Common sense tells us that a pilot, as much or more than anyone, needs to be in good physical and emotional health. With the exception of the new Sport Pilot license which only requires a driver's license, every pilot is required to take a periodic medical exam and hold a valid medical certificate. The FAA has 3 levels of medical certificates, the first class for Airline Pilots, second class for commercial Pilots and third class for Private Pilots. Your Pilot's license requires your medical certificate to be valid. 3rd Class medicals are valid for 3 yrs if you're under 40 and 2 yrs for those over 40.

Drugs and Flying...

Often prospective pilots and even existing pilots give up far too easily when they are denied a medical certificate. An initial denial is not always the end of the road! When a local Aviation Medical Examiner detects a problem they can choose to either decide on the issuance or non-issuance themselves or refer the decison to the FAA who will almost always request more information and/or tests from your family doctor or a specialist on which they will base their decision. Remember it's up to you to see that the FAA gets the correct information!!