Pilot Certificate

[blueldr]

I'm not going to get one of the new plastic certificates. Both of the Wright brothers are gone now, and I'll be damned if I want a certificate signed by some FUZZ turkey younger than my grandson.

[voorheesh]

If you use a PO Box for your address, you have to give the FAA a map showing where you really live (I'm not kidding). I do not know what they do with the map but thems the rules.

[voorheesh]

I forgot to mention they (the "fuzz') will also let you list a "physical address" if you want to use a PO Box. Hey, BL, you are the last person I would have thought would worry about who signed your pilot's license!

[pojawis]

Blue Leader: Which one signed your original pilot's certificate, Orville or Wilbur? Either way, I wouldn't want to give up mine either...

[170C]

Well, you don't have to give up your original certificate when you get the plastic one. Guess one could carry both if one wished to do so. My only two complaints are that it adds one more piece of plastic to my wallet and with a cc or 2, medical & perscripion cards + drivers license, I had to remove the AOPA, EAA, TPA & TX Aviation membership cards because it makes the wallet too thick. Any more plastic and I may have to get one of those money belts just to hold all of them The other thing is the date of issue changes to whatever date you replace the paper one instead of retaining the original showing when you first received your certificate. I don't know if each time you add ratings if the issue date changes on your new certificate.

[cessna170bdriver]

I don't know if each time you add ratings if the issue date changes on your new certificate.

Evidently it does. I got my original in 1978, but when I got my instrument rating in 1990, the issue date on the certificate was updated. Unfortunately, they also required surrender of the old certificate.

Miles

[Kyle Wolfe]

Yep, I agree with Miles. When I got my instrument ticket I wanted to keep my orginal paper certificate for a keepsake. No Joy. Had to hand it over. Same when I got my commercial....

While I don't have Orville and Wilbur's signature like Bleder it does have thier pictures.

[170C]

I had been told that upon requesting the newer plastic cert. that I would have to surrender the paper one and I deferred doing so for some time, but finally decided to go ahead so I could get my ss# removed. When I did so there was no request to surrender the original paper cert. got mine in a frame on the wall of my office.

[blueldr]

I happen to belong to a group of pilots that are ,at the very least, a minority group. I wonder how many readers are members. It is a totally informal group with advanced pilot ratings who never had a "Private Pilot" rating.

[voorheesh]

Military conversion to commercial?

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

As Voorheesh has pointed out that club is bigger than you think BL. Military to Civilian is at the commercial level skipping private. I never had a private helicopter rating starting right at commercial with instrument rotorcraft. I then added private SEL privelages, added instrument SEL. Then upgraded to commercial SEL, MEL. Added CFI and CFII SEL, MEL and finally ATP, CFI, CFII rotorcraft. One of these days I may take the ATP airplane just to round out the ratings before I revert to sport pilot privilages.

[dacker]

I had a similar route. First military, then commercial multiengine airplane, rotorcraft helicopter, and instrument airplane and helicopter - all through military competency exam (CFR Part 61-73). I then added commercial single engine airplane, tailwheel endorsement, CFI instrument airplane (6 yrs ago), and have my checkride for CFI airplane next week. I plan to immediately start on the CFI helicopter next.

I am basically trying to come out of aviation hibernation and get my skills back up to professional standards. My how quickly they erode when you don't use them!

David

[N2625U]

In the late 80's I was in the military and some military pilots were getting out and trying for the airlines. I was able to get my hands on an old Piper Apache. 5 of these folks would come up to the control tower where I worked in the evening and study for the FAA comp exam. All 5 had the flight times, the examiner and Feds agreed to this, they passed their ATP written and went direct from no FAA license to an ATP MEL ticket.

[blueldr]

Apparently there are a good many more members of the "Club" than I thought. When I graduated from advanced flying school at Luke Army Air Field, I took a written exam on the (old) CARs and was issued a commercial. It was a good many years later before I needed and got my "Instrument" and "ATR".