On the contrary, from my own experience in dealing with the CAA and the comments of otheres, I'd say that, in general, they seem to do all they can to help you out. If they were really so hardline there would be no possibility of anyone being issued a class I who didn't meet every initial requirement (as you'd expect) but this doesn't seem to be the case..if the deviation is small and judged to be fairly inconsequential (and unlikely to deterioate) then it appears that the CAA are about as helpful and supportive as you could wish for from an organisation who has the daunting task off publicly signing off on a pilot's fitness to fly.
If you're eyes are juuuuuuuust outside of initial but within renewal (as are many pilots who fly obviously) then that is surely less of an issue than a high BP (more risks and potential for serious consequences - you're not going to endanger the aircraft/passengers if you can't read the samllest letters on the chart in reality but if you've got a high BP and are in a stressful situation you could pose a danger. Now I know that BPs vary throughout the day and from situatio to situation so I fully understand that people would want to debate this, all I'm saying is in response to mazzy's comments - I think the CAA are pretty decent towards wannabes
Mav
