to be the one who brings this up, and I'll be lambasted by a lot of people, but there needs to be a useful psychological screening as part of the medical certification. If we don't come up with a proposal for how to do it in a way that is least intrusive and onerous, somebody else will do it. The next time somebody lands their Cub on the White House lawn, even if not one blade of grass is harmed, ALL of us can look forward to difficulty and restrictions we don't have now. Especially if the !(#*@ Wicked Witch is living in that house. Heaven forbid someone takes an AG airplane and tries to put some kind of bio-shit into a crowd, what do you think will happen to the rest of us?

Again, I'm sorry as hell that this is even worthy of discussion, but I'm afraid that it is.

You paint a bleak but realistic picture. Might as well implement the annual government-sponsored mental health exam. They can centralize results and use it for everything under their control... drivers license, pilots, gun ownership, air travel, etc. The question is if it would really help. Sure it may catch a few flying over the cuckoo's nest but I would bet the vast majority of people we REALLY need to worry about would and could just tell them what they want to hear and pass with flying colors.

EZFlap wrote:Sorry for the slight thread drift, but there is another aspect of this medical cert issue that really bears discussion. In this day and age, under these previously unthinkable political and security circumstances, I believe that the emotional, mental, and psychological factors affecting pilots are probably as much or more of a concern than physical health. This needs to be addressed by us (the GA community) before someone else with a different agenda tries to address it for us.

There are airline pilots who have gone bonkers and crashed medium size transport aircraft (or vanished with a 777). There have been pilots who landed small GA aircraft on the lawns or in front of government buildings. As I mentioned elsewhere I personally witnessed a student pilot pull a glider apart in the air because his girlfriend dumped him. All of these tragedies had nothing to do with physical fitness, they all were problems related to emotional and mental health.

I'm sorry to be the one who brings this up, and I'll be lambasted by a lot of people, but there needs to be a useful psychological screening as part of the medical certification. If we don't come up with a proposal for how to do it in a way that is least intrusive and onerous, somebody else will do it. The next time somebody lands their Cub on the White House lawn, even if not one blade of grass is harmed, ALL of us can look forward to difficulty and restrictions we don't have now. Especially if the !(#*@ Wicked Witch is living in that house. Heaven forbid someone takes an AG airplane and tries to put some kind of bio-shit into a crowd, what do you think will happen to the rest of us?

Again, I'm sorry as hell that this is even worthy of discussion, but I'm afraid that it is.

So this happens with the current process and regulations!
Has this been a big problem with the LS population of pilots.
I don't think there is any regulation or procedures that will make this non existent!
IMHO and throw that in with my$.02

M6RV6 wrote:

EZFlap wrote:Sorry for the slight thread drift, but there is another aspect of this medical cert issue that really bears discussion. In this day and age, under these previously unthinkable political and security circumstances, I believe that the emotional, mental, and psychological factors affecting pilots are probably as much or more of a concern than physical health. This needs to be addressed by us (the GA community) before someone else with a different agenda tries to address it for us.

There are airline pilots who have gone bonkers and crashed medium size transport aircraft (or vanished with a 777). There have been pilots who landed small GA aircraft on the lawns or in front of government buildings. As I mentioned elsewhere I personally witnessed a student pilot pull a glider apart in the air because his girlfriend dumped him. All of these tragedies had nothing to do with physical fitness, they all were problems related to emotional and mental health.

I'm sorry to be the one who brings this up, and I'll be lambasted by a lot of people, but there needs to be a useful psychological screening as part of the medical certification. If we don't come up with a proposal for how to do it in a way that is least intrusive and onerous, somebody else will do it. The next time somebody lands their Cub on the White House lawn, even if not one blade of grass is harmed, ALL of us can look forward to difficulty and restrictions we don't have now. Especially if the !(#*@ Wicked Witch is living in that house. Heaven forbid someone takes an AG airplane and tries to put some kind of bio-shit into a crowd, what do you think will happen to the rest of us?

Again, I'm sorry as hell that this is even worthy of discussion, but I'm afraid that it is.

So this happens with the current process and regulations!
Has this been a big problem with the LS population of pilots.
I don't think there is any regulation or procedures that will make this non existent!
IMHO and throw that in with my$.02

I agree George. Ez, in your example of the guy who's girlfriend dumped him so he pulled a glider apart, how would an exam have helped? He was fine until his girlfriend dumped him, then he snapped. I fail to see how any regulation would prevent such an act. I think most of us are capable of snapping if all the stars line up just right. Doesn't make it right, but it happens. No different then airline pilots with current medicals dying from heart attacks while flying. The only regulation that will stop such things from happening is that everyone quit flying...

All good points, but what is likely to happen if we do nothing ?

Someone crashes on purpose (or tries to do so and gets shot down). Five minutes later there is a press conference by Senator Sleazebag presenting his new mental health screening program, which is 10X more onerous and intrusive than anything we would have come up with.

All pilots are now "potential terrorists" in the news media from that moment onward

Other than burying our collective heads in the sand (the easiest and most obvious option), what should we do about this possibility?

EZFlap wrote:All good points, but what is likely to happen if we do nothing ?

Someone crashes on purpose (or tries to do so and gets shot down). Five minutes later there is a press conference by Senator Sleazebag presenting his new mental health screening program, which is 10X more onerous and intrusive than anything we would have come up with.

All pilots are now "potential terrorists" in the news media from that moment onward

Other than burying our collective heads in the sand (the easiest and most obvious option), what should we do about this possibility?

Not burying our head I don't think, it's sounds like a solution waiting for a problem to happen??
So what could we do if it did happen, What would we do now if it happened now?
What have done when it did happen?
Not much happened when the kid in Anchorage speared the building either last fall or this spring??
Not much happened when the guy flew into the IRS building in the lower 48 last year?
Just questions??

Here is a really good summary of PBR2 with bullet FAQS that EAA just put up on their website dated July 15, 2016

It is one of the most helpful overviews I have seen. Not too wordy, just the straight info using concise FAQs.

https://www.eaa.org/en/eaa/eaa-news-and-aviation-news/12-09-2015-pbor-faq?mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWW1SaU5ETm1OV1F3TkRCbCIsInQiOiJNUlpcL21HNWUyWWFybjRiQUlSTno2ZlVONjNKRWNpVmtIMG1wR28xNjRWUEVWOXhaVGNcL09WZjJUTkdWamtnU0JHV0VXVE15OTduRHVQQndiXC9BTzNHdVFxY2dLZ21raVdPM3VKMjBnZGhMbz0ifQ%3D%3D

Here is an interesting question off the AOPA website re PBR2.:

.
What if I want to fly outside the United States?

You can fly under the medical reform provisions outside of the United States only if authorized to do so by the country in which the flight is conducted. It’s a good idea to check with AOPA or the aviation authority for the country in which you intend to fly to determine what conditions you will need to meet to fly internationally.

So what, if anything, is known at this point about flying into, through, or over Canada say to AK?

SOOOOOOOooooo Question for some as I read this?
The aircraft is limited to certified with 6 seats?? So the Cherokee 6, 207, saratoga, Seneca, C310, Beaver, I m sure there are others out there that are certified with more then 6 seats, are those out the door? I think the 185 is legal for seven also with the bench 3rd seat?( SMALL PEOPLE IN THE REAR)
Those all are certified for more than 6 seats and have a GW of less than 6000lbs?
Can I just have 5 passengers or less?
Not sure???
What say U/

Denali wrote:So what, if anything, is known at this point about flying into, through, or over Canada say to AK?

Well. In the 40+ years I've been flying between AK and the lower 48 not once has anyone asked for my medical. (Kinda like my restricted radiotelegraph operator's license)

That said, something breaks and you have an incident, then they're gonna ask. For me, at this stage of my life, let 'em ask. Not much they can do. For a youngster, with a certificate to protect, probably a wise decision to have a valid medical of the appropriate class with you.

Gump


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