If you are going to train for a private pilot license, get your FAA medical certificate before your first lesson, not before your first solo. That is the single most useful piece of advice we give new students, and it is the opposite of what most of them expect. You do not need a medical to take a discovery flight or to fly with an instructor. You do need one to fly solo, and solo comes somewhere between hour 12 and hour 20. So the medical is the one item that can bring a training course to a stop after you have spent thousands of dollars, and it is also the one item you can take care of in an afternoon before spending anything at all. Here is how it works and why doing it first is the right order.
What The FAA Medical Certificate Is
An FAA medical certificate is a document issued by an Aviation Medical Examiner, a physician designated by the FAA, confirming that you meet the medical standards for the class of certificate you applied for. There are three classes. A first-class medical is for airline captains and has the strictest standards and the shortest validity. A second-class medical is for commercial pilots. A third-class medical is for private and student pilots, and it is the one you need for training toward a private certificate. The standards are set out in 14 CFR Part 67, and for the third class they are considerably less demanding than people imagine.
When You Actually Need It
| Activity | Medical Required? |
|---|---|
| Discovery flight | No |
| Dual instruction with an instructor, at any age | No |
| Simulator training | No |
| Solo flight as a student pilot | Yes, at least third class (or BasicMed where eligible) |
| Private pilot practical test and privileges | Yes, at least third class (or BasicMed) |
| Sport pilot training and privileges | No; a valid U.S. driver's license serves instead |
| Commercial pilot privileges | Second class |
| Airline transport pilot as captain | First class |
The table explains why students put it off: nothing requires it for weeks. The reason to do it first is the reason it exists at all. The FAA wants to know, before you are alone in an airplane, that there is no medical condition that could incapacitate you. That question does not get easier to answer at hour 15 than at hour zero, and if the answer needs work, work is better started early.
Why Doing It First Saves Money
Most applicants walk out of the examiner's office with a certificate in hand. A minority do not, for one of two reasons. Either the examiner has to defer the application to the FAA because of a condition on the list that requires review, or a condition is found that needs treatment or documentation before the certificate can be issued. In the first case, the wait for an FAA decision can run weeks or months. In the second, the student may need a specialist's report, a period of stability on a medication, or a change of medication. All of that can happen while a student sits at hour 14 unable to solo, paying nothing but losing skills, or while a student who assumed the medical was a formality has already bought a package.
Doing the medical first turns a potential mid-course stop into a pre-course item. If it is issued, you train with confidence. If it is deferred, you know your timeline before you have spent anything, and you can use the waiting time to do ground school and simulator work, neither of which needs a medical. If it is denied, which is rare, you know before you have invested, and you can look at the sport pilot certificate, which does not require one.
How To Get One
- Fill out the application online at the FAA's MedXPress website. It asks for your medical history, medications, and any conditions, and it generates a confirmation number.
- Find an Aviation Medical Examiner. The FAA's online locator lists AMEs by location; there are many in the Los Angeles area, including near Van Nuys. Call and book a third-class exam.
- Attend the exam. It covers vision, hearing, blood pressure, a urine test, a general physical, and a review of your history. Bring your glasses or contacts, a list of medications, and any records related to conditions you have disclosed. It usually takes under an hour.
- Receive the certificate. In most cases the AME issues it on the spot. It is a small paper certificate; keep it with your logbook.
The fee is set by the examiner and is typically in the range of roughly $120 to $200 in Los Angeles; confirm when you book. That figure is a general one and not something we control.
One more piece of paperwork runs alongside the medical and is easy to miss: the student pilot certificate itself. It is a separate FAA document, applied for through the IACRA system with your instructor, and you need it before your first solo just as you need the medical. There is no test and no fee, but it takes a few weeks to arrive, so start it in the same week you book the AME. Our walkthrough of how to apply for a student pilot certificate in IACRA covers the FTN, the 8710-1 form, which category and class to select, and the errors that send an application back to the start.
How Long It Lasts
A third-class medical for private pilot privileges is valid for 60 calendar months if you were under 40 on the date of the exam, and 24 calendar months if you were 40 or older. So a student who gets the medical early does not lose anything by doing so; it will comfortably outlast the training course.
Things That Worry People And Usually Should Not
- Glasses and contacts. The third-class standard is distant vision of 20/40 or better in each eye, with or without correction. Wearing glasses simply adds a limitation to the certificate requiring you to wear them.
- Color vision. A color vision deficiency does not prevent a medical; it may add a restriction against night flying or color-signal control, and there are alternative tests to remove it.
- Height, weight, fitness. There are no height or weight standards. General fitness is assessed reasonably.
- Common medications. Many are acceptable. Some, particularly certain antidepressants, ADHD medications and sedating antihistamines, require review or a change. Tell the examiner everything; an undisclosed medication found later is a far bigger problem than a disclosed one.
- Past conditions. A childhood asthma diagnosis, a broken bone, a resolved episode of anything: disclose it, bring the records if you have them, and expect it to be fine.
- Anxiety about the exam itself. Very common and entirely unfounded. The examiner's job is to certify pilots, and most of them are pilots.
Conditions that genuinely require FAA review include diabetes requiring medication, heart conditions, seizure disorders, certain psychiatric diagnoses, and substance dependence history. Many of these are approvable through a special issuance process. If any apply to you, talk to an AME, and consider a consultation with the AME before you submit the MedXPress form so that you know what documentation to bring. Pilot organizations such as AOPA offer medical guidance to members that is worth using.
BasicMed And The Sport Pilot Alternative
BasicMed is an alternative to the third-class medical for private pilots who have held an FAA medical at some point after July 14, 2006. It involves a physical from any state-licensed physician and an online course, with some operating limits. It is useful for returning pilots; it is not available to a first-time student who has never held a medical, which is one more reason the first medical matters.
The sport pilot certificate requires no medical at all: a valid U.S. driver's license serves as evidence of medical fitness, provided you have never been denied an FAA medical. This is why we tell students who are worried about the medical to take the exam before they apply for anything: a denial on record closes the sport pilot door, while never having applied leaves it open. If you have a condition that you believe will be disqualifying, get advice before you submit an application.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I Need A Medical Certificate To Start Flight Training?
No. You need one before solo flight. We recommend getting it before your first lesson anyway, so that nothing stops your training partway through.
Do I Need A Medical For A Discovery Flight?
No. The instructor is pilot in command and holds the medical.
How Much Does An FAA Medical Cost?
Examiners set their own fees; roughly $120 to $200 is typical in Los Angeles. Confirm when you book.
How Long Is A Third-Class Medical Valid?
60 months if you were under 40 at the exam, 24 months if 40 or older, for private pilot privileges.
What If I Am Denied An FAA Medical?
Denials are rare and many can be overturned with documentation through special issuance. The sport pilot certificate, which uses a driver's license instead, remains available only if you were never denied, which is why getting advice before applying matters for anyone with a serious condition.
Fly First, Then See The Examiner
The order we recommend is simple: take a discovery flight, $229 for sixty minutes at the controls over Los Angeles, to find out whether you want this; then, if you do, get the medical, and then start training. To talk through the medical, the packages and the schedule, book a free consultation, and read the rest of the path in our guide to learning to fly in Los Angeles. Every other piece of student paperwork — the certificate application, the written exam, the logbook and the currency rules — is collected in order on our student pilot resources page. We are at Van Nuys Airport seven days a week, 9 AM to 9 PM, at (818) 330-1318.