drseti wrote:Possessing an FAA medical certificate doesn't automatically make you fit to fly. It doesn't even mean that on a particular day, a particular medical examiner found you fit to fly. What it does mean is that, on a particular day, a particular medical examiner failed to detect any conditions that would make you clearly unfit to fly.
…and for EVERY flight after the exam, EVERY pilot (including CTLSi) is REQUIRED to self-certify for EVERY flight whether they have a DL, 3rd, 2nd, or a 1st Class medical.
A sport pilot using a DL is not EXEMPT from a medical. The FAA deems the medical requirements for a DL to be what it requires for the limited sport pilot privileges. Sport pilots cannot fly as extensively as PPLs…speed, night, altitude, airspace restrictions for example.
The FAA demands history regarding traffic violations and DUI, the same as the state DL. The pilot can lose his flying privileges from DUI and traffic violations as a 3rd Class and as a DL.
So…the DL 'medical' for the (then) new Sport license was deemed by the FAA to be the appropriate level of medical needed. History has borne this out to be a good call.