Medical requirements for getting a pilot's license?

[Eddyz Aquila]

Any type, it doesn't matter.

I'm fully fit, strong organism bla bla bla. The only thing is that I have glasses/contact lenses due to myopia.
Would it affect me? What do the regulations say about it?

[skylab]

http://www.faa.gov/pilots/become/medical/

Might shed some light.

[tigisfat]

You'll be fine for a US class III flight physical. I just talked to my doc today. You need to have your vision be fully correctable, though.

You can also fly as a sport pilot with no medical. Just make sure you don't fail a flight medical before you go get your sport pilot license, because you'll be ineligible. Other than that, all you need is a driver's license.

[EMC]

What tigisfat said is true - but there is a catch. From the FAA's FAQ:

If I suspect I have a significant medical condition, but have never had an FAA medical certificate denied, suspended, or revoked, can I exercise sport pilot privileges using my current and valid driver’s license, if otherwise qualified?

Response by the Federal Air Surgeon
Long-standing FAA regulation, § 61.53, prohibits all pilots--those who are required to hold airman medical certificates and those who are not--from exercising privileges during periods of medical deficiency. The FAA revised § 61.53 to include under this prohibition sport pilots who use a current and valid U.S. driver’s license as medical qualification. The prohibition is also added under §§ 61.23 (c) (2) (iv) and 61.303 (b) (2) (4) for sport pilot operations.

You should consult your private physician to determine whether you have a medical deficiency that would interfere with the safe performance of sport piloting duties.

[Biohazard]

You will be okay. Myopia and Hyperopia are common amongst many of us. Glasses correct the condition. I have Myopia too, can't see far away objects so I need glasses otherwise I have to squint, don't want to be doing that in a plane! Hyperopia is the opposite!

People get their eyes into these conditions because of how they use their eyes in their every day life. A person all day on the computer will develop Myopia slowly and Hyperopia is usually a cause of age or living in in places were you constantly see things from far far away.

An old lady at my job can't see anything up close at all. And I myself can't make out the numbers on the clock across the plant. I can read the letters on a small book and she can't but she can however, tell me the time on that clock across the hall, while I have to squint to death to make out the hands on the clock and that usually doesn't work!

Both Myopia and Hyperopia are actually reversible! Shhhhhhh, the eye doctors don't want you to know how this happens. Search online for an online eye exercise course. A lot of people can reverse the condition but the eye doctors wont want you to do this....they want you to keep coming back to adjust the magnification on your glasses! Every year, you have to crank it up more and more and more and more money flows out of your pocket. The idea sickens me.


Eyes simply have muscles to help you focus....when these muscles become weak, you'll develop either Myopia or Hyperopia. Some people are born with blurred vision however, this is called astigmatism in which the cornea is not so perfect and the light gets bent and causes blurred vision.

[Biohazard]

What is up with me and these silly explanations on my every posts!? lol....I have to stop doing that!

[tigisfat]

What is up with me and these silly explanations on my every posts!? lol....I have to stop doing that!

hey, it's all good!!

Anywho, now that we know you can most likely get a private OR sport certificate, make sure you do more research if you're planning a career. I've known a few students that were training for the long-term goals and spent a ton of money only to find out that they were ineligible for a class I medical after they'd flown for years while ubilding hours. Talk about a let down. Reminds me of when I failed my military flight medical on the verge of satisfying my life's biggest goal..... but enough of that. Do more research, and don't get blindsided.

[jcmissionary]

Any type, it doesn't matter.

I'm fully fit, strong organism bla bla bla. The only thing is that I have glasses/contact lenses due to myopia.
Would it affect me? What do the regulations say about it?

There's been some good information given above.

Just to add my two cents, I have very bad uncorrected vision (20/200 or worse), yet I can still get a first class medical since it's correctible to 20/20. As long as your vision can be corrected and you don't have any colorblindness problems, you should be fine. Even colorblindness can be dealt with.

[tigisfat]

There's been some good information given above.

Just to add my two cents, I have very bad uncorrected vision (20/200 or worse), yet I can still get a first class medical since it's correctible to 20/20. As long as your vision can be corrected and you don't have any colorblindness problems, you should be fine. Even colorblindness can be dealt with.

He speaks the truth. I count fingers at four feet, and I hold a class I.

[jwenting]

with the very important caveat that all the information that went before is only valid in the USA.
In the EU for example the requirements are far more strict. You can't for example hold a pilot's license if your eyes are below +/-5 diopters even if they can be corrected to 0 with glasses.
In other categories too the restrictions are worse. Diabetes is almost a guaranteed disqualification for example, as are many neuromuscular problems.