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Thank you for your very reasoned post, Steven:
At 11:19 PM 7/18/02 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
>Regarding the medical issue - I'm 46 with 2600 hours and have had
>quadurple bypass surgury less than two weeks after renewing my third
class
>physical (no clue it was coming either).
An excellent example of the basic falicy of the current system. And
"medical"
in so far as a drivers license is concerned falls into the same category.
> I got my medical back (acutally its a Authorization for Special
> Issuance) within 2 weeks of the required 6 month waiting period (thanks
> to the help of the Atlanta District office of the FAA Medical divison
and
> the AOPA for guidance. I've been able to maintain my physical with an
> annual stress test and sending the results to the FAA.
I'm flying year-to-year myself on special issuence. Yes, the system
works.
No, it is not fast; they opperate on their own time frame. Yes, it is
good to
have an organization behind you, and local persons you can discuss your
case with.
>If I had not been able to get my medical back, I would have had no choice
>to go the sport/ultralight route to continue flying. But I would have
>kept flying.
Good for you! Persons fly because they have a passion for it. If not,
they
take up Mah-Jong.
>Am I safe to fly - yes - Safer than before surgury. Did my third class
>medical detect any problem with my health - hell no. Should the third
>class medical be required? Sure - it it finds one person with a problem
>then it is worth it for all of us. There are aviation alternatives for
>those of us that are unable or unwilling to be subjected to a physical.
>Perhaps the physical should be more thorough after a certain age (like
the
>first class) but that would be cost prohibitive and be a restriction on
>our personal freedom to fly.
I still argue that the medical requirement is a hold-over from the ATP
training
sylabus. The "if it finds one person with a problem then it is worth it
for all of
us" thinking is what leads to "if taking all the planes out of the air
keeps
terrorists from running into buildings it is worth it" type of thinking.
A
leap, I
grant. But the way some minds function, and some of those minds get
elected or appointed to positions of power. Sorry, but... The National
Rifle Association is very shrill on that point; and very effective!
>The bottom line is the system works - if you work with it. There are
>plenty of old guys (and ladies) flying and thats cool. We have all
>learned from them and will continue to do so. Most pilots demonstrate
>common sense and will know when they should or should not fly - whether
it
>be a bad cold or old age. The medical requirement is already self
>regulating.
Yes, the system works to a good degree. It can always use fine tuning in
the
light of changing circumstances. Conditions we (like you and I, bro) live
with
today would have lead to graveyard city not too long ago. The FAR's
cannot
change as fast as medicine; the legal always lags behind the scientific.
And most pilots do indeed respect the system and their own limits.
>It's interesting to see the different view points of the people that
>participate on this and other web posting sites. Thanks for the
continued
>insight of flying and human nature and fly safe
And thank you again for taking the time to provide a good posting to our
humble
list. People will learn alot more about each other (A Good Thing {TM}
IMHO)
from a mail list than reading a buncha Psych texts. You use Best
Practices
in all your aviating, and I hope to see more of you in our bitstring.
Percy in Portland
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