Most deaf pilots (actually all but one that I know of *S) have a restriction on their medical certificate that they must fly with a hearing pilot or in air space that does not require radio communication. That policy of the FAA is about 10 years old. I got my first medical certificate in 1965. I told the examiner what I had been told about my hearing loss (since I had oral skills I had been told that I had a "slight hearing loss, don't ever let it bother you" when it was realy severe) and the Doctor said, "dont cause trouble for yourself just be quiet about that." In 1986 I reported to the FAA that I use hearing aids. Since I had 20 years of demonstrated ability, they just wrote that I must use hearing aids when flying. The Telex company makes both hearing aids and head sets for airlines. I talked with them at Oshcosh last year and bought a head set that works very well. The air trafic control communications is highly structured and I have been studying it for 35 years. So, I get along about as well as anyone else.

Yes the spatial way of thinking helps a lot. When flying instruments, I don't have to think as much to interpret the instruments, I picture the atitude and situation of the aircraft in my mind. In MS Flight Simulator, I can takeoff from Lambert Field in a LearJet 24 and fly through the Gateway Arch at 300 knots inverted, upright, or knife edge.

I will check out the 70-100 stuff. Been using FoxPro since it was FoxBase and thought I had died and gone to heaven when FoxPro 2.1 (the first OOPs version) came out.