Labyer

So I’ve been going thru the process of getting a SODA allready got authorization from CAMI. I’ve been trying to set an appointment thru my FSDO (houston) but they kept saying they’ll call me back. I finally got a call back today and was told “you can’t take a medical evaluation flight until you are ready to solo” background - I’ve been flying since I was 9 and just got out of the military and would love to peruse flying as a career, but I’m not going to waste the time and money on “almost soloing” to just be told I can’t do it anyways. Can anyone confirm that statement is true? The “you can’t take the medical evaluation until you are ready to solo” thanks in advance. (You guys have helped me get this far and I appreciate it)

Excargodog

SODA stands for Statement of Demonstrated Ability. What they would like is for you to actually DEMONSTRATE the ABILITY and part of that is to have your CFI indicate that in his/her opinion you have the ABILITY to be soloed.

Whether it is possible for them to substitute some other way for you to demonstrate that ability or not is sort of up to them, but what they are requesting does not seem unreasonable. While the overwhelming likelihood is that your vision will not actually be a problem flying, consider what is at risk for each of you.

For you, well YOU are being asked to do something you almost certainly will be able to do, which in fact you MUST do to reach your eventual goal.

For the individual certifying you to have DEMONSTRATED THE ABILITY TO SAFELY PILOT AN AIRCRAFT, he Or she is putting their professional credibility on the line - doing something that could potentially come back and bite him/her in the @$$ if you ever do have a mishap, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE MISHAP IS VISION-RELATED or not.

Given the odds and relative risks, asking you to get 15 hours of dual doesn't seem at all unreasonable to me, but if you don't think the risk is a reasonable one, you certainly aren't obligated to play the game at all.

Labyer

Awesome I really appreciate the response and I appreciate you putting it in perspective for me. You’re right. Thank you.