I currently have a 3rd class medical. I've been told that all I need to fly my RV-12 is a drivers license. I believe Basic Med requires you to fill out a form to bring to your doctor or a doctor who's willing to sign you off. I've been told by a friend that as long as I ONLY fly LSA aircraft I don't need a medical, just being able to hold a drivers license is all I need, is he correct?
Van's Air Force
Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.
Medical for E-LSA RV-12
- Thread starter bobg56
- Start date
MacCool
Well Known Member
Agree...Basic Med should not be an issue for someone who has a Class 3. Your only issue is finding a physician who is willing to do that. Some doctors don't want the responsibility, some don't have the time. I'd start by downloading the form and the explanation on the AOPA website and take them to your regular doctor to see if he/she would be willing to sign off. Then it's just the (rather silly) Basic Med course online at AOPA, and renewal by your doctor every 4 years (plus renew the AOPA course every two years). Your medical condition for flying is now between you and your doctor, not you and the FAA - definitely a good thing for those who don't HAVE to have an FAA medical certificate.
If your doctor refuses to do this, I would seriously consider a change of doctors. This is no more of a problem for them than a commercial truck drivers physical.
The biggest advantage to BasicMed is that you can't "fail". If you have a problem, you and your doctor work it out. No "denial" as with the FAA.
Maybe. But learned WAY MORE than I ever learned during all of my 3rd class FAA medicals.
Rick_A
Well Known Member
Dr's for Basic Med
I've had mixed results using my regular doctor for Basic Med.
The doc I had while living in Texas did it - it was her first time doing Basic Med so she had to learn about the processes.
When I moved to Florida, it took a bit of work to get established with a new doctor. The doc I have now is a young guy with an office that is associated with a large hospital system in the area. Being young and new, he was very willing to learn something new and he agreed to do my Basic Med.
However, when I showed up for the appointment, he said he had some bad news - the Office Administrator (that answers to the hospital system) told him he could not do it! BTW, he said they don't do commercial CDL medicals either.
Luckily, a doctor friend that I met through VAF did it for me. (Thanks, Turner
)
I've had mixed results using my regular doctor for Basic Med.
The doc I had while living in Texas did it - it was her first time doing Basic Med so she had to learn about the processes.
When I moved to Florida, it took a bit of work to get established with a new doctor. The doc I have now is a young guy with an office that is associated with a large hospital system in the area. Being young and new, he was very willing to learn something new and he agreed to do my Basic Med.
However, when I showed up for the appointment, he said he had some bad news - the Office Administrator (that answers to the hospital system) told him he could not do it! BTW, he said they don't do commercial CDL medicals either.
Luckily, a doctor friend that I met through VAF did it for me. (Thanks, Turner
)
MacCool
Well Known Member
Choosing a doctor based entirely on whether or not they do Basic Med exams (which one will need only for that one specific purpose and only at 4 year intervals) is not likely to be practical advice. I agree that it's certainly no more complex than a DOT exam, but not all doctors do those either, and for many of the same reasons. For one thing, if that doctor is employed (most are), his/her employer may not permit Basic Med (or DOT) exams. Others don't wish to incur what they perceive to be (or have been told) to be increased liability. Others simply don't have the time.
Last edited:
Ed_Wischmeyer
Well Known Member
My family doctor was reluctant to do BasicMed, and no matter how much I told her organization about BasicMed, they would not listen, insisting that BasicMed required an AME. Finally got the doc to do it, but she could not do the eye portion, so that was done by my eye doctor.
The AME I had been using did not know what BasicMed was...
Fast forward a year and, for unrelated reasons, I had a whole slew of medical tests and passed them all. Went to a different AME and got a Second Class. That Second came with a guarantee that if the FAA didn't approve it, the Senior AME would fight it to the end. That didn't happen, fortunately.
With the cognitive testing at AirVenture this year, I'll get to earn back some of the cost of the gold-plated Second.
The AME I had been using did not know what BasicMed was...
Fast forward a year and, for unrelated reasons, I had a whole slew of medical tests and passed them all. Went to a different AME and got a Second Class. That Second came with a guarantee that if the FAA didn't approve it, the Senior AME would fight it to the end. That didn't happen, fortunately.
With the cognitive testing at AirVenture this year, I'll get to earn back some of the cost of the gold-plated Second.
bonefishdave
Well Known Member
I think it’s interesting that at least here in Florida, a chiropractor can sign off basic med, however my oral surgeon that can write prescriptions, cannot.
Go figure
Go figure
MacCool
Well Known Member
Some states (not all) usually due to powerful lobbying, define chiropractors as "physicians" in their state statutes
, thus meeting the federal requirements to sign off of Basic Med. As to oral surgeons...some, maybe most these days, have an MD degree in addition to their DDS, which would make them also physicians in addition to being dentists and therefore qualified to sign Basic Med. If their oral surgery residency didn't offer an MD degree, then they are dentists, but not physicians. Dentists can write prescriptions too, but can't do Basic Med.I agree that it's odd that Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants are specifically excluded from doing Basic Med. IMHO they would be FAR more qualified than any chiropractor to do a meaningful exam.
Last edited:
RFSchaller
Well Known Member
In PHX try The Pilot Clinic. Dr. Travis Allen is an AME who also does Basic Med. He was an Army flight surgeon and is an active GA pilot. Great guy who has helped several of my friends with special issuances of FAA medical exams.
dbhill916
Well Known Member
I totally agree that any practicing NP or PA should also be able to perform this function.
I get the impression that the actual legal language that defines Basic Med was written without benefit of any medically trained professional. Right off the bat, the acronym for Basic Med is the same as Bowel Movement, and no competent clinician would have approved that name because we all love acronyms, and there's no one who's going to sign up to give or get BM's!
On a more serious observation, the examination itself is pulled from any first year text book on physical examination. It is nothing more than checklist of systems that must be examined but no indication of what the intent of the examination is. In aviation terms, it's like a check list with a list of Challenges but no Responses.
The only area that is actually important looks almost like a footnote: "Anything else the physician, in his or her medical judgment, considers necessary." This is really what Basic Med is about -- a gut level Go/No-Go decision rather than a legal definition of ability to be a pilot.
Drivers License
To answer the original post, you can fly with only your drivers license assuming your last FAA medical was not denied or revoked. I recommend reading Far Part 61 subpart J, which outlines operating privileges and limitations for Sport Pilots. It's only a few pages long. As a PPL holder, you can operate as a Sport Pilot. All of the privileges and limitations apply except for the required endorsements.
To answer the original post, you can fly with only your drivers license assuming your last FAA medical was not denied or revoked. I recommend reading Far Part 61 subpart J, which outlines operating privileges and limitations for Sport Pilots. It's only a few pages long. As a PPL holder, you can operate as a Sport Pilot. All of the privileges and limitations apply except for the required endorsements.
