3rd class med. vs. 2nd class med.??

[cherokee1988]

I am going to start training for my PPL in a month or two and was wondering if i should go ahead and get a second class medical instead of just a third class... My doc offers the two for the same price... so i was thinkin why not go for the higher class?? Is there any advantages to gettinga 2nd class early? Or should i just go with a third class medical? Thanks for the info

 

[Lead Sled]

You don't need the 2nd, but if you plan on making aviation your career it probably would be a good idea to ask the doc to give you a good going over to see if you would have any problems holding a 1st class. Better to find out these things early, before you sink a bunch of money into a career.

Along these same lines, there were some very good articles in some of the business aviation magazines a few years back that made the point that it's probably not wise to hold a medical certificate any higher than what you actually need. In other words, if you only need a 2nd class don't go after a 1st. If you are a private pilot and you're not planning on getting any advanced ratings you probably shouldn't be going for a 1st or 2nd class.

The reason is simple. If you apply for a higher rating than you need and for whatever reason you are disqualified you can not simply amend the application to a lower class or ask the AME not to submit the paperwork then go "doctor shopping". A medical won't be issued and you've ended up opening a whole can of worms for yourself with the FAA unnecessarily. It's happened to more than one pilot, including one of my close friends.

I'm not saying that you guys who are planning on an aviatiuon career shouldn't get that initial 1st class medical and EKG, you do need to know if there's anything disqualifying. What I'm saying is that as long as you only need a 2nd or 3rd class certificate you're probably not doing yourself any favors by holding the higher class physical.

'Sled