Welcome Guest. Sign in or Signup

5 Answers

Plastic Card Certificate

Asked by: 7664 views General Aviation

Hi, I passed my private pilot checkride (part 141) about twenty days ago and received the temporary paper certificate, when approximately will my hard copy come in the mail? Until then can I exercise all privileges of a licensed airman?

Ace Any FAA Written Test!
Actual FAA Questions / Free Lifetime Updates
The best explanations in the business
Fast, efficient study.
Pass Your Checkride With Confidence!
FAA Practical Test prep that reflects actual checkrides.
Any checkride: Airplane, Helicopter, Glider, etc.
Written and maintained by actual pilot examiners and master CFIs.
The World's Most Trusted eLogbook
Be Organized, Current, Professional, and Safe.
Highly customizable - for student pilots through pros.
Free Transition Service for users of other eLogs.
Our sincere thanks to pilots such as yourself who support AskACFI while helping themselves by using the awesome PC, Mac, iPhone/iPad, and Android aviation apps of our sponsors.

5 Answers



  1. Ryan on Sep 29, 2010

    2-4 weeks you’ll get your plastic card.  yes you are now a private pilot and may excersize all obligations AND privileges

    +2 Votes Thumb up 2 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  2. Matthew Hammer on Sep 29, 2010

    It took nearly 3 months for mine to arrive. But yes, a temporary airman certificate is just as much an airman certificate as a plastic one. Congrats on passing your ride!

    +1 Votes Thumb up 1 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  3. Matthew Waugh on Oct 01, 2010

    You may be getting confused by the publicity around the fact that paper certificates are no longer valid. A long time ago, well a few years anyway, pilot certificates were paper and we spent ENDLESS hours discussing whether you could laminate them or not. March 2010 those certificates, laminated or not, were no longer valid and you had to trade in for a plastic certificate.
    Of course a temporary certificate isn’t included in this – FAR 61.19(h).

    Or perhaps you weren’t confused.

    -1 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 1 Votes



  4. Pete Kemble on Oct 01, 2010

    When I got my private back in 2/09 i checked the page below obsessively. Comes a few days after the date they process it:

    http://www.faa.gov/licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/

    As of my writing this they are processing September 9th.

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes



  5. Ryan on Oct 05, 2010

     I passed my ride on 9/24 and recieved my plastic card on Monday of this week (10/4)

    0 Votes Thumb up 0 Votes Thumb down 0 Votes


Answer Question

Our sincere thanks to all who contribute constructively to this forum in answering flight training questions. If you are a flight instructor or represent a flight school / FBO offering flight instruction, you are welcome to include links to your site and related contact information as it pertains to offering local flight instruction in a specific geographic area. Additionally, direct links to FAA and related official government sources of information are welcome. However we thank you for your understanding that links to other sites or text that may be construed as explicit or implicit advertising of other business, sites, or goods/services are not permitted even if such links nominally are relevant to the question asked.