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If you are a brand-new student pilot, you need a third class medical certificate (or a driver's license for sport pilot flying), because BasicMed is only available to pilots who have held an FAA medical at some point after July 14, 2006. If you already hold or have held a medical, BasicMed can be a simpler, cheaper way to keep flying personally, as long as you stay within its limits.
BasicMed requires that you have held an FAA medical certificate after July 14, 2006, so first-time pilots usually start with a third class exam from an Aviation Medical Examiner.
It covers private flying in aircraft with up to 7 occupants and 12,500 pounds maximum takeoff weight, below 18,000 feet MSL and at or below 250 knots.
Commercial and airline flying require a second or first class medical. BasicMed does not cover flying for compensation or hire.
Under 14 CFR 61.23(d), a third class medical is valid for 60 calendar months if you were under 40 at the exam, or 24 calendar months if you were 40 or older.
A physical exam with your own state-licensed physician every 48 calendar months and a free online course every 24 calendar months.
Sport pilots can use a valid U.S. driver's license as medical qualification, provided their most recent medical application was not denied.
A third class medical is the standard FAA medical certificate for private, recreational and student pilots. Under 14 CFR 61.23(a)(3), you need at least a third class medical to exercise student or private pilot privileges, unless you are flying under the BasicMed rules of 14 CFR 61.113(i). Flight instructors acting as pilot in command or as a required crewmember also need one, again unless they fly under BasicMed.
You get a third class medical from an FAA-designated Aviation Medical Examiner (AME). The process starts online with FAA MedXPress, where you fill out your medical history, followed by an in-person exam covering vision, hearing, blood pressure, a urine test and a general physical. The vision standard in 14 CFR 67.303 is 20/40 distant and near in each eye, with or without glasses. If you meet the standards, the AME can usually issue the certificate on the spot.
How long it lasts depends on your age on the exam date. Under 14 CFR 61.23(d), a third class medical issued before your 40th birthday is valid through the end of the 60th month after the exam; issued at 40 or older, it runs through the end of the 24th month. Our guide to the FAA medical certificate explains the exam step by step.
BasicMed was created by Congress and took effect in 2017 as an alternative way for private pilots to meet the medical requirement without holding a current FAA medical certificate. Instead of seeing an AME, you see any state-licensed physician, and you take an online aeromedical course. The requirements are in 14 CFR 61.23(c)(3) and Part 68.
To fly under BasicMed, you must:
Because the doctor you already know can do the exam, BasicMed is popular with pilots who have a managed health condition that would require extra paperwork or a special issuance through the FAA medical system.
BasicMed was expanded by the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024. The FAA's rule implementing those changes took effect on November 18, 2024, raising the limits from 6 to 7 occupants, from 5 to 6 passengers, and from 6,000 to 12,500 pounds maximum takeoff weight. Under 14 CFR 61.113(i) as it reads today:
Those limits comfortably cover every aircraft in our training fleet, from the Cessna 162 Skycatcher to the Cirrus SR22 Turbo and the twin-engine Piper Seminole. You can also fly IFR under BasicMed if you are instrument rated and current. The 2024 update also lets examiners administer practical tests while operating under BasicMed in aircraft that meet these limits.
What BasicMed cannot do is support a professional flying career. Any flight for compensation or hire, from a paid charter to an airline job, requires a second or first class medical under 14 CFR 61.23.
For most weekend pilots flying a four- or six-seat piston airplane around Southern California, the two options feel almost identical in the cockpit. The differences show up in paperwork, cost and the type of flying you hope to do later.
Get a third class medical (or a higher class if you are aiming for a career). It is the only way to solo on the path to a private pilot license, and holding it once also makes you eligible for BasicMed later. We recommend booking the AME exam early in training so you find out about any issue before you have invested heavily.
If you are considering our Airline Pilot Program, the commercial pilot license or becoming a flight instructor, get a first class medical before you start. It confirms you can hold the certificate an airline will require, and it works as a third class for private flying after the first class privileges lapse.
The sport pilot license lets you use your U.S. driver's license as medical qualification under 14 CFR 61.23(c)(2), provided your most recent FAA medical application, if any, was not denied. Since the FAA's MOSAIC rule took effect on October 22, 2025, sport pilots can fly a broader range of aircraft, though night flying under sport pilot privileges still requires a medical certificate or BasicMed.
If you held a medical after July 14, 2006 and it was never suspended, revoked or denied on your latest application, BasicMed can save you time and AME fees. Complete the online course, see your physician with the checklist, and you can be back in the left seat after a flight review.
Whichever medical path fits you, our instructors at Van Nuys Airport can help you plan the next step. We are open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week.
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