Peter_G wrote:
He has done my FAA Medical for over 20 years. I will have to look for a replacement in the Southeast.
His website states he’s in biz until beginning March, so depending on your expiration date, you may still get in.
One normally tries to use an AME who does both FAA (if applicable) and CAA, at the same time.
For those affected, very very few FAA AMEs here have any interest in, let alone expertise in, the FAA Special Issuance process.
I can recommend Dr. Ahmed Nomy as an FAA AME – his outfit has several locations including one in Watford. https://flyingmedicine.uk
Just an update: Peter Orton / Aviation Medica has packed up.
Thanks for the tip-off.
He has done my FAA Medical for over 20 years. I will have to look for a replacement in the Southeast.
He has packed up totally. Check his website.
I enquired about getting an FAA one done at least but got a reply sending me to another AME 
No problem; I have plenty of time. But I gather this caught out a large number of pilots, because he suddenly stopped doing UK medicals sometime last year.
Peter Orton / Aviation Medica has packed up.
Last thing I heard he no longer does CAA but he does EASA & FAA, I had to find another guy…
Peter wrote:
Just an update: Peter Orton / Aviation Medica has packed up.
Wow, what shame, he’s a great guy. Still open till March1, 22, though.
Just an update: Peter Orton / Aviation Medica has packed up.
Peter wrote:
most pilots return to the same AME even if they have to do an airline trip, and they will keep doing it until the AME is decomposing 6ft under
Pilots the world over do the same. I went to a new guy recently because (apparently, so I’m told) the old guy lost his AME status because he thought the whole thing was silly, and IME for 3rd class his process
was a short discussion and writing a check. The new guy is similar, although slightly more rigorous (he didn’t skip the pee check). Twenty minutes maybe. People now have real health care and take it seriously and I think the time has passed when AMEs see their 2nd and 3rd class procedure as anything similarly serious. He can do more by simply asking how your last real physical with blood work went than by his examination.
Thanks for your update @Buckerfan. I merged the thread with the earlier one on the crude attempt by the CAA to ban Class 2 medicals (1st post onwards).
His understanding is that the CAA have indeed “banned” class 2 medical renewals until the end of lockdown. CAA’s rationale – GA pilots are not allowed to fly, so why do they need their medical’s renewed".
That is a bollocks statement from the CAA. There is no law which says you can’t fly. There is the law saying you can’t leave your house without a reasonable excuse, and then goes on to list a non exhaustive list of permitted excuses. An infinite number of other excuses exists… And since some knob asked the CAA for “guidance” (on which way round to pull his underpants on) the DfT has issued guidance saying you can fly for stuff like engine health, etc. So the CAA is completely mad telling AMEs they can’t do medicals. There must be factions within the CAA fighting each other because only somebody who is completely out of touch with reality could issue such an instruction, in the face of the DfT “guidance”.
I would ask the AME to show you the actual CAA instructions. I appreciate you just want to get your medical and get out of the door ASAP; we all do that
Nomy’s pragmatic approach to this is that pilots who operate their own aircraft need to fly them for engine health, so they need their medicals, as perhaps does someone who has an “urgent business need”.
Exactly. There are loads of good reasons.
Stating the obvious, extending deadlines for either of the above is ridiculous, as are restrictions on flying in relation to a virus
The problem is that in Europe we have far fewer AMEs. And the number familiar with the finer points of the FAA system i.e. Special Issuance, is close to zero. All of them will tell you they know it but most don’t have a clue. So few AME in fact that most pilots return to the same AME even if they have to do an airline trip, and they will keep doing it until the AME is decomposing 6ft under
