Few wannabe Q's about PPL Class 2 medical

[coodem]

First post here, thanks to all you guys for putting together such a brilliant forum, spent the last few days reading through it and have learnt a lot.

Since I was young I wanted to be a pilot, my father was a pilot, but gave up when I came along.

I kept delaying doing my licence until recently, when I was given a 1.5 hour aerobatic experience in a Chipmunk. I got to do a lot of the flying myself. After this I decided to do a fast track course ASAP, before I find another excuse to put it off.

So I will be going to the States on the 10 March for 25 days to do my JAA PPL.

All the Visa's make sense.Bit over the top, but I understand the americans reason for being over cautious.

Now the 2 things I am not so sure about is the Class 2 medical and where to get a 2" x2" photograph for the M-1 VISA

With the course I have taken is included a US class 2 medical, the question is, can I use this in the UK or do I need to take another class 2 over here?

If I have to take one here, would I have to do the ECG again, or would the one in the States suffice (assuming you get a ECG in the States)

Anyone else out there done/doing what I plan to do that can throw any light onto the subject.

Thanking you all in advance

[mcgoo]

if your going to london for your visa application, there is a photo studio round the corner that does 2 us size visa photos for about £6, with regards to medical, you will have to take an initial class 2 medical over here which will include an ecg, i think they are about £150, i recently did an intense ppl course in the us, so if you have any queries feel free to ask or pm me

[IO540]

The FAA Class 2 medical (which is for an FAA PPL) is in no way connected to the CAA Class 2 medical which you need for a CAA issued JAA PPL.

The two are not convertible.

The standard of the two is similar; it's just that the CAA insists on a CAA approved doctor (CAA AME) doing it. I don't know if there are CAA AMEs in the USA.

An FAA PPL needs only an FAA Class 3 medical but you aren't doing an FAA PPL.

Both FAA and CAA/JAA licenses need the respective Class 1 medical for commercial work (with exceptions).

As for the 2x2 photo, take a pic of yourself with a decent digital camera, crop it to meet the requirements, and print it out (inkjet) on good quality glossy paper. That's what I did. The requirements do not prohibit "computer" photos; they just want good quality.

[coodem]

Thank guys for the reply, that has cleared up a lot. I will go ahead and book up the class 2 CAA medical before I leave for my training, at least I know that can't cause me any problems in the near future.

Another question to any of you that have done your PPL in the States recently. I have registered with the TSA and paid all fees. Now just need my fingerprints to complete. Now the flight training school that I will be attending has a TSA registered fingerprint machine. But I am worried that if I wait till I get there to get it done I might be delayed to start my training. So was thinking of spending/wasting half a day and go to Farnborough (the only TSA recognisedplace to get approved fingerprints taken)
Do you guys thinkthis is a good idea to do it before, or am I just being paranoia? I have read that it can take a week after the prints are taken before TSA send accknowledgement. And from what I understand you cant start training until the flight school see/get confirmation from the TSA.

[IO540]

You definitely can't start flying training until the school has received TSA permission.

I've heard that it can take a few days for the fingerprints to be processed out there, but this is 3rd hand info. Perhaps somebody here who has recently done the fingerprints in the USA can confirm.

Based on the speed of the UK-based process I did with the TSA, it will take at least a few days from the fingerprint date until they authorise training.

[mcgoo]

i did my course at the end of november 2005 and we had the the fingerprints taken at the local police station on the first day of the course and we were flying by the afternoon, although i didn't receive my email from the tsa saying i could commence training until about a week into the course, you do have permission to start as the school send the prints direct to the tsa sameday

[coodem]

Thanks again for all the advise.
Found a Dr about 5 miles from where I work who is registered to do both CAA and FAA Class 2 medicals, So I have an appointment with him to get both done at the same time. I have to pay a little extra for the FAA class 2, but at least I am sure I will have no problems when out in the States. Also means I have 1 less thing to worry about in the short time I will be out there.

On another note, just starting the studying process and was wondering if anyone could recomend any good mock exams. It is nice to be able to access how much I actually take in after studying the syllabus, also will give me a little peace of mind before stepping into the exams

[englishal]

where to get a 2" x2" photograph for the M-1 VISA
Take one on your digital camera, load it into Photoshop, crop it to the right dimensions and resize to 2"x2", print it on photo paper.

Thats what I did a few weeks ago and it was good enough for a US visa :ok: