Medical deferred

Thanks, Steve ( and to all who replied). I will follow up with AOPA
straight after the holidays (already have student membership).

Unfortunately I really messed up by not doing the pre-vetting of the AME's I
should have done - went to the one highly recommended by the flying school.
I think in retrospect he was recommended because he did such a quick and
perfunctory once-over that he would never have failed anyone who was still
breathing if they hadn't stubbornly insisted on being absolutely honest ...
at that point he just said "I have to defer this - the FAA will contact you
to ask for further details" and sent the form off without any supporting
documentation at all.

I did explain beforehand that I wanted to discuss my condition before taking
the medical, but his staff still got me to fill in the application form
before seeing him and I then discovered that the act of filling the form in
committed me to making my application there and then ...

Like I said, basically my fault for being so dumb. But it sounds like, from
what you say, I should get started on supporting documentation and send it
in myself without waiting for a formal request from them ... or does that
just confuse the process further?

I would recommend you start gathering up the supporting documentation
before being asked for it as long as you know what they are going to
want. That would be one reason to contact AOPA. They will be able to
tell you what supporting documentation the FAA is likely to ask for.

My basic recommendation is that you don't want to be in the position
of waiting for the FAA to do anything. Ask AOPA about this, but I
think the sooner you get the information to them, the better.
On Thu, 27 Nov 2003 16:44:03 GMT, "Kevin Young"
wrote:

Thanks, Steve ( and to all who replied). I will follow up with AOPA
straight after the holidays (already have student membership).

Unfortunately I really messed up by not doing the pre-vetting of the AME's I
should have done - went to the one highly recommended by the flying school.
I think in retrospect he was recommended because he did such a quick and
perfunctory once-over that he would never have failed anyone who was still
breathing if they hadn't stubbornly insisted on being absolutely honest ...
at that point he just said "I have to defer this - the FAA will contact you
to ask for further details" and sent the form off without any supporting
documentation at all.

I did explain beforehand that I wanted to discuss my condition before taking
the medical, but his staff still got me to fill in the application form
before seeing him and I then discovered that the act of filling the form in
committed me to making my application there and then ...

Like I said, basically my fault for being so dumb. But it sounds like, from
what you say, I should get started on supporting documentation and send it
in myself without waiting for a formal request from them ... or does that
just confuse the process further?

Kevin Young wrote:

But it sounds like, from
what you say, I should get started on supporting documentation and send it
in myself without waiting for a formal request from them ... or does that
just confuse the process further?

That is likely to confuse the process further. At this point, you really need
to wait until they send you a request for supporting documentation. When you
reply, send them everything they ask for and anything else AOPA thinks they
might need. Add a cover letter that references the letter they sent you. Mention
the date and identifier of their letter to you, or include a copy of it (keep
the original).

Replying to their request will make it likely that the material you send gets
added to your file and considered. Sending it blind makes it likely that it will
get lost.

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy lifting".

"Kevin Young" wrote in message .. .
(Also posted to rec.aviation.student - apologies if you're reading it a
second time!)

My class 3 medical has been deferred to the FAA. I'd be grateful for any
advice on how to proceed and what to expect. Is this really as long and
convoluted a process as I've heard?

It's not complicated, just slow. You could call either AOPA or the regional
flight surgeon and they will likely provide you information. I found the regional
flight surgeon's office (at least in this region) to be very helpful to pilots (even
when Joklahoma city is not).

Ron Natalie wrote:

I found the regional
flight surgeon's office (at least in this region) to be very helpful to pilots (even
when Joklahoma city is not).

I didn't find that to be the case when mine was deferred a few years ago. Are we
in different regions?

George Patterson
Some people think they hear a call to the priesthood when what they really
hear is a tiny voice whispering "It's indoor work with no heavy lifting".

"G.R. Patterson III" wrote in message ...


Ron Natalie wrote:

I found the regional
flight surgeon's office (at least in this region) to be very helpful to pilots (even
when Joklahoma city is not).

I didn't find that to be the case when mine was deferred a few years ago. Are we
in different regions?

Don't know...talked to someone in New York some where. They managed to decode the
symbols at the bottom of my letter so I could find out who in Oklahoma city actually handled
my paper so I could contact them directly.

I have a slightly different view from some of the other posters
regarding Virtual Flight Surgeons. I started flight training last
spring (just passed my checkride last week) and naively went into the
AME and filled out the form completely, including information about
some ten-year old sports concussions I'd had, and was stunned when the
AME told me my file would have to go to Oklahoma City. I'm an AOPA
member, and talked to their people, who were friendly and helpful,
even made a call or two on my behalf, and reported back that after a
month or so I'd get a letter from OK City, would have to respond to
that, and that in another month or so after that I'd get a response to
my response. I'm a former attorney, and had seen first hand in other
contexts the kinds of stupefying attitudes often exhibited by large
government bureaucracies, so I was freaked out at this point about my
own inexperience in this area and the potential for interminable
bureaucratic inertia with no certain outcome. I had seen Virtual
Flight Surgeons mentioned in posts here, so I gave them a call. I
talked to a sympathetic physician who said he thought they could help,
but that he estimated it would cost five or six hundred dollars. This
was important to me, and I wanted somebody in my corner on a more
dedicated basis than what AOPA can do, so I went for it. Anyway, this
gentlemen made a few phone calls to his contacts in OK City, and
within about ten days I had my medical by fax. What's more, Virtual
Flight Surgeons only wound up charging me $45 because they'd had to
put so little time into it! Great folks, in my experience.

"Kevin Young" wrote in message ...
(Also posted to rec.aviation.student - apologies if you're reading it a
second time!)

My class 3 medical has been deferred to the FAA. I'd be grateful for any
advice on how to proceed and what to expect. Is this really as long and
convoluted a process as I've heard?

There are 2 companies that provide expediting services - Virtual Flight
Surgeons and Pilot Medical Solutions ... I've contacted both of them. VFS
seemed upbeat about my chances, PMS (hmm - that doesn't abbreviate well)
made it sound a lot more ominous, though I'm not sure how much that was to
encourage me to use their services. Neither are cheap. Does anyone have
experience with either of them or have any opinion on how much they can
help with the process?

Cub Driver wrote in message . ..
Is this really as long and
convoluted a process as I've heard?

Five years ago, it was 3-6 months for two cases I know of.

from personnal experience:

a few years back, when I applied for the Class-III, for which
I needed a SODA, it took about 6 weeks for the paper work to
come back from Oklahoma city. Earlier this year in February,
I applied for a class-II upgrade, and another SODA was
required (most SODAs are valid only up to a given class of
medical, the only exception I know is the letter you get for
color vision which is valid for all classes) and upgrading
required going through the process again (no biggy, the fact
that the FAA even considered letting me fly for hire, let
alone granted it eventually, is one of those things that makes
me glad I immigrated!); this time it took over six months.

As someone else mentioned there was an article on AOPA magazine
about how some of the specialized AME in Oklahoma City happened
to be reservists, and how it affected the delays in processing
'special cases' -- A more recent article in the same magazine
seemed to indicate that things have dramatically improved
since then...

--Sylvain

"Sylvain" wrote in message om...

As someone else mentioned there was an article on AOPA magazine
about how some of the specialized AME in Oklahoma City happened
to be reservists, and how it affected the delays in processing
'special cases' -- A more recent article in the same magazine
seemed to indicate that things have dramatically improved
since then...

Bull****. The FAA has been running 12 week backlogs in Joklahoma city
for four years now. The only thing that has been overly mitigating is that
they have allowed AME's to issue renewals pending review in OKC rather
than deferring them.

Call Oklahoma City a lot. Frequent callers seem to get expedited, though
it's still a weeks-long process. And don't assume that once you have it, the
matter is over. Be prepared to get a letter from Oklahoma City every time
some new guy finds your file, sees you once had a problem, and demands that
you prove your case all over again. Keep a friendly relationship with an
aviation physician and keep your paperwork in order.

Kathy