UK medical requirements for US glider pilots...

The UK requirements are quite explicit - essentially,
you need a simple self-declaration form but it must
be countersigned by a UK doctor 'who has seen and read
your entire medical history'. This is probably unlikely
for a US resident. There does not appear to be any
way around this.

For most other non-UK countries, the medical requirements
are stricter, and an ICAO [=FAA ?] class 2 medical
is required. If you have one of these then you are
automatically OK in UK.

Anyone have recent experience [other than ignoring
the law] ?

Ian




At 10:30 16 August 2006, Al Eddie wrote:
At 21:42 15 August 2006, Marc Ramsey wrote:
I'll be in the UK (Cambridge) in late September for
a conference, and am
thinking about heading over there early for some flying.
I have a US
PPL Glider, but not a US medical, which is not required
for gliders.
Will I need a US or UK medical validation to fly solo
in the UK? Any
other formal requirements (licensing or otherwise),
other than the
obvious check ride requirements wherever I end up?

Thanks,
Marc


Marc.

I hope you have an enjoyable stay in the UK, and that
the weather is kind to you...

Forget all the ill-advised drivel written so far and
have a look at the UK Gliding Medical Standards, which
you can view in the BGA website at www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/medic

al.htm

The medical requirements apply to all pilots wishing
to fly solo in the UK.

Al

Ian Cant wrote:
The UK requirements are quite explicit - essentially,
you need a simple self-declaration form but it must
be countersigned by a UK doctor 'who has seen and read
your entire medical history'. This is probably unlikely
for a US resident. There does not appear to be any
way around this.

This rule is a BGA rule, and so the BGA could decide what you would need
to provide to satisfy them. Email them at .

The relevant form which needs to be countersigned by a doctor is
downloadable from http://www.gliding.co.uk/bgainfo/medical.htm (for some
reason the form refers to NPPL and ballooning, but it is the right form
- I renewed mine recently and checked this with the BGA).

The relevant standard is that your doctor knows of no reason why you are
not medically fit to drive a car.

I'd suggest that you ask the BGA whether such a signed certification
from your US doctor would satisfy them - if so, take their email plus
the signed medical form to the gliding club and hey presto!

Wherever you fly, you should take a winch launch if that's not available
to you in the States - Cambridge has both winch and aerotow, as do all
the other nearby clubs I can think of.

Ian Cant wrote:
For most other non-UK countries, the medical requirements
are stricter, and an ICAO [=FAA ?] class 2 medical
is required. If you have one of these then you are
automatically OK in UK.

In US an FAA class 2 medical is only required while excercising the
privileges of a commercial certificate. I would hope an FAA class 3
would be sufficient for UK gliding as it is far more stringent than
being ok to drive a car.

Perhaps ICAO class 2 is not equivalent to FAA class 2, anyone know?


Andy

Ian Cant wrote:
The UK requirements are quite explicit - essentially,
you need a simple self-declaration form but it must
be countersigned by a UK doctor 'who has seen and read
your entire medical history'. This is probably unlikely
for a US resident. There does not appear to be any
way around this.

For most other non-UK countries, the medical requirements
are stricter, and an ICAO [=FAA ?] class 2 medical
is required. If you have one of these then you are
automatically OK in UK.

Anyone have recent experience [other than ignoring
the law] ?

Ian


Lasham were quite happy with my South African CAA Class 4 medical and GPL...

Bruce