3 ms·

Good for you, unfortunately some of us with ADHD want to fly airplanes, and soon enough, realize that the FAA still lives in the early 1900s, where you have to

by psyman 4y ago

Good for you, unfortunately some of us with ADHD want to fly airplanes, and soon enough, realize that the FAA still lives in the early 1900s, where you have to "man up" and "deal with it". So we just silently suffer, every single day.

falcolas 4y ago
As a former pilot with a late-in-life diagnosis of ADHD - I'd not want to be a commercial pilot. I'm legitimately concerned of a loss of concentration during landing. Looking back, I saw a few of those happen in my training and in my solo flights. It's a risk v reward decision, one which I fell on the "nope" category. :)
- psyman 4y ago
  I have no intention of commercial flying, though I can feel the pain of commerical pilots suffering from ADD. Ironically, the only time I am not able to "not concentrate" is when I'm flying the plane, as flying requires a state of constant change of focus, i.e. radios...instruments...see and avoid...controls...ipad...etc
  - falcolas 4y ago
    > as flying requires a state of constant change of focus That didn't work too well for me, since I'd hyperfocus on one thing (my heading, rate of turn, altitude, etc) and develop blindspots to the other 5 instruments. Not to mention radios and checklists and visuals and maps, etc. And god forbid I had to use my flight computer (the rotary slide-rule type, ipads didn't exist then). That thing was pure crack to my brain. Instrument flying is when these weaknesses became most apparent to me. VFR was enough like driving a car that it wasn't as much of an issue.
ryandrake 4y ago
It's nuanced, and explained pretty well by this HN commenter[1] in a past article. Generally ADHD that is currently being treated is disqualifying, and reliance on medication is definitely disqualifying. Past diagnoses are a toss-up and you're gambling on the system / your AME. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25996306 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25996306
- psyman 4y ago
  Hence my comment about the FAA saying "just Man up" aka "coping mechanisms"

by psyman 4y ago

falcolas 4y ago

As a former pilot with a late-in-life diagnosis of ADHD - I'd not want to be a commercial pilot. I'm legitimately concerned of a loss of concentration during landing. Looking back, I saw a few of those happen in my training and in my solo flights. It's a risk v reward decision, one which I fell on the "nope" category. :)

psyman 4y ago
I have no intention of commercial flying, though I can feel the pain of commerical pilots suffering from ADD. Ironically, the only time I am not able to "not concentrate" is when I'm flying the plane, as flying requires a state of constant change of focus, i.e. radios...instruments...see and avoid...controls...ipad...etc
- falcolas 4y ago
  > as flying requires a state of constant change of focus That didn't work too well for me, since I'd hyperfocus on one thing (my heading, rate of turn, altitude, etc) and develop blindspots to the other 5 instruments. Not to mention radios and checklists and visuals and maps, etc. And god forbid I had to use my flight computer (the rotary slide-rule type, ipads didn't exist then). That thing was pure crack to my brain. Instrument flying is when these weaknesses became most apparent to me. VFR was enough like driving a car that it wasn't as much of an issue.

ryandrake 4y ago

It's nuanced, and explained pretty well by this HN commenter[1] in a past article. Generally ADHD that is currently being treated is disqualifying, and reliance on medication is definitely disqualifying. Past diagnoses are a toss-up and you're gambling on the system / your AME. 1: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25996306 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=25996306

psyman 4y ago
Hence my comment about the FAA saying "just Man up" aka "coping mechanisms"