BasicMed is brand-spanking new. And the topic has created nearly endless discussion. Merits, drawbacks, pros, cons, and more are all fair game. A good amount of mis-information — sadly — seems to be feeding the fire.
For example, I’ve seen discussions centered around indicated versus true or calibrated airspeed.
For the record, BasicMed allows you to operate at 250 knots (indicated airspeed) or less.
Two stories we posted on our website about the topic, Pilots flock to BasicMed and BasicMed: One pilot’s story have proven fertile for that discussion. I’m amazed at the variety of comments so far. I haven’t even had a chance to speak with my doctor about this yet.
The feedback falls into two general camps: Hopeful/positive and negative.
Hopeful
Larry Stencel, author of BasicMed: One pilot’s story, in response to a commenter says, “Anyhow … we can all hope that after a number of (successful) years of BasicMed implementation — in much the same way that Light Sport opened doors — that BasicMed will open more doors. They’re doing it that way in the UK and other countries … maybe the mythical ‘they’ will learn here, as well.”
I sure hope so.
Nate D’Anna encouraged a fellow commenter to “go to the AOPA website regarding BasicMed. You will find everything there including a tutorial titled, ‘What the Physician Should Know’ which you can print out for your physician. I faxed this and the AOPA medical info sheet (that you can fill out online and print) one week before my scheduled appointment and asked my doc to contact me prior to the exam date if he had any questions or concerns. He never contacted me prior to exam date, and my exam went off without a hitch—and I was his first pilot with this for him to experience. He thanked me for the advance info I provided and stated that he didn’t consider BasicMed any different than approving an athlete to participate in sports. In other words, he has no liability concerns. Easy peasy.”
Hopefully many pilots will find this the norm. Time will tell.
“After my primary care doctor declined to do BasicMed I found three doctors who would with two phone calls,” says Tom. “Based upon some of the thoughtful comments I am surprised at those who feel BasicMed will not work for them. BasicMed is a first step in the right direction.”
That’s one of the benefits of BasicMed — options.
Negative
“I used to fly for recreation only until my FAA required med checks started amounting to a few thousand dollars every two years,” says Peter. “My primary doctor said these required checks wouldn’t change a thing as my medical history proved. I decided to wait for the new med rules and continued to support AOPA, although I sold my PA16. I won’t reiterate what the previous posts have stated, but just tell you what I did with my airplane money. I went out and bought a pristine example of the best sports car on the market today, a Porsche 996 Twin Turbo. I’m as ecstatic as I ever was flying and no hangar cost. Thanks for the effort Mark Baker, yet with all the momentum on your side, in the end you simply caved.”
Caved? Hmm. As I undertand it, the “driver’s license”-based medical we all hoped would happen became a non-starter in Congress. Faced with a choice between no medical reform or some medical reform, those pushing this boulder uphill chose the latter.
Says TL: “Note that if you fly outside the U.S., for example to Mexico or Carribbean, you will still need an FAA medical…”
Right you are TL. From Advisory Circular 68-1 (5.2.4.3), “BasicMed standards divert from ICAO requirements, flights must be geographically linked to operations within the United States, unless specifically authorized by the country in which the flight is conducted.”
“Attempted to get a BasicMed physical from my primary care physician,” says Steve M. “I provided him AOPA’s “BasicMed Pilot and Physician’s Guide” to acquaint him with the new program. He refuses to do it (didn’t provide a reason). I have no conditions requiring a special issuance. Am scheduled for an AME to do the BasicMed physical rather than shop around for a willing primary doctor. He is going to charge me twice what he charges for a 3rd Class certificate. Looks like BasicMed is not really making it more affordable for someone not needing a special issuance. Maybe teething problems for the new BasicMed program. Would be useful for AOPA or EAA to build a list of willing local non-AME doctors. I will be suggesting that to those organizations.”
Steve, your situation feels like “teething problems.” BasicMed is new. It’ll take time to propagate.
I fear too many people — so far — are trying to cram the BasicMed square block through the AME round hole. They are different. Period.
There is still much to be done and learned with regard to BasicMed. Overall, having a solid and ongoing relationship with a doctor, I believe, will be where most people find success.
Flying is one part of my life. I want to be healthy for all parts of my life. My doctor helps me accomplish that.
I don’t have a personal doctor just the VA. I booked an appointment with thim for a basicmed exam gave them a link to all the basicmed information. Drove 2 & 1/2 Hours to the clinic to find out they would not do the medical exam. If you are part of the VA doctor gen mill you are screwed.
My 3rd class does not run out until next year, but I already discussed the new basic med rules with my Primary Care Physician, who I have been seeing for many years. He has no problem with competing the documentation. His medical group has insurance coverage for all doctors, and he does not see any liability issues. They also do a lot of employment physicals and drug tests for many companies, so the FAA Basic Med is no different.
Well, I knew coming on to this site that I was not going to be taken seriously, I was actually told I wouldn’t be—you’re too old to care they said…and it’s nice to have been proved right once again(sarcasm…).
Enjoy choking on the crumbs that are tossed to you and not doing a single thing to help change that fact, you deserve all you get from it. There is only so long you can take without giving something back after all.
As for activists like myself, despite you folks doing not a single thing for your community except accept that which you are told, know the ones that care are doing all we can to get you another crumb or two. It’s the least we can do…..later.
So meanwhile…our beloved aviators…let us observe this med process in hopes of general aviation safety improvement success…So as it had been written…so it shall be done..(Yul Brynner[Ramses in the ‘Ten Commandments’]…??
In spite of providing my primary care physician with the AOPA documents, the AC and a blank copy of the med form two weeks before my scheduled physical appointment, he decided he wanted to take some time to get his head around this. While I was hoping for a better response, it was exactly what I expected from him given our long history together.
He suggested I go to the Occupational Health office and get their doc to do my first BasicMed exam since they already do FAA and DOT exams. When I called that office, the staff said that they had already asked and he was not going to do Basic Med exams. Now I am going to go to the local MedExpress office and see if they’re willing to do it. This time I will go with my part filled out in case they are, miracle of miracles, willing to do it.
Once I find the right doc, it will work for me. I still have my physical appointment with my PCP, maybe he’ll have changed his mind by then or will when I tell him that his suggestion won’t work.
I wish the FAA allowed a pilot to use his last Airman medical for their first four year doctor visit if it was within four years.. Seems logical to me.
I’m gonna be honest with you folks on here as I never haven’t been, just agreed with by lots of folks elsewhere and for good reason. I’m tired of typing the same thing over and over again…it gets tedious. So I’m gonna summarize what this is good for and what this isn’t good for, easy peasy, and hope you finally get why there’s so much negative and so little positive..
There’s only one way to explain this here, and it’s the main reason why so many folks hate this “new” legislation. I’ll use myself as the example.
For starters, this is only good for folks who are already pilots, or were up till 10 years ago…where that number came from is anybody’s guess…
BasicMed is aimed to ease regs on a pilots medical requirements with the trade off being limited usage, they claim it’s a lot like LSA—but it’s NOT. LSA is an entirely different beast, with a TRUE drivers licence medical, no AME/doctors, no SI’s, nothing but your drivers licence is required. BasicMed is NOT this, not at all.
You still have to deal with AME’s if your not one of the lucky ones falling into the 10 year category, or if you can’t find a doctor willing to sign off on the BasicMed forms(liability here is a real, true concern, no doctor I personally know will touch it). You also still have to do a Special Issuance as well if one was/is required. You argue it’s “only once”, but for most folks, especially non pilots, once is too much—as in $money$.
My example: I’m not a pilot yet. I’d have to do an AME plus SI and it’s going to cost me over $10,000.00 for this step alone. This is in addition to flight training and rentals and gas, etc, etc. This will, in my estimates all together, cost me over $25,000.00 at the minimum just to get a ticket. This will end up costing me less with BasicMed afterward, but the cost of entry is brutal and simply not happening in my case. I’m not rich.
LSA as it sits isn’t what I want, it never was and never will be, so stop saying it’s an option for me, it isn’t, period.
The main reason folks are complaining isn’t BasicMed itself, but what BasicMed was supposed to be in the first place. You state above that any medical reform is good medical reform, and I wholeheartedly agree here, but this bill was not supposed to be for that, it was supposed to simply increase the weight allowable for LSA aircraft allowing for the use of a much wider, MUCH MORE AFFORDABLE selection of FAA APPROVED aircraft. PERIOD. You know, like Cessna 150/152’s and even possibly 172’s…For many folks, myself included, that was what we were waiting for for YEARS.
It morphed into something else entirely, and it ended up not even being remotely useful for new pilots. A lot of older pilots won’t want to deal with the restrictions and will just go the LSA route if they are wealthy enough to pull it off…. Many argue that it might just be easier to get a standard ticket and enjoy it’s restriction free benefits, after all I’d have to deal with the same crap I’d have to deal with with BasicMed and it would cost me the same to do it….and they are of course right. I could switch to a BacicMed path afterwards with no penalty that I could see…..But your not saving money doing this right off, especially if you are new to it, like I am. The Special Issuance wall is still there, and that’s a wall way too many folks can’t bulldoze through–our bank accounts aren’t that big—and that’s the main reason why this is a failure. They did not do what they set out to do, and AOPA and EAA need to acknowledge this and start all over again and do it right this time…preferably before most of us die of old age….
Unfortunately it looks like they are all high on themselves for the “work” they did caving on BasicMed and it looks like they aren’t gonna even try for the original bill again, and that’s why they deserve all the flack they are getting.
Get it already?? Doubtful, but at least I tried. You need to stop treating this like it’s a revelation and it’s the best thing to ever happen to aviation since the propeller, it isn’t and never will be. It helps a few already flying pilots, not the “hundreds of thousands” that AOPA says it will…that’s a joke…and the joke is on all of us supporting them and seeing this come of it instead of what they promised us FOR YEARS, and that’s a real shame. Bye bye GA, it was nice knowing ya…..
Michael, given your particular set of circumstances, you are right, BasicMed won’t help you. However, it WILL help many other people, even new pilots. By the time most people can afford to fly, they are over 40 and would have to get a Class 3 medical every two years. BasicMed allows four years, so right there is an immediate incremental benefit.
BasicMed also has an educational component to it, which is another benefit. If you haven’t taken the free online course yet, it is worth the time just to learn about the various factors that can affect someone flying.
I share your frustration that we didn’t get to expand the Sport Pilot medical regs, but to say that BasicMed hasn’t improved the situation is simply wrong. It has, but it hasn’t done so for everyone.
I personally contacted my Senator about this when it was under consideration, and the gist is that there is simply no way that Congress was going to pass anything that didn’t require some sort of medical evaluation by a Doctor. Period. EAA/AOPA/etc had no option to pursue this via legislation, so continuing to point fingers at them is useless. Contact your Senators and House Reps if you want to complain to the people that killed the expanded Sport Pilot medical regs. Maybe you can convince them to change their mind. I wasn’t able to with mine.
FWIW, I already know of a couple of people within my EAA Chapter that BasicMed has helped, and my intent is to move to BasicMed after my 3rd Class expires, so it will help me a little bit as well (again, education and an extra two years validity).
Please let us know if you gain any traction with your Congressional representatives. I don’t believe Senator Inhofe is done with introducing pro-aviation legislation, which may very well include more medical reform as he attempted in the past. BasicMed is only a first step towards curbing the overly oppressive FAA regs.
I never said it was useless, just not what was intended. I’ve been working with my representatives, for nearly 20 years already, and depending on who’s in office at the time it’s been a rocky road to say the least.
BasicMed shouldn’t even exist, seriously, it’s a poor replacement, an excuse really, for not getting LSA updated, nothing more nothing less. The LSA segment has been around more than long enough to have proven that a 3rd class is a waste of time and money, there’s no reason in the world why simply upgrading the regs to include heavier, SAFER, aircraft could not eventually be pushed through. Even using some of what BasicMed requires, like seeing your doctor once to prove you’re ok instead of or even using an AME to get the upgraded LSA ticket could have been implemented to appease the doubtful.
Instead we get this, useful to some, useless to far too many others, especially new pilots. No new pilot in his right mind is going to use BasicMed, not while LSA has so many fewer restrictions, even if it does cost a fortune to go that route. It really is my only choice, and to me that’s no choice at all. Glad to see it’s working for you, really I am, but it’s doing nothing to help stop the downward spiral of GA in America, and that makes it a true, no holds bared failure. All this is is just an update to seriously outdated medical regs, period, and it doesn’t even do that well. There’s no real help for me or anyone like me who need to go the Special Issuance route for something my doctor says is a non issue, and that’s all there is to it. FAIL.
You do realize you are essentially “preaching to the choir” by posting on here, right? We all realize that it doesn’t replace Sport Pilot medical regs, and that those should have been expanded. We get it.
If you want to make a difference, you need to convince Congress. AOPA, EAA, and all the other GA aviation orgs can’t to anything from a legislative perspective until Congress supports it.
Regardless of your repeatedly saying so, it actually DOES help a lot of people, even brand new pilots, or those that want to be pilots, that are over 40, so it clearly is not a complete failure. I know people personally that it helps, and we’ve seen many, many postings among the various aviation forums from people that it helps. The very first day that it went into effect saw 1354 people complete the requirements to legally fly under BasicMed. Refusing to acknowledge that is a bit silly given the clear evidence otherwise.
Having said that, I agree that we (the collective “We” as in all of GA) still need to keep pursuing the expanded Sport Pilot medical regs. However, repeatedly complaining about BasicMed will not accomplish that. We KNOW it isn’t the final answer. Time and effort would be better spent towards making that happen, rather than wasted on further complaints about BasicMed, IMHO.
Since you have been working with your representatives for nearly 20 years, it sounds like you may be familiar with the process and might be in a good position to help introduce a bill to Congress to expand the Sport Pilot regs.
DJ, you seem like a nice person, you really do, but man alive do you keep on missing the point.
AOPA and EAA are making BasicMed out to be the equivalent of the “next coming” in GA for crying out loud…..they claim it will help HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of pilots fly again, their words not mine, but in reality it will help a few thousand, period. Expect the initial numbers you are quoting to fall off really really fast, like the equivalent of falling off a cliff, just watch it and see.
Don’t you already know that I know I’m preachin’ to the choir on here?? The reason we do it is because it’s PILOTS that are going to make a change here, not non pilots, not our local elected reps (I’ve gotta deal with Chuck Schumer, may God have mercy on my soul for having to deal with Mr. “Anti Aviation” almost daily…sigh…). Congress is a bunch of dinosaurs, they go to the highest bidder and you know it.
We were finally getting somewhere with the bill as pitched, and we could have easily waited for the right political climate to have appeared, heck we are better off with the Looney Toons we have now in office then with what we had even a few months ago—Republicans have always been more
for aviation then the Dems have, and that’s a fact. The expanded LSA rules might have gotten through with this current administration…but nope, now they aren’t going anywhere and we have to start all over again instead of using the momentum we had, and that’s the real shame here. BasicMed is a failure because if they had just waited a little bit longer maybe, just maybe, we would have gotten this passed. Instead they caved, compromised, and let it slip away and settled, yes SETTLED for this.
Please get this already, DJ, this COULD HAVE BEEN so much more than it is, and it IS because AOPA and EAA failed us. Yes it was THEM, not Congress, that messed this up. They were in no rush to get this done, and they had so much patience pushing this through….but still they rushed this limited legislature through instead of plugging away as they have been doing for years to get some meaningful, useful FOR ALL regs pushed through. That’s their job, and they failed.
I for one will never stop pushing for new regs, they are desperately needed, even if it wont help me. I’m not a stupid guy, I believe this will get done, I’m just stopping my support for AOPA and EAA as they are useless, as they have proven here, to get it done.
In time the pocket lining dinosaurs will die off and hopefully we will be smarter in who we put in Congress in future, it’s really the only hope for the United States, not just for aviation.
I am not missing the point, Michael, I just think you are focusing on the wrong point. You need to understand that BasicMed is just a step in the right direction, not the final goal. You are assuming that we can go from the starting line to the finish line in one go, and that just isn’t going to happen. Much like a long cross country flight, this reform is going to take several shorter flights to get where we need to be. We do not have to start over, rather we use the initiative provided by BasicMed and Sport Pilot together to get further reform.
From many people’s perspectives, BasicMed is indeed a success, even though it will only help a portion of the aviation community rather than everyone. I am not convinced that anyone thinks this is where we stop trying.
Fine, BasicMed is a screaming success and all of the GA community will be free to fly until they turn to dust. You wan’t me to say that? You want me to claim that AOPA and EAA did ALL THEY COULD to get these regs passed?? You honestly think that they are going to put forth more regulation in the future that will achieve what they were after in the first place???
Perhaps they will, but they are pushing THIS regulation so much, saying it’s such a great success, that it seems like they have already given up. Nowhere am I reading that they are starting this up again, NOWHERE. I’m 52 years old DJ, I’m getting too old to keep on waiting for them to do what they are paid for, I really am. Look how long it took them to get THIS passed. Over a decade and counting. It’s moving too damn slow for anyone’s taste here and we need better folks working for US, not the few old pilots that want to keep on flying, and don’t you think for one second that this was pushed for any other reason. Even THEY know this can’t keep going on forever, THEY are getting too old for this to work out, and BasicMed was for THEM. Got it? Good.
Easy there ML, easy. And by the way, Obamacare will be a raging sucess any minute now. Remember; One step at a time.
I’m mostly with you my friend. I just don’t see any advantage … cept’ more steps and more money oh yeah, and less privleges. Sounds awesome to me. :-/
Hahaha, that was meant as a joke believe it or not…guess I’m not much in a joking mood anymore. I know this will take even more time, and with the Congress we are stuck with now even longer than it should….but as stated, I’m not getting any younger 😉 Here’s to hoping for a break something before I hit 60…might not be interested anymore after then….
No, don’t got it, sorry. You seem to be so overtly focused on being negative that you aren’t allowing yourself to see the positive that BasicMed brings. Is it the magic bean that will save all of GA forever? No, of course not. Will it help a bunch of pilots and in turn help GA to some extent? Yes, it clearly does. Is our work done? Not by a long shot.
For some reason you are seemingly implying that it is up to the AOPA and EAA to do all of this alone. They play a part, but ultimately it is up to the GA community, not one or two organizations. Senator Inhofe, for example, has done a lot to help GA in the past few years, and some of what he accomplished was because of information that AOPA and EAA could share with him, but many other things came from other sources as well, such as people like you and I.
The question is, how is it helping by complaining about AOPA and EAA instead of using that energy to contact your Congress critters and get them to pass the legislation you want? The only way this is going to happen is to take action. My recommendation would be to start by contacting Sen. Inhofe and see if there is any way to assist.
And you never will, DJ, so sorry to hear that.
You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig dude, and no matter how hard the alphabets try to make BasicMed look good, the worse they show us how much they failed.
No kidding it’s up to all of us to do out part, but we aren’t getting paid to do this, THEY ARE. They are to be held most accountable for their failures, and they should not be left off the hook for it, ever.
I’m a 20 year activist, from everything from human rights to aviation, and I know what it takes to get something going, and keep it that way. Momentum is everything, and we just lost the best roll we’ve been on in decades.
I’ve talked to Inhofe through his office several times over the years, and the man has done some amazing things for our small community no doubt. But even he gave up on us this time out, this just didn’t effect him at all. The rules as passed allow HIM to fly much longer…and really, that’s what BasicMed is all about. More time to fly for older pilots. LSA wasn’t good enough for them either, and this was the only thing they could come up with to stave off the inevitable, and you know that’s the truth.
I’m not negative, heck no, by posting here, I’m about as positive as it gets, as it proves that while I’m indeed pissed off at the failure of the community I count on for my only chance to fly, I’m just not letting them get away with it. If you’re as gung ho about this really working, you should be doing the exact same thing. But since BasicMed works for YOU as well, guess we know where you stand.
I guaranty you’d be singing a different tune if it DIDN’T work for you.
I guess there are some people that see the positive that has been accomplished, and others that can only focus on the negative. Glass half full versus half empty.
I “get” that AOPA and EAA promote and support aviation advocacy, education and safety, and that they are not “being paid” to pass legislation. Congress is being paid to pass legislation, and THEY are the ones that nuked the expanded Sport Pilot medical regs. All anyone, including “alphabet groups”, can do outside of Congress is apply lobbying pressure, and that only gets you so far.
The simple fact is that Congress was not going to pass anything that didn’t include a Doctor’s visit. Period. We can whine about that fact all we want but that isn’t going to change the fact that none of the aviation orgs were able to change their minds.
I suspect you’ll continue misplacing the blame on the aviation groups regardless of any comments made here, so I’ll bid you a good weekend, and hope that you are able to find a way to be involved in aviation that will bring you some happiness.
Hmm… Not a pilot, but hardheaded to think LSA isn’t for you. Sounds like it’s your only option. You say “Bye bye GA, it was nice knowing ya”, but once again, you’re not a pilot. You’ve never met GA. Maybe you should give your one option a try and get introduced to GA before claiming you knew it. You really have two options – LSA and ultralight. Those are your options and complaining in a comment thread isn’t going to change that.
I’ve tried LSA, even went so far as taking the written, so yes, I do indeed know what I’m in for with that as it really is my only choice(I’ll never, ever fly an ultralight, two strokes are not my cup of tea at all).
I just realized that it would end up costing me way too much to get an LSA aircraft. And to be honest, I don’t even LIKE them. ASTM is not even remotely the same as FAA certified, and no amount of talk is going to change that. I want to fly a Cessna or a Piper, not some unknown, massively overpriced($100,000.00, really??)overseas microlight. I want the safety of a solid, time proven aircraft under me, not some lightweight toy. That’s MY choice, and that’s that.
My Bye bye GA comment wasn’t aimed at me leaving, but with all the old GA pilots dying off or buggering off, and no new pilots taking their place, GA is doomed, and this bill does not a single thing to help it out. Sorry so many on THIS site don’t agree with me, but thankfully there are so many other ones that get it. I just thought that there was a younger audience here that understood…guess not. Doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop trying to help GA, just means I’ll be doing it elsewhere is all.
Blame Congress for ALL those short comings.
Not Mark Baker.
Some people will bitch if hanged with a brand new rope.
ridiculous attempt at medical reform, same requirements just different doc to sign. I have untreated cancer for 12 years (FAA says no treatment…. no medical) I have been stable with the cancer but unless I get unneeded chemotherapy or pay a “medical Certification specialist” to receive his cut no 3rd class. So fly Light Sport or risk further cancer problems to fly a c-150.
Might not be perfect but a change for the better! I have a heart condition that does not require a special issuance but would probably require one if I went for a class 3. My primary care physician was not interested in helping me, I’ll get another one. I’ve called 4 AME’s, two were ok with administering basic med. Basically it was tested like a class 3 without the special issuance yearly hassle. I’m a retired airline pilot, basic med got me back flying after 4 years. A smart AME would embrace this and probably get more business than he would lose due to implementation of basic med.
Frank what kind of heart condition do you have that you don’t need a SI did you have a heart attack? I had a mild one and everything is fine but I been told that I will have to get a SI to get a basic Med
Two leaking heart valves. Initial leakage mild, ok with FAA without a SI. Leakage advanced to moderate/severe, advised to stop flying until surgery (valve replacement and repair) about 1-2 years away. Never had surgery. With diet, weight loss and exercise valve leakage now mild and mild/moderate, no symptoms. My AME checked and FAA, they said if I applied it would be kicked back for a SI even though it is not one of the conditions requiring a SI. Once you get on the SI bandwagon any health issue is open game for the FAA to request health documentation/tests.
Looking at all these posts I voluntarily stopped flying at physicians advice. At some point if you have a medical condition that makes you unsafe to fly then it is time to do the responsible thing for your safety and that of others.
I did stop flying although my medical is still good for another year my physician, and heart doctor said I’m in Better Health now than I was before but still looks like I’m going to have to go through SI , Funny my driver’s licence is still good to drive my car. Isn’t that what Basic Med was supposed to do
I think if you dig through the regs there is some reference that alludes to “if you have been informed by a physician you shouldn’t fly then you can’t”. In my case my heart doc said I needed to stop. Unfortunately a heart attack is one of the required health issues for a SI. Leaking heart valves are not but when I have valve surgery I’ll be required to get a SI.
I think the original intent was a drivers license medical, unfortunately the airline pilot union strongly objected strongly to the basic med, the lobbied extensively against basic med. They agreed to drop their objections if the rules were tightened up, that is one of the main reasons it turned out like it did.
Thanks for clearing the air as to how the reform was properly franken-steined. Of course SNAFU will always be the only believable output from the powers in play. Thanks for the reality grounding.
As the author of “BasicMed: One Pilot’s Story,” I was surprised at all the negativity, Ben. I took the time to write it to show others how I did it and that it worked well for me. Thinking I was helping folks to know how smoothly it went for me, many of the comments were either outright negative OR splitting hairs … like the IAS v. CAS issue.
Here’s all that I know. Now armed with the knowledge that I’ll be able to fly if I — I repeat, “I” — determine that I’m fit (wasn’t it always that way?), I’m good for four years. That relieves me of much pressure facing an AME exam. Further, I was shunning doctors fearing uncovering something that might ground me. An AME exam doesn’t include bloodwork, for example. And that test could reveal all sorts of issues. So now I have established a relationship with a personal care physician and he was willing to do the BasicMed exam. And it worked for me. I’ll be spending $$ on ADS-B equipment this year, as a result. Anyone with a special issuance now doen’t have to keep doing it year after year, too.
Someone commented asking what I wrote in my “Primer on Basic Med” to my PCP. Ironically, what I wrote wound up being a part of the AOPA pamphlet later. Nate D’Anna’s comment about providing “What the Doctor should know” pretty much did that … plus I added a history of why pilots were clamoring for Third Class medical relief.
The negativity was pretty much from one person. It was a good article.
Don’t be discouraged Larry. I very much appreciate what you wrote. To be sure, BasicMed isn’t a perfect solution. It’ll work for a many and not for others… just like the current AME-based system.
I had my BasicMed medical exam today, and it went smoothly. I provided my doctor with the appropriate background and supporting information, both before and during my visit. He’s familiar with my medical history and my flying activity, so it wasn’t a new issue to him. He performed the exam and completed the paperwork with no problems. He even made a useful suggestion that wouldn’t have come up were it not for the checklist.