Privileges versus certificates
Once a pilot always a pilot
Q: I was a private pilot but am now flying my Cessna as a sport pilot under MOSAIC with just my driver’s license. I believe I can no longer perform preventive maintenance on my Cessna Skyhawk, correct?
A: That is actually incorrect. On several fronts. Let me explain. First off, you are still a private pilot. The fact you are flying under MOSAIC only means that you are exercising sport pilot privileges. You are not a sport pilot as you still hold a private pilot certificate and that does not change. Saying that you were a private pilot is simply not true. And second, the preventive maintenance rules in FAR Part 43 are tied to the certificate held, not the privileges one is exercising. When it comes to preventive maintenance privileges on a production airplane that you own, the regulations require only that you hold a private pilot certificate or higher. The grade of pilot certificate privileges you are exercising is not relevant. As I noted earlier, you hold a private pilot certificate, and you are entitled to perform the preventive maintenance on your Skyhawk as permitted in FAR Part 43.3, 43.7, Appendix A, Paragraph C.
While on this topic and closely related is medical certificate grade and privileges. Let’s say you are 30 years old and obtain a first class medical certificate. Three years down the road, you can still fly private privileges using that same medical certificate. Pilots commonly say that they now have a third class medical. Again, not true at all. It is still a first class medical as that doesn’t change. What you are doing is exercising third class medical privileges. The medical certificate grade remains the same; only the privileges you can exercise change.
Craig Brown is a senior aviation technical specialist in the AOPA Pilot Information Center. [email protected]
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