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What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

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Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#211

Post by K0balt »

lsh123 wrote: post #120
K0balt wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mmmmm I’m going to take exception to this. It is certainly possible (and easy) to become disoriented in IMC. But every private pilot has at least a couple of hours of simulated instrument time and should be capable of navigating their aircraft back out of a cloud. You are taught, if you have a competent instructor, to ignore your senses and rely on the instruments in such situations, as well as recovery from unusual…

The link I posted above is from an instrument rated pilot of an instrument flight plan who nearly got himself and passengers killed in IMC. A couple or few hours under the hood is not nearly enough to handle actual IMC a few years later. And yes, in theory properly loaded certified plane can be recovered in most of the cases. But it is not going to help you to know that recovery takes 10k feet if you are at 8k AGL.

The pilot in question was obviously not actually qualified to operate in IMC, which he intentionally entered.

If you are a pilot and do not take recurrent training or actively practice -in the aircraft you fly- on unusual conditions, you are actively in abdication of your responsibility as a pilot and should not be flying anything heavier than a part103 aircraft. There is a reason why even landing at night requires a 90day currency before you can land at night with a passenger. Being a pilot is not like riding a bicycle. It requires constant skill maintenance.

There is no situation you can get into where the aircraft is still intact where a recovery in a light aircraft will take more than about 1000 feet if properly executed. Perhaps in some aircraft as much as 2000 feet.

The only way I can imagine anything so extreme is that you are already at VNE pointed straight down and you have to slip the plane a little to slow down before you can pull significant Gs on the airframe. That might take a few seconds. But it also assumes you already have been in an unusual attitude for quite some time and chose not to recover until now.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#212

Post by flangola7 »

ryanmercer wrote: post #199
flangola7 wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand the 90 days part. Why would someone discontinue the medication that controls their symptoms? I have ADHD and take Adderall, and plan to pursue a recreational/personal license next year.

I'm guessing because a Google search of "Adderall side effects" immediately returned this: "Rare but severe side effects of Adderall can include emotional instability, psychiatric disorders and cardiovascular events. Adderall misuse can lead to seizures and death."

There are rare but terrible side effects for virtually all medications. What is your point?

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#213

Post by K0balt »

voldacar wrote: post #118
K0balt wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Mmmmm I’m going to take exception to this. It is certainly possible (and easy) to become disoriented in IMC. But every private pilot has at least a couple of hours of simulated instrument time and should be capable of navigating their aircraft back out of a cloud. You are taught, if you have a competent instructor, to ignore your senses and rely on the instruments in such situations, as well as recovery from unusual…

It's not possible to enter an unrecoverable spin in a light aircraft?

An aircraft that cannot be recovered from a spin under regular loading must be equipped with a spin recovery drouge or granted a special exception in order to be certificated.

Aircraft that are deemed incapable of entering a spin inside their operational envelope may be granted an exception. (Some stall resistant aircraft like the ercoupe or some canards, for example )

In practice, although many light aircraft are not certified for intentional spins, almost all of them are recoverable from a fully developed spin inside 1000 feet. YMMV with a large transport category aircraft however lol.

A fully developed spin is like a seed helicoptering to the ground. It is a stable condition, with a low and constant rate of descent. It used to be taught as standard practice for c150 pilots to use a flat (fully developed, stable) spin to descend through clouds into a known safe ceiling if a non instrument pilot found themselves trapped above a cloud layer with sufficient clear space below the layer to descend into.

Spins are not, generally, a boogie-man… but accidentally entering one during a steep turn near the ground is a really bad idea. I have more than one friend who has tried it , 0/10 would not recommend.

One possible exception is when you have floats attached. I’m not sure of the spin recoverability of a light plane with floats, never tried it, but I do know mounting floats on many aircraft effectively voids their intentional spin endorsement and sometimes requires the installation of additional vertical stabilisers on the empennage.

I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t want to spin my old t-cart on floats with a kayak tucked under one wing and a pair of rifles strapped to the other. Don’t have to worry about VNE with that outfit though lol.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#214

Post by tonyarkles »

Kerb_ wrote: post #152
srvmshr wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why discriminate against diabetes. Of the things listed, this is probably the most common one & a lifestyle disease. This can have a onset in mid-40s to 50s for some genetically predisposed people. Are they not allowed to fly then?

Diabetic shock while flying would be pretty bad. They seem to do individualized assessments, it's not an instant removal. https://diabetes.org/tools-support/know-your-rights/discrimi...

Yeah, in undergrad I worked with a guy who was very bad at managing his blood sugar levels. One weekend he was alone in the lab and up on a ladder adjusting a ceiling-mounted camera; he passed out, fell, ripped the $30k camera out of the ceiling, caught the PC it was connected to on fire, and woke up on the floor a while later with no recollection of any of it. Another time he was biking home in the winter and passed out, luckily to be discovered in the snow by another colleague who happened to be walking home.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#215

Post by flangola7 »

Dalewyn wrote: post #196
flangola7 wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is thinking-shaped text. ChatGPT has better intelligence than this.

I literally have no idea what you're saying, did you ask ChatGPT for an insulting line? At least the other guy[1] was slightly thoughtful about the insult, relatively speaking. [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=36744872

No, I meant your comment is the type of meaningless word salad I expect from ChatGPT-3.5, not a thinking human being. Broad statements made with total authoritative confidence, yet completely untrue. You also don't get to complain about diversity and then turn around and whine when someone isn't as "thoughtful" towards you as you wish they were.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#216

Post by pests »

AdrianB1 wrote: post #193
pests wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I watch a creator on YT who regularly takes his paramotor (a powered parachute) across town and on longer trips. He also takes it up to at least 15k feet. That seems vastly more than empty fields and low altitudes.

15k feet is not G class airspace (uncontrolled) in most of the world, that means you need radio contact with FIR, radio license, training etc. This is not your regular ultralight.

Ultralight? A paramotor is just a backpack motor and a parachute. Is it even in the same category as an ultralight? He does not have a radio on him but he does it somehow. I believe he has some kind of flying license however.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#217

Post by paulddraper »

techwizrd wrote: post #169
godelski wrote: post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> E.g. If you have been professionally diagnosed with ADHD, the FAA bans you from any pilot's license ever, even a student license Not quite true. They just need you to be evaluated where you've been off medication for at least 90 days. But if you're on Adderall, you're shit out of luck. Which is pretty dumb since the medication resolves issues. Other dumb things that will/can prevent you from getting your license: A…

The FAA's Office of Aerospace Medicine is actively researching can improve or rethink the aeromedical certification process. We need to do a substantial amount of research with very limited resources, especially when we have limited data to conduct safety risk management and safety assurance. It's a tough nut to crack, but there's a lot of smart people working tirelessly to make this better.

With all due respect, "tirelessly" might be an understatement.

Six years ago, they added BasicMed. And they've been updating the SSRI list. But that's it. For years of work.

Why don't they just relax the third class medical requirements specifically? Only affects private pilots, nothing for hire.

Currently, the FAA makes zero distinction between health conditions/medications for a Cessna 150 and a Boeing 747.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#218

Post by paulddraper »

gymbeaux wrote: post #210
paulddraper wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm a private pilot. This is basically correct. If your airport is small and you never get in trouble with ATC or have an emergency situation, you will probably not get caught. However, if you do get caught, it is a criminal charge with (IIRC) up to $250,000 fine and 6 years prison time. Or worse, you overestimate your ability and die/kill people. I wouldn't take that risk. If you want to fly a lot, get a license. If…

There are also discovery flights where you can fly with a licensed instructor and get to actually fly the plane after takeoff and before landing.

If you're with a pilot (even if they aren't an instructor), you can do whatever.....including taking off and landing.

Whether the pilot lets you do that is obviously up to them, but as long as there is a license pilot in command, the FAA doesn't care.

> If you want to fly a little, make friends with a pilot.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#219

Post by voldacar »

K0balt wrote: post #213
voldacar wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not possible to enter an unrecoverable spin in a light aircraft?

An aircraft that cannot be recovered from a spin under regular loading must be equipped with a spin recovery drouge or granted a special exception in order to be certificated. Aircraft that are deemed incapable of entering a spin inside their operational envelope may be granted an exception. (Some stall resistant aircraft like the ercoupe or some canards, for example ) In practice, although many light aircraft are no…

Nice, thanks for the answer. I always conceptualized a spin as an unstable state that just gets worse and worse if left unattended.

Re: What planes can you fly without a pilot’s license?

#220

Post by LispSporks22 »

Dunno if it counts as a plane, but you can fly a paramotor (basically a parachute attached to a 2-stroke motor and prop). Cheap to get into and fairly safe, although kinda limited.

I looked into it after being treated for depression made it practically impossible to get a private pilots license. The FAA would rather you fly untreated, undiagnosed.

Good job, FAA.

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