Primarily for general aviation discussion, but other aviation topics are also welcome.
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By Irv Lee
FLYER Club Member  FLYER Club Member
#1860527
On the enormous sampling number of '2', is there anything brand new circulating the AME community that means they are more likely to want a sign off that a pilot can get in and out of an aircraft and operate the controls/systems, if BMI is higher than some defined value?
I haven't had to do any sort of inflight medical verification for anyone for many years, previous ones were either about hearing or after some potential limb or joint restricting accident or operation.
Recently I had to do one with a pretty normal looking but biggish pilot - we combined it with a biennial hour flight so it cost him nothing 'extra' to get a signature for the AME, but neither of us could see why in his case anyone would think there might be any sort of problem, other than some value somewhere had been triggered. I thought nothing more about it until I heard yesterday from another instructor at another airfield who was doing the same thing on someone else, again for the first time.
#1860560
OK I'll confess I was a porky trainee pilot. First medical was Jan 2020 & got read the riot act about the CAA not liking pilots with BMI > 35. Had to do the sleep apnoea test which is no issue for me. Next med was in May this year, have been on diet & exercise regime since Jan 1 but BMI was 36.x Was passed OK but warned that at the next medical if BMI is >35 then it will be exercise ECG. I did one a few years ago when I had a chest pain scare. Given all clear & later in 2019 had a heart MRI scan done. Was given a clean bill of health on that, in fact cardiologist said I'm in very good condition heart wise for a 62 year old. As of today my BMI is 34.9 so going in the right direction.
#1860573
This is bringing back bad memories of a trial lesson in the 90s, I had started to worry and plan what words I had to use to tell the young lady that we couldn't do the trial lesson if we couldn't strap her in. (Pa28-140). We had tried for far too long really. The lady's torso was as close to spherical as I imagine it can be. Seat well back, just as I was about to start the awful task of explaining that we had to give up, we got the click of 'belt-secure'. I couldn't see much of the belt any more, but I could see the 'clunk click' bit. The yoke still worked, even if rudders could not be reached by one of us. Good flight in the end.


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mick w, PA28, tr7v8 liked this
#1860588
Irv Lee wrote:This is bringing back bad memories of a trial lesson in the 90s, I had started to worry and plan what words I had to use to tell the young lady that we couldn't do the trial lesson if we couldn't strap her in. (Pa28-140). We had tried for far too long really. The lady's torso was as close to spherical as I imagine it can be. Seat well back, just as I was about to start the awful task of explaining that we had to give up, we got the click of 'belt-secure'. I couldn't see much of the belt any more, but I could see the 'clunk click' bit. The yoke still worked, even if rudders could not be reached by one of us. Good flight in the end.


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Are you still on the register Irv? :lol:
Irv Lee liked this
#1860591
I made sure I was under 35, on my last (first Class 2), and the AME was happy. I am actively dieting now, so should be far below 35 next time around.

W
#1860594
Had my first class two in 2019 and I had the threat of it but thankfully I was under I don’t recall by how much but I suspect only a little as I’m about 6,4 and 20st

I joked that my gut when flying is the least of my issues it’s my bloody long legs getting in the way and hitting my head on the ceiling.

I’ve got till 2024 to shed some lbs :)