Basic Med

[VA Maule]

Good to hear and pretty quick for the Fed. Get that Basic Med and don't look back.

[Undaunted]

They issued me a replacement third class medical certificate, as I knew they would but limited me to one year, rather than the two year certificate issued by my AME. I have been flying for roughly 12 years now. Nothing has changed. Nothing.

Of course they ended the communication with a threat of legal action if I did not comply with all of their rules...

crbnunit,

Interesting, but remember you NEVER want a Doc to refer to you as interesting.

My $0.02....

I have known 1 or 2 AME's over the years who are dicks..but then I have known a few pilots who are as well. I would say most want to keep pilots flying, safely.

Now on to the FAA, without knowing your details but with seeing somewhat of a change in the approach the FAA is taking, one has to wonder if they are in the process of justifying their time and existence. I have had 2 times over the past few years when I have called the FAA on behalf of their reply letters to pilots I have certified, each of whom were stable and met the standard. I have asked for a clarification or explanation on their position, and in both cases to the credit to the FAA they changed their position in favor of my intervention and the pilot. Of course I have no knowledge of your situation or your AME, but this may be something they would be willing to do for you. Also I would encourage you to read the letter closely, some times it requires you to only submit paperwork to your AME regarding the stability of a medical conditions and they can issue a new cert without a full exam at that time.

Be advised, sometimes these letters come on the basis of what a non-AME writes (or doesn't write) in their notes...comments that raise a red flag to the FAA. As an example I recently had notes from a doc who stated to the patient with stable hypertension and stable hypercholesterolemia that "while your health may be a ticking bomb, you should be ok to fly" and this was in a younger patient who was very proactive in staying healthy.
I have also seen non-AME docs give bad aviation advice that flags the FAA "benadryl should be fine to take before flying as long as you have had it before and did fine". It is for these reasons I encourage pilots who have some issues to either choose a doc who is also an AME as their primary MD or have their regular doc call me (or another AME) and discuss the case before starting new and questionable meds. I also encourage patients to discuss with the primary physician that the records will be scrutinized by the FAA so please do not editorialize as in the example above.

again while there are some dicks out there, those of us AME's who are pilots WANT TO KEEP OTHER PILOTS FLYING !

feel free to send me a PM, cbrnunit

Michael
Senior AME
and soon to be new owner of a 3 blade MT prop on my M7!

[Mountain Doctor]

Some inside information...

The FAA is in the process of paying more and more attention to obesity. This is their main marker for scrutiny. It is a red flag for heart disease, cancer, sleep apnea, lipid disorders, diabetes, stroke risk, etc. etc. etc.

If your BMI is over 30 be certain that the FAA will carefully review your certificate, as well as the AME's documentation...

Forget the legal implications, I implore my pilots that if they want to keep flying, much less living, to get themselves well south of a BMI of 30, preferable less than 25.

[crbnunit]

I have no problems with my AME. He is a good guy. Not a pilot, but a good guy. If he were not, I would have gone shopping long ago. Understood about the language of the notes. I haven't asked for any. Maybe I should take a look but I don't think he is intentionally sabotaging me.

As far as submitting paperwork, my AME had all the requested documentation in his possession when when he issued me the medical. The FAA was not OK with that.

Roger BMI. Working on it!

[Mountain Doctor]

Trust me the whole pilot/AME/FAA thing is stressful on the AME's side as well.

Just as the FAA is looking for a chance to make the pilot unhappy, they are breathing down the AME's necks as well, waiting for a slip up.

Obviously I won't go into details here, but several times I've been scolded by the Feds for helping pilots out and being, shall we say, generous, with issuance.

My attitude is I work for the pilot, and safety. I get paid BUPKUS from the FAA for this, and I lose money on every medical I do. I only do this for our community, and I'm sure that's the same for most AME's.

I'd have dropped this gig years ago except I'm the only AME left in this area. I have pilots come from 50-100 miles away commonly to see me. And I'm the only FAA in over 100 miles who is authorized to do ATC exams.

[crbnunit]

I have no doubt. Working with the FAA is no fun from any angle and I am always amazed the AME's don't charge more for what they have to go through. I apologize to mine every visit because I know all the extra he does for me costs him time. He does not charge me extra even though I tell him I understand if he needs to do so for the extra work.

I know I sound bitter... And I am but this is all directed at the source of the irritation, not the messenger. I, for one, greatly appreciate the jog you guys do.

Thanks!