As I stated in my previous reply, I am not a Doctor or an AME. I cannot advise you regarding medical or legal matters. However, that being said, I will add this much. To begin with, you will not be able to fly as a sport pilot unless you take the required training from a flight instructor that is qualified to give flight instruction to sport pilot students. I would advise you to present him with a letter from your doctor stating that you are considered safe in his opinion to take flying lessons to obtain a sport pilot certificate. The flight instructor may want to verify the validity of the letter with your doctor, and just may give him a call to verify that he actually did write the letter, and also may have a question or two for the doctor regarding your ability to operate an aircraft in a safe manner. I think he will want to make sure that you are not a danger to yourself or to others, more than anything else.
Once that part is done, and if the doctor gives the flight instructor a good report, then the flight instructor will probably take you up for a few lessons and will be watching you a little closer than usual to make sure you are not showing any apparent symptomology of any of your disorders, and to make sure you are abosrbing the training and are operating the aircraft in a safety-conscious manner. Believe me, if the flight instructor thinks you might be a safety hazard with wings, he will certainly not give you the sign off needed to qualify to take the final flight test to get your sport pilot certificate. No certificate, No flying as PIC. As long as you can demonstrate to the flight instructor that you are safety-conscious, that you are aware of and abide by the FAR's as they pertain to general aviation, and that you can maintain a consistent train of thought and maintain control of the aircraft in an emergency situation, such as an engine out, etc., then you will probably do ok. You might require a little more training than the average student pilot due to your disadvantage, but you can probably turn that disadvantage into a positive if you really want to, and I think you do. After all, I saw a woman on TV just the other day who got her private pilot certificate and she has no arms, none whatsoever, both arms cut off at the shoulder. She flys the aircraft with her feet. So anything is possible, if you want to do it bad enough.
I don't think you will be able to disprove your diagnoses, but if you think you can function normally without the medication over a period of time, you can probably succeed. However, if you need the medication, then do not fly as PIC. Go up with someone else. Because flying and psychotropic medication do not mix. Sorta like driving and drinking. Sooner or later it is gonna bite you, and someone else could likely die along with you as a result of your indiscretion. And that would put a major dark cloud on the sport pilot "drivers license medical" option for all the rest of the sport pilots out there, possibly resulting in the FAA requiring medical certificates for sport pilots if you get yourself and/or someone else hurt because you chose to fly when you were not fit to.
But remember this, above all else. Dr. Forred quoted the regulations to you, and it has to be followed to the letter.
Originally Posted by
My Flight Surgeon
You have to self certify for SP but you ALSO have to not fly if you have a significant medical condition that is dangerous. 14 CFR Paragraph 61.23 states "Not know or have reason to know of any medical condition that would make that person unable to operate a light-sport aircraft in a safe manner".