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Since the Private is a higher rating you can exercise the privileges of both. In other words if you had a Rec then got your Private you would still have one certificate -- the Private.

I agree with John. The Private has more privileges than the Rec and only requires slightly more training. If you have the desire and discipline I would go for the Private over the Rec or the LSP since it offers far more options later. It takes a little more training but essentially gives you all three certificates with one check ride.

My "wondering" meant--while I am now a PPL, why not go ahead and get a Rec license, keeping my PPL active. Then when the day comes when I cannot pass a physical, I will already have my Rec license. Then I would not run the possiblity of being rejected on a medical, and not being able to obtain a Rec license. Can we be dual license holders?

Don't have to Wade. The Private gives you the privilages of LSA. You can fly an LSA with a Private, 'cept you don't need a medical.

Besides, you can't hold more than one ticket at one time like that.

Wade,

Both the PPL and the Rec license require a valid medical. If you no longer have a valid medical, you can't use your Rec license even if you somehow were allowed to have dual licenses. You CAN use your PPL as a Sports Pilot License without a medical (as long as you didn't get denied one blah blah blah...)

If you think you're going to fail the Class 3 physical and then become a LSA pilot in order to avoid the medical test, isn't there an ethical problem in that? Maybe you are a risk only to yourself when you are flying alone (except for people who might be in the way on the ground) but aren't you risking a passenger's life if you take one along? Or am I missing something?

That's a good question, but yes, I do think you are missing something.

Most medical conditions can be treated with the proper medicine. And it is the medicine, not the medical condition, that the FAA is concerned about.

Most medicines for the most common conditions do not impede the person from operating a car. After all, if a drug company put out a medicine that makes a person dizzy, uncoordinated, or sleepy, then the drug company would have a hard time selling that medicine. Instead, they design drugs that overcome the problem (high blood pressure, perhaps) that does not lead to dangerous side effects. And if a person can drive a car filled with passengers in heavy traffic, that is hardly different from flying a light plane with a passenger.

AOPA has a list of medicines that are commonly prescribed for a vast number of medical conditions and whether the FAA would disqualify a person from taking that medicine. Very few of them are disqualifying.

But many do carry the requirement for the pilot to submit an EKG, X-ray, stress test, echo test, blood work, etc., with the medical. So the pilot goes to his doctor, says he needs the test, the doctor says it is not a medical necessity so the pilot must pay out of his own pocket for the tests (his insurance will not pay.) The extra medical test will cost $500 to $2,000.

Now he submits all of this paper work, waits three months for FAA Oklahoma City to get back to him (in the meantime he cannot fly), and is finally given his medical -- perhaps with a requirement that he must submit to another medical within one year rather than two years, or a new one if his doctor prescribes a different medicine.

The real problem with the medical is that most pilots will pass the medical -- eventually. Even pilots with heart transplants have regained their medical. The problem is the hoops they must jump through.

So, what is the best course? For pilots who only fly for enjoyment, the sport pilot allows them to continue to fly without the extra headache of jumping through the hoops.

A sport pilot or one with PPL must self certify before each flight that he or she is capable of flying safely. So each pilot must make the right decision. If they are ethical they will do so.

Knew a guy that took his recreational pilot training, went to a towered airport for his check ride (legal because he was a student pilot with an endorsement for the airport), passed his check ride then could not fly out of the towered airport because he was then a recreational pilot. Unintended consequences?

Man US Rec permit is Useless!!!! The Rec permit here, can fly into any international Airport, also you can upgrade right into commercial and skip the Private completely. As for this you cant fly out Control Towers in the US what does student pilot do????

Thank you, Mr. Tiner -- I now have a much better idea on the thinking about medicals and Sport Pilot.

What, however, do the insurance companies have to say about this issue. Would they be apt to deny a claim if it was demonstrated that the pilot had a medical condition that had been diagnosed well before an accident, a condition that might or might not have contributed to the accident? Would this result in an endless round of litigation?

I've heard of insurance contesting a claim because the pilot had an accident while practicing cross wind landings. If he needed to practice them, they claimed, then he was not capable of landing in a cross wind and should not have been attempting them!

The light sport pilot license is so new, almost every question about what an insurance company might do is hypothetical. There has not been enough actual cases on which to base anything.

I think the best thing to do would be to base the question on an automobile accident.

Suppose a pilot is diagnosed with high blood pressure and takes medication to lower the blood pressure. His doctor tells him there are no side effects that would prevent him from driving a car.

The pilot is diving to the airport when he has an accident. Would the insurance company be apt to deny a claim if it were demonstrated that the driver had a medical condition that had been diagnosed well before the auto accident, a condition that might or might not have contributed to the accident? Would this result in an endless round of litigation?

That is a possibility, isn't it? So anything that can be hypothesized about a car accident could also be hypothesized about an accident of a light sport pilot in a light sport plane.

So, exercise prudence and fly the plane.