Cat 1 Medical

[sez]

Hi People,

How long does it take to get the result of Cat 1 Medical.(for a first timer)
What is the importance of Cholesterol or triglyceride levels and the ratio of height and weight?..

Thx..

[shamrock104]

You will get it right away. These items are not measured, although height and weight are.

[Wacko]

You will get it right away. These items are not measured, although height and weight are.

You sure about that? I remember having to wait quite a while for my... They send all your info up to (in my case.. Edmonton) I know I had to scrap my CPL because they wouldn't accept a letter from my doctor and I still didn't get my medical in the mail... *shrug*

... could be different in different provinces?

[shamrock104]

I may have misunderstood here but my doctor was upfront and told me there was no problems and all was good. Waiting for the Medical is another thing though.

[E-Flyer]

Shamrock is right, that's how mine was done too. The guy said it's all fine and it took me 6 weeks to get it in the mail.

I wouldn't worry about weight to height ration as those may only be discussed about improving, but it's not a deciding factor to give you your medical or not. I know cause I'm a realitively chubby dude. 5'11" and 230lbs.

In my TCmedical they didn't check for cholestrole and all that other stuff, they will at most airlines though.

Some doctors do the Prostate Check, so don't be surprised if the doc asks you to unbuckle your belt.

On my medical they checked for general fitness such as if I was able to keep a fully straight back, and with that straight back bend down and touch my toe with my thumb. He checked to see if I was able to whisper back the numbers he whispered to me. He got me to jump on one leg to check for balance and finally he sat me in a chair, spun me around a few times and got me to stand up and walk straight.

Hope that helps.

[Wacko]

Yeah but the thing about the initial medical is that until you physically have the white peace of paper... you're not actually Cat1... though from re-reading the initial post I guess I was wrong.

I don't know about anyone else but I did my EKG and hearing test at different locations so in theory... you won't know your full results until you get a reply from the TC examiner?

[E-Flyer]

Yup for the initial one that is technically the case, wacko is right. But I've yet to hear a doc approving a candidate for the cat 1 after receiving the ECG and Hearing Results with the TC medical board not approving it.

But to say the least, don't worry. There are morbidly obese atp's out there who hold cat 1's and recurrent airline medicals. The BMI says that I'm obese which I'm not. I sure am a heavy dude though. Hello Boxflex !

[sez]

6 weeks!!! wow...more than a month..I thought that I would be getting the results within a week or two...

[Hedley]

There are morbidly obese atp's out there who hold
cat 1's and recurrent airline medicals

Ya, I know ... and there are other, older pilots who are thin,
great shape, work out in the gym hours every day, and every
meal is painstakingly chosen, so that they meet the blood test
numbers (LDL cholesterol, blood sugar, etc, etc) that Transport
demands they meet.

And other pilots that hold a class 1 medical look like a poster
for heart attacks and diabetes. Go figure. I know one guy like
this, but he just happens to be a close pal of Merlin Preuss

The inconsistency of Transport is mindboggling. I guess it's
all who you know.

[sez]

Ya, I know ... and there are other, older pilots who are thin,
great shape, work out in the gym hours every day, and every
meal is painstakingly chosen, so that they meet the blood test
numbers (LDL cholesterol, blood sugar, etc, etc) that Transport
demands they meet.

You will get it right away. These items are not measured, although height and weight are.

Well, I'm confused...Do they measure Cholesterol or not?...
and any other inputs for waiting time?..

[Hedley]

Do they measure Cholesterol or not?

Some pilots they do, some pilots they don't. I can't
pretend to understand why Transport does what it does.

This appears to be just a very rough guideline ie they
follow it when they want to, and not when they don't:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Cam/T ... 2/menu.htm

Are you a close personal friend of Merlin Pruess?

[sez]

Are you a close personal friend of Merlin Pruess?

No, never heard of him...

[gustind]

Interesting enough I had my Cat 1 done about 5 hours ago so its all still fresh in my head. The examiner does the usual stuff, medications, aircraft accidents, first last name, and whatever. They will do the ECG in a laboratory, they will do the Audiogram in some other place, and everything else is done in his office.

No where on the sheet of paper does it say to measure the cholesterol so I do not know why some CAME would measure it. I waited a month or so for my white sheet of paper.

[MichaelP]

I watched aghast as the chap ten years my junior, and one to climb mountains, jogged faster and faster on the treadmill... I thought 'have I got to do that ' and my heart rate was already high as I stepped onto it for my test... No problem, not far to go to 180 beats per minute and the check to see it go down... They took a load of blood out of my arm, tested my eyes, wrote up my bad teeth, and stuck me in the quiet cell and tested my hearing...
I passed my Chinese Class One medical after all that!

Many FAA Class One medical holders failed their Chinese medicals and were sent home... It was surprising.

I passed, the Canadian standard is higher, I don't know if any Canadians were sent home...

Once you've got it, try to keep it.

Don't:

Smoke
Booze it up too much
Get fat
Take drugs
Fall out with the love of your life
Have any accidents

...and you will keep it as long as I have.

In China they were surprised I was still flying; come on I'm not that old!, but in China even if you're not one of the 95% of people who smoke there's lots of second hand stuff, lots of pollution, and lots of baiju.

[Wacko]

..., and lots of baiju.

Well... if all alcohol tasted like that crap I doubt anyone in Canada would drink!

[E-Flyer]

I don't know if any Canadians were sent home...

I'm sure I would... lol, but what they do in China and India is too much. I know that in India they apparently go through the Air Force Medical. You don't need to be fit to the air force standards to fly planes that normally aren't used to pull more than 3 g's. Unless that's where you black out

I wonder what the JAR medical is like, from what I hear they do blood work and all that kind of stuff. They also make you do an exercise test to measure the amount of oxygen your lungs can take. I wanna do one of these for fun. Do they do any JAR medicals in BC or is it only in Gatwick?


I'm sure you'd pass your medical sez, just go in, do it, and see what happens. If you ever get nervous, remember I got it, with a nervous attitude which resulted in a heart rate of 90 and a high blood pressure. I laid down and relaxed for 5 min, and had a heart rate of 76 with a BP of 120/80. And I'm overweight. I'm young though, so I'll have to do something about the weight as I progress in this industry.

[FreedomTC]

If you have to or are supposed to take blood pressure med, will that screw up the chance at the Cat 1?

[Hedley]

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Regse ... t42402.htm

1.8 The systolic and diastolic blood pressure shall be within normal limits.
NOTE: The use of drugs for control of high blood pressure is disqualifying except for those drugs, the use of which according to accredited medical conclusion, can be adequately tolerated by the applicant, are compatible with the safe performance of duties and can be closely monitored by the aviation medical examiner or a physician in communication with the Civil Aviation Medicine Division Medical Staff.

(2) When initiating a new treatment for hypertension, the applicant shall not exercise the privileges of the licence until the new medication is well tolerated.

[FreedomTC]

Hi Hedley,

I've been taking one medication for high blood pressure for +1 year. However, when I tried to quit smoking about a month or so ago (oh yea, that lasted about 3 weeks), had to go to Dr. for more anti smoking drug prescription. He did a routine blood pressure test and then asked me if I took the blood pressure pills to which I answered no because I ran out several days prior. I asked why he asked, thinking my BP had gone through the roof, and he replied that is was perfectly normal. Hence smoking, with me anyway, is the chief factor for elevated BP.

According to what you've wrote/cp/pasted, it appears that my taking this pill once a day should not interfere with ability/legality of attempting to become a pilot.

[FreedomTC]

On Tuesday I went for medical. Wasn't sure if I would pass CAT * period. Primarily due to not know rules about Hypertension (Blood Pressure) I wasn't sure I would be able to every fly a plane.

I passed CAT 1 !

And they did not take any blood (Dracula was out on her supercharged Citation). They did ECG, Hearing, Vision and blood pressure.

[eagle1]

hey there, guys, could anyone tell me, will my scar on my chest (had a surgery in my childhood - tumour removed - totally fine now) affect my cat1 test result?
thanx!

[eagle1]

FreedomTC, wanted to ask you what kinda pills you took for high BP? thanx in advance. the thing is that i guess i have a Dr. syndrome - when they get this thing on me, my BP gets really mad! don't know why.. but when it stays on my hand for five mins - it gets back to normal. so, want to get rid of this stuff...

[FreedomTC]

Adalat 30mg. My BP was 155 on top and the Doctor said that is was only a 'little' high. The Doctor is also a pilot and I assume he makes judgment calls on more than just 1 item.

Good luck with yours!

[eagle1]

hey dude, thanx a lot! you got me calmer now hope gonna be fine.

[eagle1]

guys, one more question, what does neuropathologist do on his checking you? what are his actions? can anyone describe what actions does he do exactly? it's not that i am ill or something just wondering.
thanx.