are you aware of endolymphatic shunt surgery? This was used to successfully treat M?ni?re?s disease in none other than astronaut Alan Shepard.
Bob,Sorry to hear of your predicament,Are you sure the medical community isn't leading you down the garden path for a simple case of BPPV. Have you ever tried a Hall-pike, Epley maneuver? I don't know your history so I'm just spit balling here. Most doctors love to prescribe pill upon pill or what ever it says on there new pen the rep just gave them.Don't give up the fight,you have come too far to stop now!
Some things in life just SUCK. This is one of them. I am very sorry to read of your issues here. Always enjoy your writings, battles and triumphs. Very sorry that this one is one you can seem to fix or work through.
Best, Rick
If I had a beef it's that the FAA punishes those most who try to get on top of their maladies, but you know, I'm getting too old to get too outraged anymore.
The scenario now is at some future point to try to get a medical certificate and then let it expire and fly LSA. The denial is a death sentence for LSA until such a time as a medical is issued. This is the gamble that people my age must consider. If I had to do it over again, I guess I should've just let it go.
It's true, too, that I could fly with a safety pilot bit insurance requires someone with 100 hours in an RV (at least to have the same premium); but all my pilot pals have their own RVs and they understandably want to fly them to fly-ins etc. And the way I wanted to use the RV -- cross country -- isn't practical in this scenario with a two-place airplane.
That leaves the occasional local flight which is pretty much like having a learner's permit. If you can't go anywhere, it's not particularly fulfilling.
You know, I've always thought the powered parachutes would be super fun to have. I will look into that. Ever see some of the great videos that the guy out of Rushford MN has put together?
snip...
Vlad, I feel like I'm 59, which is to say, my hair's getting thin, the gut's getting larger, and I'm making the same noises getting out of bed in the morning that my dad made.
On the positive side of self-launch experimental glider rules, there?s no ?speed limit? specified, or a minimum stall speed. This allows the builder to choose the highest-performance engine available if he wants maximum climb power. The fact that the plane would now easily exceed the maximum speed numbers of the sport pilot limits is of no concern. Weight isn?t an issue either; there?s no maximum weight. Also, there isn?t a limit on the number of seats, and in-flight adjustable props are permitted as are retractable gear. And unlike a sport pilot, a glider pilot with a self-launch endorsement may fly a motorglider at night (if it?s so equipped) and in any airspace (save Class A) if properly equipped and the proper radio calls are made.
In order for an aircraft to be considered a "powered glider" it must meet the following criteria:
(i) The number of occupants does not exceed two;
(ii) Maximum weight does not exceed 850 kg (1874 pounds); and
(iii) The maximum weight to wing span squared (w/b2) does not exceed 3.0 kg/M2 (0.62 lb./ft.2).
Item (iii) is key, because many aircraft that people would like to consider a "motorglider" won't meet the span loading formula. Again, the formula is the maximum gross weight divided by the wing span squared. Here's an example:
An aircraft with a gross weight of 1250 lbs and a wing span of 36 feet would work out to .96 lb/ft.2 according to the formula, which would not meet the requirement. But an aircraft with the same gross weight but a 46 foot wing span would work out to .59 lb/ft.2, which does meet the requirement.
Interesting find on EAA's website http://www.eaa.org/experimenter/articles/2010-11_editorial.asp
A snippet of the article says this...
Hmmmm..... perhaps an RV fuselage with a custom-designed wing that's long enough to satisfy the wingspan to weight requirements of a "powered glider"?
Also from EAA's website:
A 1500 lb gross weight RV with a 50' folding wing would do it
Sorry to here this news Bob. My wife has meniere's disease also and I have an idea of what you are dealing with. What they did to help immensly with my wife was to go in and purposely damage the cocklea for the ear causing the issue, now she doesn't have the dizzy spells anymore. The procedure does involve the loss of hearing in one ear, but in her severe case this was the lesser of the two evils.
My prayers are with you.
I hope that after you have recovered from this initial shock that you can find a way to maintain the associations you have established in the aviation world. Contemplating loosing my aviation friendships is much more troubling than the loss of a medical.
Bob,
I have pondered a scenario similar to yours quite often as my seventh decade has recently begun. It is difficult to visualize not being able to fly the RV-6 solo to Saturday breakfasts or cross-country at a whim. But somehow, life would go on.
I hope that after you have recovered from this initial shock that you can find a way to maintain the associations you have established in the aviation world. Contemplating loosing my aviation friendships is much more troubling than the loss of a medical.
Best wishes my friend....we are pulling for you.
Don't start playing golf or take up fishing on us!
Flying a motor-glider does not require a medical.
Well, again, flying with another pilot is fun, I suppose, but it completely defeats the purpose of building the RV-7A in the first place.
People always refer to the Rv as a "magic carpet," and I guess it is. It can take you places and give you great experience.s
Now imagine being the family member who's left behind -- not only for me but for the family members of the person who'll fly with me -- while I go to those places and have those experiences.
Also, who the heck wants to fly up to New England and spend a week with my mother?
You know, it just is what it is. The FAA's job is to keep as many people out of the sky as they can. They got me.
Vlad, I feel like I'm 59, which is to say, my hair's getting thin, the gut's getting larger, and I'm making the same noises getting out of bed in the morning that my dad made.
Doug,
I believe that once you have had a medical denied you may no longer self-certify for Sport pilot privleges.
Part of this sentiment:
It does seem at times that criminals get away with things while honest people pay for their honesty. /QUOTE]
I find this comment EXTREMELY OFFENSIVE, to put it VERY mildly.
Is the writer suggesting that those of us exercising the privileges of Sport Pilot are criminals? Dodging the consequences of "honest people" who go to the AME?
We all have this challenge facing us. I have a lot of pilot friends in their 80s, some in their 90s - one reached 100 and was still active - owning two airplanes. But most got the word from their AME's, or the dreaded letter from the FAA. Fact is, we're all - if we stay in this business long enough - are gonna get "that letter." The clock ticks - Tempus Fugit.
I've been flying for 49 years - J-3s to Big Iron. If I had my druthers, I'd probably go for a bigger, faster airplane. Heck - if I win the Lottery, I'd go for a Cessna Citation. But - I don't. Have my druthers, that is.
Knowing there was a "Letter" in my future some day, I elected not to play Russian Roulette and raise my anxiety level and blood pressure dreading that trip to the AME. So, I went Light Sport.
Thank Goodness that option is now available to us. I built and am flying an RV-12. And loving it. It's a fine airplane, and I use it for a lot of cross-country flying. It's way better than a powered parachute.
But - as we all know - you have to take that road BEFORE, and not AFTER, the inevitable bad news arrives at our doorstep. I have a lot of RV-12 friends, and they have all arrived at, and taken that path. We believe we are safe pilots.
We are not dodging or gaming the system. And WE ARE NOT CRIMINALS.....
Bob Bogash
RV-12
N737G
I couldn't disagree more. I know it must feel that way to you right now and I can completely understand your frustration, but the FAA's concern is not for your personal health and well-being, it is for those who may fly with you or those on the ground that could be hurt if your abilities failed in flight. At least that has been my experience, anyway.The FAA's job is to keep as many people out of the sky as they can.
I couldn't disagree more. I know it must feel that way to you right now and I can completely understand your frustration, but the FAA's concern is not for your personal health and well-being, it is for those who may fly with you or those on the ground that could be hurt if your abilities failed in flight. At least that has been my experience, anyway.
I don't mean to question the integrity of the FAA; clearly theirs is a noble effort to protect other people.
When the FAA denies a medical. They cite a (b) and also a (c) in FAR 67.113, 67.213, and 67.313.
I would submit that item #2 under the (c) heading allows for much too broad an interpretation:
(2) May reasonably be expected, for the maximum duration of the airman medical certificate applied for or held, to make the person unable to perform those duties or exercise those privileges.
Because I had Meniere's Disease? Well, OK, but I had Meniere's Disease several years ago when the FAA investigated it and gave me the certificate anyway with the provision that if the symptoms reoccur, I don't fly. I think that's fair and, hence, that's what I did.
It was entirely predictable several years ago that those symptoms would reoccur because that's how Meniere's Disease works. There are various treatments, but there is no cure.
So I don't quite understand what's changed. Well, except for the fact there's another person in charge in OKC now and two guys have different definitions of what's "reasonable," and in our current world, we want to eliminate as many "possibilities" as possible by forcing people to the ground. I get that. And they clearly have the right and reason to apply it.
Bear in mind that a denial letter doesn’t necessarily mean that there will never be a chance of certification with a given condition. It means that given the information you provided at this point in time they determined that you are ineligible. Given the right circumstances you may be eligible for a special issuance, which is essentially a waiver for a condition that may otherwise be disqualifying.
I’m not really familiar with how the FAA handles Meniett devices, but that could well be the problem as you suggest. The fact that your symptoms were most recently manifested in June may also be a problem as that may not be enough time for the FAA to establish that your symptoms have an acceptably low chance of coming back (when you submitted the paperwork in August only 2 months had elapsed).