Class 1 medical and Peak Flow test

[spitfire2002]

I am hoping you guys can put my mind at ease. I am due to take the Class 1 medical at the end of this month and have a few questions that I wouldn’t mind some answers to, as they are making me slightly anxious.

The first is and this is the most important as I used to have Asthma as a kid and have just given up smoking (1st April) in order to give myself the best chance of passing the medical as possible. I was never a big smoker mainly socially at the weekends. I used to smoke about 4-5 cigs a day weekdays and about 20 over a weekend Sat & Sun, but that has all stopped, 0 cigs per week! The question is does anybody know what the minimum “Peak Flow Rate” is for a pass on the lungs test?

I have found out from the National Asthma Campaign that the average PEF for my age, sex and height is: 600.
SEX: MALE
HEIGHT: 5ft 8.5in
AGE: 27

I am getting 500+ on the peak flow meter I have at home, which seems quite good but I am unsure of the limits and the attitude towards Asthma in early life, I have not had any problems attack wise in this department for about seventeen years.

My next question is does anyone know what the MAX BMI is for a pass?

Thank you all in advance for your help as I know this site and it’s members well (I used to have a different alias “Tornado” but had to change it when the website had a MOT.) and that you will provide the answers.

Once again many thanks, any help is much appreciated.

[The Boy Lard]

Spit02

As far as the Peak Flow readings are concerned there are three things to tell you:
#1 I smoke 20 a day (Not to be condoned I know) and I passed the peak flow test after some coaching by the nurse on the day.
#2 Its really all about technique, make sure your mouth is around the tube and not inside the tube, sounds daft I know but I can assure you that the change in results is quite dramatic. I was told by the nurse that its all about getting your tongue out of the way!
#3 You can take loads of attempts to get a good enough score, personally it took me ten! The nurses all want you to pass and will give you all the encouragement and assistance you need.

The nurse told me that my final reading was actually higher than the average, so the smoking didnt seem (On that occasion) to have impinged on things.

As far as the BMI is concerned I am on the upper end of the scale and even with a BMI of 35 the Doc still passed me, albiet with the proviso that at my renewal I had to be down to 32.

The way to calculate BMI is your mass in Kilograms divided by you height in metres squared. Obese is considered anything over a BMI of 30 except I'm an ex rugger player and built like a pie shop!

As I understand it the JAR do not at this time have a higher restriction on BMI unlike the CAA, so providing you can demonstrate that you are fit and not a couch potatoe with rolls of fat thay shouldnt be too hard on you.

Good luck with your medical, its an interesting half day!

Cheers

TBL:D

[tomcs]

I'm lucky being 17 and fit and raring to go....I took my Class 1 two days after my 17th last year and its something I will never forget :D . With the BMI over 30 is looking interesting but as they guy said they are lose on that sometimes. I have 25 and being 6"3' am not the perfect pilot shape :D The peak flow is easy as he said its all about the technique.


Good Luck

Tom

[twistedenginestarter]

I think the target peak flow depends on your age - maybe other factors. I can't remember whether mine was 600 or 800. I think the latter so you may have a problem.

[dragchute]

They use a mirror to measure my peak flow - I was still breathing last medical:p

[MJR]

I was 34 and 5ft 11" when I did my class one. They wanted over 700 on the peak flow test and I failed. So they made run around the carpark for about 15 mins and then did the test again. (I was struggling to get over 600 let alone 700). So they said you will have to come back and see the respiratory consultant. So another day off work and another £108 to see the consultant. My consultation lasted 6 minutes and I was given the benefit of the doubt because I have no history of Asthma.

In the last few years I have had respiratory tests done at work to check if I am suffering from sniffing solder fumes and this has lead to discovering why my peak flow test is below average. Apparently I have larger than average lungs but an average sized wind pipe. My lungs have 30% greater capacity than average for my size. The expected peak flow reading is based on your on an algorithm using your lung capacity as one of the inputs. It is for this reason why I cannot acheive the average peak flow for some one of mys size and age.

The moral of this message is if you do fail all is not lost as it would seems that the CAA don't have all the answers. It might be down to you to prove your own health at your own expense!