Can someone explain a recreational and private pilots' certificates?

Answer 1

The recreational pilot certificate was created by the FAA for "weekend" pilots, retired pilots, and pilots who cannot pass the FAA physical for the private pilots license. It is intended for pilots who fly for pleasure only and limits those pilots to daytime flying, aircraft with no more than four seats and powerplants of 180hp or less. Like a private pilots license, recreational pilots cannot fly for monetary compensation.

A private pilot certificate has its own restrictions but a private pilot has the ability to attain further license endorsements to remove those restrictions.

A private pilot may not fly in IFR weather until they have attained the IFR endorsement.

A private pilot may not fly aircraft with more than a 200hp powerplant without the high-performance endorsement.

A private pilot may not fly for monetary compensation without the commercial endorsement.

A private pilot may not fly multi-engined aircraft without the multi-engine endorsement.

A private pilot may not fly complex aircraft (aircraft with retractable gear and/or constant-speed prop) without the complex aircraft endorsement.

...and so on.

The primary difference is that a private pilot usually intends to go on with their training and eventually attain these endorsements. The recreational certificate is intended for pilots who simply wish to fly on sunny days, just for fun, and has much less stringent requirements as far as training, currency, and medical. Many retired/older pilots who can no longer pass the FAA physical will opt for the recreational certificate so they can still fly for fun. Disabled people also can attain a recreational pilots license, but may have additional restrictions.