There is a whole subculture of pilots seemingly trying to run around some of these regulations using "experimental" aircraft like the carbon cub: https://www.youtube.com/@TrentonPalmer/videos
(I'm not saying Trent Palmer is trying to run around any regulations, just that his videos are cool, and seem like a good entry point into experimental bushplanes)
His current videos are about a really interesting and unique pool he is building at his house, but most of his stuff is about even cooler and even more unique airplanes he builds. He's an incredible engineer/hacker.
Mike is perhaps one the most impressive plane hackers I've seen. His creativity and transparency (he shows all the process!) are much appreciated. He inspired me to try and make some carbon fiber models for RC planes. By the second half of this year I plan to have built an RC delta wing, and use my programming knowledge to automate its flight path.
EDIT: To add to it, and even more remarkable: Mike has apparently got no formal education in engineering. His twin brother also wrote a book about the blessings and curses of ADHD, which both have.
I worked with a flight test engineer at Cessna who spent an hour describing his personal CitationJet RC model plane project. I was a little skeptical, but he said it even had miniature kerosene-powered jet engines.
Eh, maybe. They both strike me as being medicated.
There are two routes for those with ADHD who want medication and want to keep flying:
A) Get a regular or Special Issuance class 3 medical, ideally before treatment but it's possible while pausing it if you have $$$$. Immediately afterward, go get a BasicMed medical which prevents commercial operation but basically can't be denied. There's fairly limited data on ADHD medication and BasicMed but you can generally do this without fanfare, but if your regular doctor objects, find a temporary second one and just:
B) Lie (by omission). This is actually much easier than it sounds. Just go to the Aeronautical Medical Examiner's office, ask for a class 3 and Shut The Fuck Up. This is generally how the airline guys do it. If you're truly paranoid, pay for therapy and medication out of pocket. If even a minor accident occurs the FAA can and may elect to pull your insurance records. Nope, nothing is sacred to the government, not even HIPPA.
FWIW, you shouldn't have to do any of this. Mild to moderate ADHD has no impact on your ability to fly safely, ask me how I know :/
There's a lot of overdiagnosis of childhood ADHD ≈ unruly in class.
An adult who wants to fly may be ill advised to pursue a formal diagnosis of ADHD along with prescription medications.
We all have our own particular mental quirks. If after the usual amount of flying lessons, your instructor decides you have become a competent pilot and the examiner agrees, you have demonstrated the required mental fitness. There is a drop out rate, often because of finance, but also lack of ability.
There are of course those enough affected by ADHD that they require medication to function in daily life, who unfortunately will be found unfit to fly.
Some decades down the road, aviation authorities may find a way to approve medical fitness for pilots on ADHD medication as has been done for diabetes, successfully treated alcoholism and depression treated by drugs. Most of this evolution is driven by pilot unions looking to get members back to flying status. Practically speaking, onset of ADHD is likely non-existent in airline pilots and therefore unlikely to attract the attention of pilot unions
Could you ELI5? I was just looking into this question but I’m not familiar with the various medical examinations. What are the differences between regular, special and basic?
Traditionally to fly a plane in the US you need A class 1, 2, or 3 medical. 1 and 2 are required for airline and general commercial ops respectively and they have various rates of renewal based on class and your age ranging from 1 to 5 years. This is an FAA rule but flows down from ICAO, the international version of the FAA. They have to get all the government bodies to allow flights into each other's airspace so they standardize things like licensing, airspace rules and routes, runway layout and markings, etc. This means Saudi Arabia, China, etc, all get a say in whether your mental health condition means you can't fly a Cessna in upstate NY.
Within these rules, there is a carve out for edge cases as one would expect. If you have one of a variety of issues that are well understood but would otherwise prevent you from getting a regular medical, you can petition for a special issuance. Usually stuff like past alcohol abuse, mild depression, various physical disabilities (frequently mild types of colorblindness), etc. Ultimately these are class 1, 2, or 3 medicals with an asterisk requiring more documentation. Notably however, they do not approve them for ADHD while medicated. Typically to get one you need enough psych assessments to show it was a misdiagnosis or is extremely mild, but you can shop around until you find a psychologist who will write whatever you want.
Somewhat more recently (2016) congress passed a bill adding a 4th type of medical called BasicMed. It's a program where you complete an online web powerpoint, take a document to your doctor to fill out, and then everything after that is a conversation between you and your doctor. It is not internationally recognized so breaks the ICAO dependence stated above, but means you can't fly outside the US, even to Canada/Mexico/Caribbean islands etc, among other restrictions. It also has an extremely random requirement to have held a class 3 or higher medical after July 14th, 2006. That ended up really neutering the bill from this perspective as ADHD isn't really a late onset disorder and most people who would want to use this with ADHD have already been denied or are incapable of obtaining a class 3 without some significant effort.
> Typically to get one you need enough psych assessments to show it was a misdiagnosis or is extremely mild, but you can shop around until you find a psychologist who will write whatever you want.
Just want to clarify something on this point. Doctor shopping doesn't really work well here. The FAA has a list of doctors it listens to, and anyone else's opinion is as good as useless.
The run around is just "if you built more than half of it, you can be trusted to maintain it" which isn't really all that scandalous. It's actually been a very healthy thing for the GA industry in recent years given the issues outlined in TFA
(I'm not saying Trent Palmer is trying to run around any regulations, just that his videos are cool, and seem like a good entry point into experimental bushplanes)
I'd also encourage anyone here to check out Mike Patey: https://www.youtube.com/@MikePatey/videos
His current videos are about a really interesting and unique pool he is building at his house, but most of his stuff is about even cooler and even more unique airplanes he builds. He's an incredible engineer/hacker.