class 1 - finally booked it! [Archive]

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femaleWannabe

14th Jun 2006, 12:48

Hi all, I've finally booked my class 1 medical and can now start to worry about it :}

First question - on the caa website there are prices for a JAA class 1 medical (£435) and a UK class 1 (£246). I didn't specify which I wanted and was charged £302. Have I booked the right thing?! I wouldn't know if it's a JAA or a UK one I want.... :confused:

Second question - I arrive at Gatwick at 10am for a 12.45 appointment so I have time to kill. Is it feasible to walk from the south terminal to aviation house?

Third question - should I wear trainers in case they make me run round the car park?!

Thanks for any answers :O

Whirlybird

14th Jun 2006, 13:07

The only thing I know for certain out of your questions is that they won't make you run round the car park.

I'm pretty sure you've booked the right medical.It sounds like the website is out-of-date. The cost used to be around £400; then they stopped the EEG, so £300 would be about right.

Eddie_Crane

14th Jun 2006, 15:38

First question - on the caa website there are prices for a JAA class 1 medical (£435) and a UK class 1 (£246). I didn't specify which I wanted and was charged £302. Have I booked the right thing?! I wouldn't know if it's a JAA or a UK one I want....
It's £302. They don't do EEG and chest x-rays any more.

Second question - I arrive at Gatwick at 10am for a 12.45 appointment so I have time to kill. Is it feasible to walk from the south terminal to aviation house?

Not a particularly pleasant walk really :bored: .. I wouldnt do it. Plus the bus is free to Aviation House..

Third question - should I wear trainers in case they make me run round the car park?!

:bored:

2close

14th Jun 2006, 19:14

Always advisable to do the eye test first as this seems to be the biggest failure factor, followed by the audiometry.

There is only a 1 in 200 chance that you have a colour vision problem so don't lose any sleep there and it's a good idea to give your ears a good degunging beforehand. I've always thought I had very clean fins but I used drops for three days prior to the test and was amazed at the difference it made.

If you've got time to kill, pop up the canteen for lunch (from 12.00) - very good and very reasonable - although you can get a brew or soft drinks all morning.

As for the run around the car park, that's been replaced as of today with a 12 mile forced march carrying full battle order kit and two jerrycans filled with cement.:eek:

HTH
2close

femaleWannabe

14th Jun 2006, 20:29

Thanks for the replies guys - sounds like I've booked the right thing!

I'm sure I read in another thread somewhere that occasionally they make you run round the car park before doing the peak flow tests.... :}

Sounds like I should get the bus from the airport - I'll just have to kill the time shopping for new sunglasses.

I got my optician to check my eyesight against the class 1 standards. He checked the colour vision and muscle imbalance and whatnot as well so hopefully I should be fine. I wear soft contact lenses - the caa website says hard ones shouldn't be worn on the day of the medical, can I wear soft ones? I do have glasses but I rarely wear them out in public!

I clean my ears everyday with a cotton bud but I guess this doesn't get right inside... can you buy drops over the counter/ off the shelf? I sometimes wonder if my hearing is all it should be :hmm:

2close

14th Jun 2006, 20:52

Ahh, female selective deafness........a common condition ;)

Yes, over the counter ear deforestation stuff worked fine for me.

There is definitely no beasting around the car park. There is a treadmill in the AMC that they can connect you up to, to monitor your ticker if they want to check it under stress but have no fear, you should not be expected to run anywhere.

Get the No. 10, 100 or 200 (as I recall) and ask for City Place - as stated above, it's free. Get off at City Place, walk past the Beehive and the CAA building is just around the corner.

HTH

2close

Sagey

14th Jun 2006, 23:04

I seem to remember that the information that you get sent suggests that you should not wear contact lenses for 72 hours prior to the medical. It might be worth giving them a call and checking the position with contact lenses. I believe that you need to get the CAA to sign you off in terms of wearing contact lenses and flying as well.

windforce

15th Jun 2006, 10:58

Hi FemaleWannabe, the £302 fee is right. I did mine in January and it costed me the same price... If you arrive at 10am you're gonna have a lot of time to kill!!! So, if you can try to go there later... let's say 1130-1200. Don't walk from the terminal, there's a free bus shuttle!! I think the bus service is the #100 and it runs every 15-20 min.

Third question - should I wear trainers in case they make me run round the car park?!

Sorry to say this, but it's very funny... ahahahah :} :confused: :\

Don't worry FemaleWannabe, the visit lasts around 2 hours and half, and if you don't have any medical problem, you should get the class one without any problem. Let us know!!!! :ok:

wf

femaleWannabe

15th Jun 2006, 12:37

If you arrive at 10am you're gonna have a lot of time to kill!!! So, if you can try to go there later... let's say 1130-1200.

Believe me, I'd go later if I could, but I have to travel from edinburgh and the only flight which suits gets in at 10am. The one after that is at 13.30 which is useless. I'm told gatwick has good shops though :)

Whirlybird

15th Jun 2006, 16:36

Yes, you want the "Shopping Village" which is above the South Terminal, if I remember rightly. If you're even a little bit into shopping, it's a great place to spend a couple of hours. :ok:

femaleWannabe

15th Jun 2006, 17:03

Thanks Whirlybird... I'm assuming you don't need to go back through security to get there?

Got the forms through today - quick or what! Seems like I have a lot of ticking boxes to do :} lots of difficult questions.

Halfbaked_Boy

18th Jun 2006, 01:40

Windforce, when I had mine done in February it ran from 0830 to approximately 1300! I've never spent so long in a dressing gown surrounded by fellow pilots in similar attire... :ok:

Cheers, Jack.

windforce

18th Jun 2006, 10:12

Windforce, when I had mine done in February it ran from 0830 to approximately 1300! I've never spent so long in a dressing gown surrounded by fellow pilots in similar attire... :ok:

Cheers, Jack.

did you? so, i was quite lucky... two hours and 30 min. with that beautiful white dressing... ahahahah... :eek:

Maybe it depends on how many people there are for the visit... when I did mine there were 'only' 5 guys (+ me)... and it was the 1245 visit...

wf

Sagey

18th Jun 2006, 14:05

I went down only a few weeks ago and I didn't have to wear a dressing gown at all. Not sure whether it is different depending on what staff are on that day or whether they have changed the policy. Perhaps all the dressing gowns were in the wash ;) It took me about 3 hours to get through the whole process and about 3 days for the Class One certificate to come through the post.

2close

18th Jun 2006, 17:35

No longer required to wear the sexy dressing gowns.

femaleWannabe

18th Jun 2006, 20:34

Ok so you just keep your own clothes on and remove the necessary when instructed?

Sagey

18th Jun 2006, 20:43

It isn't quite that drastic - underwear at all times. From your username, I am naturally assuming that you are female so if it is a male Dr that you have to see then you will get a nurse to accompany you as well. It actually was a lot less traumatic than I was expecting. All of the staff were incredibly friendly.

windforce

18th Jun 2006, 21:18

beamer

22nd Jun 2006, 16:55

Sounds incredibly expensive to me or are there 'extras' for initial issue ?

My Doc just charged me (well the Company actually) just over two hundred quid for a standard six-monthly MOT including ECG and Audio.

Leezyjet

22nd Jun 2006, 21:39

The only thing I know for certain out of your questions is that they won't make you run round the car park.

There is definitely no beasting around the car park. There is a treadmill in the AMC that they can connect you up to, to monitor your ticker if they want to check it under stress but have no fear, you should not be expected to run anywhere.

That must be new then. When I was there back in OCT/NOV, one guy DID have to run around the car park - and he was the only one wearing a full suit/shirt/tie/shoes. When my friend was there for his Class one, someone had to run round the car park also.

Not everyone has to do this however, it all depends on your heart rate. Some people can get their heart rate up just by doing the standard thing they get you to do (walking up and down 2 steps IIRC), others can't and its those that have to do the run round the car park.

If your pretty sure your heart rate will go up with just a few minutes of physical excersise then don't wear trainers, if you are not then take them with you just incase.

I seem to remember that the information that you get sent suggests that you should not wear contact lenses for 72 hours prior to the medical. It might be worth giving them a call and checking the position with contact lenses. I believe that you need to get the CAA to sign you off in terms of wearing contact lenses and flying as well.]

Yeah that sounds about right. Take them and your glasses with you (and ANY medication you take). They will test your glasses to make sure they are the correct strength and sign you off to wear them or contacts. I had just changed job roles prior to having mine, meaning I wasn't wearing my contacts as often, so they wouldn't sign me off to wear them at that stage, although I can go back in future if I wish to wear them.

I am naturally assuming that you are female so if it is a male Dr that you have to see then you will get a nurse to accompany you as well.

Funny isn't it that if it's a male Dr testing a woman, a female nurse has to be present, yet when it's a guy being checked by a woman Dr, there is usually no male present.

:\

Sagey

22nd Jun 2006, 22:17

Well when I was there, no one had to run around the car park. Mind you, my heart was raising as I know that I didn't relax. I know that my blood pressure was also sky high - fortunately only the top number (the bottom is apparently the important one) - as I called my Dad after my medical (he is a Dr) to see if that was really bad (I knew what was normal and my top number was above it). The medical isn't designed to catch you out. It isn't designed to to be an obstacle. It is there to ensure that you are medically fit to fly. It cost me a lot of money as I had to get two pairs of glasses following it (my prescription is the lowest that you can get) - but that does demonstrate how thorough it is, but also how fair it is. :). It is hard but try to relax. I cannot say that it is the most pleasant few hours of my life, but it certainly wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. As I have said before, all of the staff are extremely friendly and extremely professional. You cannot ask for more than that IMO. There are no tricks, there are no catches, the medical is designed to see if you meet what is deemed to be the medical requirements to fly. That doesn't mean that those requirements won't change in a week/a month/ a decade. It just means that if you meet the requirements on the day that you go, you receive a Class One. If you need further investigations, you get referred and if you don't meet them you are told why.

femaleWannabe

26th Jun 2006, 09:15

thanks guys, I'm not so worried now, I'm sure it will all go ok :}

I was thinking about filling in the forms last night - it asks for the number of hours flown and the number of hours flown since last medical... since I've never had a medical and I'm only a student, do I fill these boxes in?

It also asks for type of flying - I'm assuming I just put "pleasure" if I'm just doing my PPL at the moment? And it asks if I fly single pilot or multi pilot... bit confused about this one since I will be flying single pilot eventually but just now I'm flying with an instructor... :confused:

Any help very much appreciated - I'm rubbish at form filling :ugh:

Dicky Birded

26th Jun 2006, 16:41

Hi,

I had my Class 1 last thursday.

Some of the questions are a bit ambiguous, if in doubt leave them blank, make yourself a reminder sheet and ask them when you get there.

The staff there are very helpful.

I think I put PPL in the type of flying, and just put in the number of hours you have flown to date.

femaleWannabe

27th Jun 2006, 07:59

Thanks, I think I'll do that - just ask them when i get there.

How did the medical go?

Dicky Birded

27th Jun 2006, 19:16

Well, I thought it had gone ok, but I have to have further tests on my eyesight. So it's back to Gatwick for me :*

femaleWannabe

27th Jun 2006, 19:53

Ok I've managed to answer all but two questions:

1. Type of license applied for. I'm not sure if this should be "private pilot" or "student pilot" as the guidance notes are slightly misleading.

2. Present Flying activity. Either single or multi pilot....

Anyone have any ideas? If not its being left blank and asked about next week :}

corsair

28th Jun 2006, 21:26

Just write private pilot and single pilot. It's irrelevant to the medical anyway. Probably just for their records. It doesn't matter whether you fly, sorry flew Concorde or an ultralight the medical standard remains the same.

I've just renewed mine complete with high blood pressure (under medication) and with my eyesight heading unerringly towards reading glasses. Don't worry too much about the medical. After all there are many older pilots with all kinds of niggling infirmities. I have to admit I never worried about medicals until they found high blood pressure. With that being treated. I don't even have to worry about that either.

femaleWannabe

29th Jun 2006, 06:50

Thanks corsair - I was wondering what the relevance of it all was!

I'm not too worried about the medical, I think I should pass ok. The only thing that might be dodgy is my lung function as I had asthma when I was younger. But I'm thinking if I get a good nights sleep it should be fine.

helen0888

17th Jul 2006, 19:25

captwannabe

17th Jul 2006, 19:46

You have to take your top off but you are given a bath robe/dressing gown to wear. You might have to be in underwear for the general physical with the GP. Nothing to worry about.

Relax, it's not often you get to lounge around in the afternoon in a dressing gown! I hope everything goes well for you.

Good luck :ok:

Hawk

17th Jul 2006, 22:07

what exactly do they examin whilst you are in your underwear / dressing gown?

I'm looking into booking mine very soon, i wasnt aware that there would be an undressing part of the examination!

any pms/ replys would be appreciated

this hasnt put me off by the way, im just curious to know!

Helen, I'm not sure what you are not understanding, your question has already been answered by previous posters. If you have any further questions the Sticky at the top of the forum might make it clearer. Check this thread also http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=230714

eagle 86

18th Jul 2006, 03:10

Helen,
The Doc (could be female) will probably want to, at least, listen to your chest with stethoscope - hard to do through clothing.
GAGS
E86

helen0888

18th Jul 2006, 15:05

link appreciated

Evileyes

18th Jul 2006, 21:43

The CAA requirements for medical exams are here:

http://www.caa.co.uk/default.aspx?categoryid=49&pagetype=68&groupid=211

A bit of imagination should make it clear what you will be required to do. It's frankly up to the individual Doctor what technique they use to conduct the exam as long as the requirements are fulfilled. If you still have questions:

CAA Safety Regulation Group
Aviation House
Gatwick Airport South
West Sussex RH6 0YR

For enquiries:

Telephone Call Centre +44 1293 573700