Medical Required to Taxi aircraft?

[Allen]

I find myself in the unhappy position of being temporarily (hopefully) medically disqualified (Kidney Stones). During this period, I'm flying with an instructor, keeping my instrument skills (and quals) somewhat up to date. My question is, can I taxi my aircraft solo. Does it matter if the movement is not for the purpose of flight (for example, from the fuel pumps back to the hangar, or from the hangar to the FBO to pick up the instructor)?

[Denny of Oakland]

To answer your question you have to go to FAR 1 Definitions and Abbreviations

Operate, with respect to aircraft, means use, cause to use or authorize to use aircraft, for the purpose (except as provided in §91.13 of this chapter) of air navigation including the piloting of aircraft, with or without the right of legal control (as owner, lessee, or otherwise).

Operational control, with respect to a flight, means the exercise of authority over initiating, conducting or terminating a flight.

What this means is moving the aircraft from the wash rack to the fuel pumps to the hangar is not considered initiating flight.

Denny of Oakland

[Allen]

That makes sense....more so than the FSDO did the other day when I broke down and asked them. (They referred me to SB 830 (49 CFR 830.2)"Aircraft accident means an occurrence associated with the operation of an aircraft which takes place between the time any person boards the aircraft with the intention of flight and all such persons have disembarked, and in which any person suffers death or serious injury, or in which the aircraft receives substantial damage."

and to

FAR Part 1

"Flight time means:
(1) Pilot time that commences when an aircraft moves under its own power for the purpose of flight and ends when the aircraft comes to rest after landing; ..."), and then said since I wouldn't cause an aircraft accident when taxiing from the FBO to my hanger (if I hit the gas pumps, I suppose), and couldn't log that taxi time as flight time, it seemed that I wasn't exercising the privileges of my private pilot license, and so it was ok, or so they thought - but they weren't very reassuring.

I like your answer better, particularly since the root word "operate" fits so much better in with the applicable FAR:

FAR Sec. 61.53 Prohibition on operations during medical deficiency.

(a) Operations that require a medical certificate. Except as
provided for in paragraph (b) of this section, a person who holds a
current medical certificate issued under part 67 of this chapter shall
not act as pilot in command, or in any other capacity as a required
pilot flight crewmember, while that person:
(1) Knows or has reason to know of any medical condition that would
make the person unable to meet the requirements for the medical....

Since I'm not "operating" the aircraft (per definitions, as you point out), I'm not prohibited from non-operational taxiing during my medical deficiency.

So...thanks a bunch. You made my day.

[Allen]

Good news!

Went to OSHKOSH, and met a medical screener from my regional FAA Aeromedical office at the FAA display. She looked on their laptop computer and saw the material submitted by my AME, and gave me a list of the things she wanted to see, together with a fax number. I faxed it to her on last Tuesday morning; on Friday, my medical certificate arrived in the mail, dated Wednesday!!!!

Damned fine service for any organization, much less a Federal Government Agency. (Thanks Joan!)

I had been led to expect much worse; a flight instructor told me how he had received his medical (following a cardiac problem) at the end of February, with the certificate signed at the end of January. But then, he was dealing with Oklahoma City.

Hmmmm..... maybe I shouldn't reveal this success story. Everyone will start trying to go through the regional office, and I won't have such good service next time I need to. Oh well, I guess I can take one for the good of pilot-kind.

Allen