Third Class Medical Certificate

A third class medical certificate is the FAA medical certificate required to exercise private pilot, recreational pilot and student pilot privileges. It is issued against the medical standards in 14 CFR Part 67, Subpart D, and 14 CFR 61.23 is the rule that requires you to hold one. An Aviation Medical Examiner issues it, and in most straightforward cases you receive it at the appointment itself.

No, they are the same document. A 3rd class medical certificate, a class 3 medical certificate, a class three medical certificate and an FAA 3rd class medical all refer to the certificate issued under 14 CFR Part 67, Subpart D for private, recreational and student pilot privileges. There is one exam and one standard regardless of which spelling you searched for.

It is valid for 60 calendar months if you were under 40 on the date of the examination, and 24 calendar months if you were 40 or older on that date. Your age at the exam sets the clock, so turning 40 partway through a 60-month certificate does not shorten it. Validity runs to the end of the expiry month, not to the day of the month it was issued.

There is no set FAA fee. Each Aviation Medical Examiner sets their own price and it varies noticeably between offices, even within the San Fernando Valley. Call two or three AMEs from the FAA's AME locator and ask what their office charges before you book, and confirm whether the quote covers a deferral or a follow-up visit.

No. You need a medical certificate before you fly solo, not before you start lessons, because under 61.23 your instructor is the legal pilot in command on every dual flight. Most students solo somewhere between 15 and 25 hours in, which is typically two to three months after their first lesson. You can log real dual instruction from day one with nothing but a driver's license.

No. A discovery flight requires no FAA medical certificate whatsoever. Your CFI is pilot in command for the whole flight, so you can handle the controls of the aircraft over Los Angeles for 60 minutes, log the time as dual instruction, and never be asked for a medical. Our discovery flight is $229 and the full price is credited against any program if you enroll within 24 hours.

Yes. The standard in 14 CFR 67.303 is 20/40 or better in each eye separately for distant vision, with or without corrective lenses. The FAA is measuring your corrected vision, not your uncorrected vision, so being 20/400 without glasses is not a problem if you are 20/40 or better with them. Your certificate will carry the limitation 'Holder shall wear corrective lenses', and that is the entire consequence.

Part 67 names specific conditions, including epilepsy, psychosis, bipolar disorder, substance dependence, an unexplained disturbance of consciousness, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease requiring treatment, cardiac valve replacement, a permanent pacemaker, and diabetes requiring insulin. Almost every one of them has a Special Issuance pathway under 67.401, and pilots are certificated through those pathways every month. Only an AME or the FAA can make the determination on your specific history.

Vision, hearing, blood pressure, urinalysis, your medical history and a general physical, usually inside 20 to 30 minutes. Vision is 20/40 or better in each eye separately, with or without correction, at distance and at 16 inches for near, under 67.303(a) and (b). There is no intermediate standard and no age trigger anywhere in 67.303 — the 32-inch check at 50 and over applies to first and second class only, under 67.103(b) and 67.203(b). Hearing is a conversational voice test at six feet with your back turned. There is no EKG and no blood draw for a straightforward third class.

Complete FAA MedXPress online first at medxpress.faa.gov and note the confirmation number it gives you, which stays available to your examiner for 60 days. Find an Aviation Medical Examiner using the FAA's AME locator on faa.gov, then attend with government photo ID, the confirmation number, your glasses or contacts, and a list of current medications. In most straightforward cases the AME prints and signs the certificate at the appointment.

A private pilot license requires a third class medical certificate at minimum, under 14 CFR 61.23. A first or second class medical also works, because a higher class certificate remains valid for third-class privileges for the remainder of the 60 or 24 month window measured from the exam date. You must hold it before you fly solo, not before you begin training.

No. BasicMed sits in 14 CFR Part 68 and lets you fly many private operations after a physician exam every 48 months and an online course every 24 calendar months, but only if you have held an FAA medical certificate at some point after 14 July 2006. It limits you to aircraft of 12,500 lb or less, no more than six passengers, at or below 18,000 feet MSL and 250 knots. A brand-new student who has never held a medical cannot start on BasicMed.

Deferral means your file goes to the FAA's Aerospace Medical Certification Division in Oklahoma City for review. It is not a denial and it is a routine outcome. Many conditions are then issued through a Special Issuance under 67.401, and an AME Assisted Special Issuance lets your own examiner handle later renewals in the office rather than sending the file back each cycle.

Yes. Validity under 61.23(d) is counted in calendar months, so a certificate issued on 3 March expires at the end of March in the 60th or 24th month, not on the 3rd. That gives you the remainder of the expiry month, which is occasionally worth several weeks of useful scheduling before a renewal exam.