Fit To Fly*

The asterisk is there because that's kinda how the FAA put it to me...

The bottom line - I once again have a third class airman's medical certificate - yea!

The asterisk - it is a "special issuance" certificate. In layman's terms, this means that there are some conditions associated with the certificate. Fortunately, the conditions aren't too onerous. First, the certificate is only valid for one year, rather than the standard two years for someone over forty. Second, in three months, my physician must provide the FAA with an update which indicates that no problems have surfaced which would impair my ability to operate an airplane in a manner consistent with providing for the safety of myself, my passengers, or the greater public.

If after review, the flight surgeon determines that I appear to truly be okay, then he has the option of extending the authorization to the standard two years.

In one of the interesting quirks of FAA regulations, the one year is from my original medical exam - not from the date of issuance. Since it took six months - to the day - to actually receive my certificate, that means that I only have six months left on my "one year." Similarly, the extension to the standard two years would be relative to my initial examination date.

What specific part of the regulations, you might be wondering, did I run afoul of? What explicitly stated medical condition do I have which causes the FAA to question my ability to safely pilot an aircraft?

None.

Yes, that's right. I don't remember the exact sub-paragraph at the moment, and I ironically can't look it up since I am sitting in an airplane (as a passenger), but the part to which my initial deferral refers basically boils down to a catch all "and anything else which the FAA feels might impair one's ability to safely pilot an aircraft."

The really amusing part is that if I never again seek a medical certificate, I could legally act as a pilot under the new sport pilot regulations, operating basically the same sort of aircraft I've been flying, in the same conditions, since the sport pilot regulations only require that you have a valid driver's license as proof of medical fitness. There are a number of limitations to the sport pilot license as compared to the private license, so assuming there is no change for the worse in my "condition," I'll continue to work to keep my medical current.

I had learned that I had received my certificate week before last via my weekly call to the FAA to get a status update. I decided I didn't want to say anything to anyone until I actually had the paper in my hot little hand. By the time I actually did have it, I had gotten really busy with work - thus the delay in the post.

They say that every cloud has a silver lining, and today justifies the cliché.

The weather had been unsuitable for flying for the last few days, but the forecast had called for today to be absolutely beautiful: clear skies, light winds, moderate temperatures. Based on this forecast, I had made a reservation to rent a plane for an hour this afternoon, just prior to my departure on a quick business trip.

My initial plan had been to fly one or two passes around the pattern with an instructor, then go solo, but, the FBO operator told me that it would be unlikely that an instructor would want to be at the airport for just a part of an hour lesson, so I bit the bullet and told him I'd just wing it.

Sorry, sometimes I just can't resist.

So, off my fearless bride and I set, for our adventure.

Jeanie really is a sport. I'm guessing, even though she assured me that it was not so, that she was terrified. Heck, I was nervous enough for the both of us. Even though I have had three instructors assure me that I was ready to fly solo, my confidence was less than 100%. Obviously, while not 100%, I did believe that I could safely get us up and down, or I wouldn't have taken a chance with the love of my life sitting in the right seat.

To ease into things, I decided to take one trip around the pattern. I considered my performance acceptable - not great - but acceptable. The takeoff was a pretty good soft field departure. I did a pretty good job of maintaining airspeed. Kept the pattern fairly tight. Made the appropriate radio calls at the appropriate times. Even made a reasonably smooth landing. I had to brake a little harder than I would have preferred, but, it wasn't embarrassing.

After taxiing back to the departure end of the runway, I made a second decent takeoff and headed toward Person County Airport. Person County is about sixteen miles away from Lake Ridge. Far enough to be able to do a little sightseeing but close enough to not take too long to get there.

Anyone who knows me knows that I can get lost going from my bedroom to my bathroom. I was therefore much relieved when I saw the airport in generally the direction I expected it to be. I even managed to dial in the correct frequency for the ATIS report, then switch to the correct CTAF, and select the correct runway upon which to land.

Person County has a 6000 foot runway, so needless to say, even though I was a little long, I didn't have to stand on the brakes. I wasn't super happy with my landing as I flared a little high and dropped the last few feet. Not enough to bounce, but not a "grease job" either.

Takeoff from Person County was smooth, although the trip back to Lake Ridge wasn't due to convective heating of the earth. The down side of a clear, warm, sunny day is that the air tends to be a bumpy. I was able to navigate directly back to the airport and enter the traffic pattern properly.

I was high on my approach, so I decided to do a go-around. The good news / bad news was that all three instructors happened to be sitting outside watching my approach. The good news was that they informed me that the winds had shifted almost 180 degrees in the half-hour that I had been away (which was not anticipated in my weather briefing) so I should use runway 14 rather than 32. The bad news was that my second approach was not at all pretty, so they got to see two bad approaches. On my second approach, I was still high, so I tried to perform a forward slip, but the feedback from the assembly was that I didn't really hold the slip long enough to be effective, and instead just looked sloppy. I did end up with a decent landing for the last twenty feet or so - fairly smooth roll-out, stall buzzer going off right at touchdown, no sideways motion, aligned with the center line, no need to apply brakes before exiting the runway.

All in all, it was a very nice day. I really enjoyed the time with Jeanie, and given the fact that neither we nor the airplane suffered any damage, I'll chalk it up to a good first day "back in the saddle."

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Posted by David at April 10, 2005 10:58 PM