I fly for Southwest now, and I spent years in corporate aviation before that. I have spent the last several months building an iPhone and iPad app called Pilot Medical Guardian, and it went live on the App Store this month. A Mac version is coming soon.
Given what this forum is for, here is the angle that matters. The thing that takes pilots out of the cockpit is usually not a diagnosis. It is waiting. The FAA's own explanation for why applications get denied is a paperwork problem rather than a health one: "Most of these denials resulted because of a failure of the applicants to provide sufficient information for the FAA to make a favorable decision." That is from the Federal Air Surgeon FAQ, not my spin on it. In my experience it is the same thing that turns a routine renewal into a long wait.
You cannot control what a doctor finds. You can control whether your records are complete and consistent when you walk in. That is the whole idea behind it.
Since this is a place where people discuss their actual medical history, let me get this out of the way first. Everything stays on your device and in your own iCloud. There is no server of mine, no account to create, and I cannot see your health data. That was the first design decision, not something added later.
What it does:
- Keeps your medications, doctor visits and medical documents in one place, cycle to cycle
- Fills your meds and doctor visits into MedXPress at renewal so you are not retyping from memory. That is Items 17 and 19. On Item 18, the medical history section, it stores your answers and explanations so you are not rewriting them every cycle, but you still tap the 25 Yes/No questions yourself.
- Tracks Special Issuance requirements and what is due when. About 1 in 16 certified airmen holds an SI, and per the FAA the total has roughly doubled since 2019
- Counts down to expiration based on your class and age
Free to download with a real free tier. Optional subscription at $29.99 a year for the heavier stuff.
It is an organizing tool. Not medical advice, not FAA anything. Whether you are fit to fly is always your call as the pilot.
If you would rather read about it before installing anything, I wrote a free MedXPress walkthrough here, no signup: FAA MedXPress Guide 2026 | How to Complete Form 8500-8
App Store: Pilot Medical Guardian App - App Store
Happy to answer questions, including the skeptical ones.
Given what this forum is for, here is the angle that matters. The thing that takes pilots out of the cockpit is usually not a diagnosis. It is waiting. The FAA's own explanation for why applications get denied is a paperwork problem rather than a health one: "Most of these denials resulted because of a failure of the applicants to provide sufficient information for the FAA to make a favorable decision." That is from the Federal Air Surgeon FAQ, not my spin on it. In my experience it is the same thing that turns a routine renewal into a long wait.
You cannot control what a doctor finds. You can control whether your records are complete and consistent when you walk in. That is the whole idea behind it.
Since this is a place where people discuss their actual medical history, let me get this out of the way first. Everything stays on your device and in your own iCloud. There is no server of mine, no account to create, and I cannot see your health data. That was the first design decision, not something added later.
What it does:
- Keeps your medications, doctor visits and medical documents in one place, cycle to cycle
- Fills your meds and doctor visits into MedXPress at renewal so you are not retyping from memory. That is Items 17 and 19. On Item 18, the medical history section, it stores your answers and explanations so you are not rewriting them every cycle, but you still tap the 25 Yes/No questions yourself.
- Tracks Special Issuance requirements and what is due when. About 1 in 16 certified airmen holds an SI, and per the FAA the total has roughly doubled since 2019
- Counts down to expiration based on your class and age
Free to download with a real free tier. Optional subscription at $29.99 a year for the heavier stuff.
It is an organizing tool. Not medical advice, not FAA anything. Whether you are fit to fly is always your call as the pilot.
If you would rather read about it before installing anything, I wrote a free MedXPress walkthrough here, no signup: FAA MedXPress Guide 2026 | How to Complete Form 8500-8
App Store: Pilot Medical Guardian App - App Store
Happy to answer questions, including the skeptical ones.
