Flight Training - August 2023 - 41

Age
Too old: There are exactly zero words
within the bazillion pages of federal aviation
regulations that have to do with old age. In
an unusually common-sense way for a government
agency to act, the FAA ignores age
and goes right to our conditions. If you can
qualify for a medical certificate, they don't
care if you're 142 years old (unless you plan
to fly for the airlines; air carrier operations
are restricted to age 65).
Insurance companies, on the other hand,
" Oh, man, I'd love
to learn to fly, but.... "
T
hat common sentence can have a lot
of different endings. By far the most
common reason people don't learn
to fly is the combination of time
and money, of which there is never
enough of either, almost regardless
of who is talking. However, many people are
convinced that something about them physically
or mentally stands as a concrete barrier
to aviating, so they don't even try. However,
those perceived barriers are often either
mythical or misconstrued; They don't exist,
or they aren't understood.
This is not to say that there aren't barriers
that can stop someone from becoming
an aviator. They do exist. Some of them are
regulatory in nature, others are medical,
some might even be mental. But few factors
are insurmountable. If a person is determined
enough, they can find their way into
a cockpit and learn to fly.
Let's look at a few factors people are
convinced will stop them from flying, but
probably won't.
are currently hung up on a two-digit number
in a box on their application form, and that
can cause problems. Recently, as general aviation
pilots pass 65 years of age, it becomes
both difficult and expensive to get insurance.
As far as the FAA is concerned, you do not
need insurance. However, if your airplane is
financed, the company holding the lien will
likely require you to have insurance to cover
the loan. The airport on which you're based
may require at least liability insurance with
them as named insured. And certain states
have insurance requirements for aircraft.
AOPA and other associations are attacking
this from numerous directions with the goal
of basing the premiums on factors supported
by evidence, not the arbitrary measure of age.
Incidentally, in terms of whether you're
too old to learn, you can ask any long-time
flight instructor about age and learning and
almost all will say the same thing: It might
take a little longer for a gray dog to learn
all the tricks, but there's no doubt they'll
learn them. Age is simply not a
disqualifying factor.
Too young: Just as
there is no upper age
limit to being a private
pilot, there is no lower
limit set for taking
lessons. In other
words, you're never too
young to start learning.
However, you have to
be 14 years old to solo a
glider and 16 years old to solo
a powered airplane. To get your
certificate in an airplane or helicopter, you
have to be 17. It's not by accident that a
lot of young pilots solo on their sixteenth
birthday. Some fly a dozen or so different
airplanes that day because they've been
taking lessons in them for several years as
a student, so their sixteenth birthday is all
about celebrating the concept of flight.
FLIGHT TRAINING AUGUST 2023
41
DAVID TULIS
Flight Training - August 2023

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