Train to be a SFI(H) without a medical?

[Jetset Jimbo]

Hi all,

Possibly the stupidest question ever posted on this forum but I have to ask. I have a few hundred hours gliding and a couple of hundred hours SEP flying on the NPPL I used to have. I have been diagnosed with bipolar and grounded, which is possible/likely permanent because I have to take lithium on a maintenance dose. I've always wanted to fly for a living but every time I've tried either medical or life events have stepped in. It occurred to me that if I could somehow qualify to become a Synthetic Flight Instructor (SFI), ideally on helicopters, I could enjoy training people in sims at least. The Easy Access Rules for Part FCL are pretty clear that I would need at least 1,000 hours of flying experience as a pilot on helicopters, including at least 350 as a pilot on multi-pilot helicopters. Without a medical I can't gain the experience, let alone get a CPL/ATPL to qualify to get the experience, so my assumption is that it's a non-starter. However, if by some miracle there is a route to becoming a SFI without a medical then please let me know.

Kind regards,
Jimbo

[rudestuff]

Unfortunately to be an SFI you must have held at least a CPL.

It's unfortunate that both SFI and STI provide a path for former instructors who have lost their medicals, but there is no way for someone who has never had a medical to be a SIM instructor, even if they paid for and flew the necessary flight time dual. It sounds almost like disability discrimination...

[Jetset Jimbo]

Unfortunately to be an SFI you must have held at least a CPL.

It's unfortunate that both SFI and STI provide a path for former instructors who have lost their medicals, but there is no way for someone who has never had a medical to be a SIM instructor, even if they paid for and flew the necessary flight time dual. It sounds almost like disability discrimination...
My next question was whether it would be possible to fly dual to get a CPL on the understanding that the CPL would be issued without the right to actually fly. The counter argument is that even if I could get a CPL, I'd then have to gain the 1,000 hours necessary on my own dime, also dual, so that's a huge blocker. Whilst on the one hand it does feel discriminatory because pilots who have lost their medicals can be SFIs, they have built up experience and anyone trying to build up experience without a medical is going to struggle.

[rudestuff]

Unlikely. Even if they would give you a licence without a medical you'd need the best part of a million quid for the flight training, for what? Just use your million to buy a small helicopter and have someone sit next to you when you fly it. Or buy/ build a simulator and have people pay you to fly it for fun.

[Jetset Jimbo]

Yup - non-starter but figured I'd post on the off-chance that there was a feasible route that I couldn't see. Appreciate you chipping in.