

Let’s go through the expiration date for each, starting at the bottom. First class is the most medically intensive and stringent, whereas third class is the least. Medical certifications are broken into three different classes: first, second, and third-class. It wouldn’t make sense for your medical exam at age 25 to also be valid at age 50 without any re-evaluation in between.
Faa medical durations license#
We know that your pilot’s license can’t expire, and that your driver’s license (ID) does, but what about that medical certificate? To no surprise, yes your medical certificate has an expiration date. You’ll remember that the three documents you have in your possession when acting as a pilot are your pilot’s license, valid government issued ID, and a current FAA medical certificate. Those ratings and licenses are much more intense than a flight review so theįAA lets you double dip here. this counts as a flight review! That makes sense because It is good for 24 calendar months.Ī new license or rating, such as your instrument, commercial, multi-engine, Receive an endorsement in your logbook indicating when the flight review took Once the instructorįeels the review is sufficient (this entails both ground and air work) you will Proficiency and knowledge retention at a healthy level. The point isn’t to be a pass orįail exam but to evaluate and provide some continued education to keep your In a flight review, just ask ahead of time. If you’re wondering what your instructor is going to cover
Faa medical durations how to#
The FAA put out an advisory circular (AC 61-98B) that offers some guidelinesĪnd ideas of how to conduct an effective flight review. Your pilot skills and aeronautical knowledge. Instructor as to what to ask and review with you to evaluate the sufficiency of Skills and aeronautical knowledge.” In other words, it’s a bit up to the Purpose as explained by the FAA is to provide a “regular evaluation of pilot Flight reviews can be conducted by an instructor and so it’s not like taking your FAA check ride all over again with an examiner.įlight reviews are somewhat subjective in nature and its This occurs every 24 calendar months, as the “biennial” name suggests. The first requirement to maintain in order to remain legal is to have received a flight review, historically called a biennial flight review, or BFR. The FAA decided that instead of placing an expiration date on the pilot’s license, it would instead have certain recency requirements to be able to legally fly. That license and pilot status does not end.īut what happens if you got your pilot’s license at 25 years old and haven’t flown in 20 years since then? Is it safe for you to just hop in the cockpit and get back to flying? Well, no. You put in the work to become a pilot and pass some intensive testing by the FAA, and so once you’re in, you’re in. It’s kind of a club of sorts, where once you’re a member, you’re always a member. If you look on any pilot’s license, you’ll notice that is has a “date of issue” but NO “date of expiration” anywhere. You can grab that (for free) here: Pilot’s License Expiration Let’s dive into each of these requirements and show in more detail what exactly you need to have your pilot’s license be current in the eyes of the FAA.Īlso, for those of you starting your journey as a pilot, I put together a mini-library of 23 different resources and answers that I wish I could have consumed before I started flying or early in my training. Re-gain (depending on how long it’s been since your last flight).


You have lapsed these currency requirements they are not all that difficult to Kind of like your pilot’s license being active or inactive, in a sense. Maintain the currency of license to where you are compliant with the law. If you plan to exercise your privileges as a pilot (i.e.įly), there are certain things you’ll need to do on a periodic basis to In other words, once you have your pilot’s license, you willįorever be a pilot. So it’s a very common question to ask how long does a private pilot’s license last?Ī private pilot’s license technically never expires, although to be legally current you need a flight review (every 24 calendar months), current medical exam certificate, and if carrying passengers, three takeoffs and landings within the last 90 days (daytime and nighttime currency are tracked separately). To put in the work (and the money) you really want to know how long it will Requires a significant amount of time and financial investment. Obtaining your private pilot’s license is no small task and
