What is the process of getting a medical certificate, if you are deaf?Įvery person wanting to become a pilot must submit to a physical examination and apply for a medical certificate. You can also set your aircraft’s transponder to a special code that alerts ATC to an emergency. Under Visual Flying Rules, the only purpose of your flight plan is to activate search and rescue operations if you fail to appear at your destination within thirty minutes of your estimated arrival time. If you are making a long-distance flight over sparsely populated areas, you can file a flight plan before your departure. What do you do if you make an emergency landing, or if your plane crashes, and you can’t call on the radio for help? If you have a hearing person on board, you can ask that person to monitor the CTAF and pass on position reports made by other aircraft. A visual radio meter can be built and used so that you know when someone is talking on the radio, and therefore avoid “stepping” on other pilots’ transmissions. If you have intelligible speech, you can try transmitting your own position reports, thereby advising other pilots operating in the vicinity. There may be several reasons why a pilot may not be using the CTAF: the pilot may be flying an antique airplane that does not have an electrical system to power a radio the pilot may be on another frequency the radios may be broken or the pilot is deaf. Pilots operating at uncontrolled airports are encouraged to transmit their position and intentions on a “CTAF”: Common Traffic Advisory Frequency. Someone told me that even at uncontrolled airports, there are pilots talking on the radio. If there are other airplanes operating at the airport, you can just follow the flow of traffic towards the active runway. The windsock indicates the direction of the wind, and you maneuver to land into the wind on the “active” runway. If the airport is deserted, you can fly overhead and look at the windsock next to the runway. By following a sequence of legs along this route, you have several opportunities to see and avoid other aircraft, both in the air, and on the ground, and when there are no aircraft in front of you, you can land. Each uncontrolled airport has a standard traffic route that you enter at a specific location. When you land at an uncontrolled airport, how do you know when it is okay to land? What about the other planes landing and taking off?Īgain, Visual Flying Rules apply. Then, ATC can inform other aircraft in the area of your whereabouts. If you have a transponder on board, you can turn it on, which causes your plane’s position and altitude to appear on ATC’s radar screens. If you have a hearing person on board, you can ask that person to monitor the local traffic frequency and pass on position reports made by other aircraft. As you learn to fly, you will develop a skill for spotting airplanes and adjusting your route of flight as necessary. Under Visual Flying Rules (VFR), under which most general aviation flights are conducted, you are responsible for seeing and avoiding other airplanes, and remaining well clear of clouds. How do you know about other planes in the air? Sometimes, special arrangements for a “no-radio arrival” (or departure), using light signals, can be made with the control tower in advance. If a deaf pilot wants to fly into a controlled airport, he or she can bring along a qualified co-pilot or flight instructor who can handle the necessary radio communications with ATC. All the other 18,000-plus airports are uncontrolled and accessible to deaf pilots. You may be surprised to learn that of more than 19,000 landing facilities in the United States, only 512 have control towers. When issuing a pilot certificate to an otherwise qualified deaf person, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposes a limitation: Not Valid for Flights Requiring the Use of Radio. What kind of limitations are placed on your pilot certificate? (Uncontrolled airports are also called non-towered airports.) Thus, deaf pilots are able to fly into and out of uncontrolled airports without using the radio. At uncontrolled airports, however, pilots are only encouraged, but not required, to use their radio to directly advise other pilots in the area of their positions and intentions. Pilots operating at controlled airports or in controlled airspace are required to be in radio contact with Air Traffic Control (ATC). How can you fly if you cannot hear on the radio?Īirports (and airspace) can be of two kinds: controlled or uncontrolled.
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