Regulation Text
§ 61.7 Obsolete certificates and ratings.
(a) The holder of a free-balloon pilot certificate issued before November 1, 1973, may not exercise the privileges of that certificate.
(b) The holder of a pilot certificate that bears any of the following category ratings without an associated class rating may not exercise the privileges of that category rating:
(1) Rotorcraft.
(2) Lighter-than-air.
(3) Helicopter.
(4) Autogyro.
Research Notes
Historical Context
Section 61.7 addresses certificates issued under predecessor regulations that have no modern equivalents. The free-balloon pilot certificate referenced in § 61.7(a) was a distinct certificate type under pre-1973 rules — not to be confused with a modern lighter-than-air balloon rating under § 61.5(b)(1)(iv).
The category ratings without class ratings listed in § 61.7(b) — Rotorcraft, Lighter-than-air, Helicopter, Autogyro — were issued under older certification frameworks that did not require a paired class rating. These certificates exist in the wild but cannot be exercised. If someone presents one of these on a ramp check, it does not convey the privileges it appears to convey.
In practice this section is rarely relevant to active pilots, but it matters for anyone who finds old certificates in family estate papers or for DPEs who may encounter unusual certificate configurations during pre-checkride document review.