Whats involved in getting an FAA Medical exam?
A medical exam from an FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner (AME) is required before a student can fly an airplane solo or exercise the privileges of their pilot’s certificate. You must fly with an instructor if you do not have one. Your family doctor may or may not be an AME – ask him/her. If not, then we can provide you with a list of AMEs for your area or you can go to the FAA’s Aviation Medical Examiner page. The exams are at three levels: First Class (generally for airline pilots, renewed every six months), Second Class (for flying for commercial hire in general, renewed annually), and Third Class (for most general aviation pilots – renewed every three years if under 40, or every two years if 40 or over). The Third Class medical is a very minor exam of basic sight, hearing, blood pressure and such. It usually doesn’t take very long and usually only costs between $50 and $100. We do recommend that you get your exam fairly early on in the unlikely event that there’s some medical
