My son is jumping through the hoops to get into flight training (I'm hoping he'll find someone else to pay for it!!!) and as part of that process he did the Initial Class 1 Medical last year in France where we live, to be sure that he could pass it (due to a concern we had about his vision). We also thought it looked rather good on his CV. So far so good.
It now turns out that, apparently, new EASA rules (what is wrong with these people???) dictate that the Initial Class 1 Medical needs to be taken in the state of intended employment, which for my son is the UK. So the goal posts have moved since we kicked the ball! So much for European integration, JAA, one big family etc.
With his Class 1 renewal due at the end of this month (Feb 2014), we have decided to let his medical expire as he has already proved that he can pass it, and on the understanding that as long as he renews within 5 years he will pay the same renewal fee of around £200. There is also a mechanism to transfer the Class 1 License to become UK issue, but that involves a professional certified translation so will cost a bit. Meanwhile he is still at Uni whilst trying for a sponsored flight-training scheme…….we've all got everything crossed.
I'm just posting this info here in case someone is better-informed than I am. I see no point in throwing money at keeping a medical license valid when he might not even begin training for a couple of years,. Also, if he hits the jackpot and gets sponsored by BA they will take care of everything like that in any case.
