Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

2 Answers

Does military aircrew physical count as third class certification?

Asked by: 4955 views , , , ,
FAA Regulations, Private Pilot, Student Pilot

I'm a fixed wing CG aircrew member that is looking to start PPL lessons.  I asked my pilots about this, and while they said us aircrew members go through the exact same physical test as pilots, they are still unsure.  Anybody have any encounters like this before?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer


    Kris Kortokrax on Sep 09, 2016

    See 61.23 (b)(9).

    It states that a military pilot has a medical exam by a U.S. Armed Force, that will suffice for a third class medical certificate within the U.S.

    Your wording suggests that you are not a military pilot. If not, your military flight physical would not count. It’s all in the wording of the regulation.

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Steve Butler on Sep 10, 2016

    When I started flight training 45 years ago, my physical was done by a military flight surgeon at Ft. Leonard Wood, MO and I was issued a standard first class medical certificate. This may have been some sort of special arrangement or may have changed over the many years since, but I think it would be worth a call to your flight surgeon to ask.

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


The following terms have been auto-detected the question above and any answers or discussion provided. Click on a term to see its definition from the Dauntless Aviation JargonBuster Glossary.

Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.