Decisions, decisions.

Okay, now that I have come back down to earth I have to put things into perspective and get the ball rolling.

I have pretty much selected where I'm going to do my ground school. Since I had good results with the previous ground school class I took, I will return back to them. I will return to do the Gleim On-Line program.

When I took the program years ago the end result was a 94% on my ground school test. I also took the time to expand my knowledge with the Rod Machado's Private Pilot Handbook. I feel strongly that this book should be required reading for anyone coming into aviation to obtain their pilot's license.

Since the weather has been snowy and cold, I have not had a chance to go to the airport to take a flying lesson. As it stands right now, I am not sure if I'm going to go back to my old school or to go to the airport which is 13 minutes away from me. Both have strong advantages and disadvantages.

My old school is in the environment that I really prefer. I like small airports, where people know each other, and there is no problem hanging out outside by the planes and just shooting the bull. At the same time, the drive is around an hour and 20 minutes. While the airplanes are very airworthy, due to the low rate that they charge for rental, let's say, you're getting what you paid for. More specifically, cosmetically speaking, they have been around the block quite a few times. If I come back here I plan on finishing up by leaving the Cessna 152 and moving up to the Cessna 172.

The new school, which is about 13 minutes away from me, is a larger airfield with a runway that is over 5000 feet. That is almost 3000 feet more than I am used to, and I am not sure if my skills would benefit by being challenged with a runway that is far longer than is needed for a four seat airplane. Also, the rate for the instructor is much higher, in fact, it is double than the rate at my old airport. If I decide to move to this airport, I will be limited financially to fly the Cessna 152.

Luckily, since the weather is still snowy for the past two weeks and will continue to be for the next six weeks, there is actually no rush to make a decision.

While I am deciding, I can do my ground school and play with my new toy, my Asus Transformer, and decide which Android app I am going to use to aid me in my flying.  :)

SHOCKED As Hell

Today is January 27, and back in November I went to see the AME for my medical evaluation. He was quite thorough, and advised me that due to various emergency room visits over the past two years for blood pressure and heart palpitations, I should expect delays and probably stress tests for the FAA to review before issuing my certificate.

Yesterday, I got that dreaded letter from the FAA and sat down to read it.

I must say that I was very surprised to see that not only was I issued my medical certificate, the FAA waived a special issuance for two additional medical conditions which are quite minor.

Unfortunately, today the outside temperature is around 16° even though it is quite sunny outside, but after receiving this medical certificate I wanted to run out to the airport and take a quick flying lesson to get back up to speed.

So, as it stands right now, I am back in business and can immediately start flying and expect to finish my pilot's license fairly quickly, depending on the weather.

I guess I should start up ground school, huh?

AME ... Booked.

Okay, here we go.

I have my medical exam booked as of an hour ago. The medical examiner I have seen before has quit the business, therefore I have to find a new one. What I ended up doing was posting on Facebook and my pilot friends suggested several of them, but the one stuck out was the one in Ashland Ohio.

I finished my medical application online as required by the FAA by using the MedXPress online application process. On one hand this form is a little intimidating, but then again this is the same form applicants fill out at the doctors office. Therefore, it is an easy process because all of the paperwork that I have is on hand at my fingertips without having to guess at anything.

Today is Friday, and my examination is on Wednesday of next week. The drive should take around an hour and 15 minutes, and the medical examiner is located at an airport therefore I can get there early and hang around the airplanes and relax.

Wish me luck!

Starting the Medical Renewal Process

Filling out AOPA TurboMedical.

New glasses next week, then off to the AME, then 'The Wait' for the FAA to renew my medical.

By the way, pilots, I saved over 70% on my glasses with www.Zennioptical.com over all others.

God and Santa, I've been good. All I want is my medical clearance.

Long Overdue Update(s)

It has been well over a year since my last update.  More information will be following in the next week.
What has been going on for the past year is that I have been taking care of my mother, therefore I did not have time to do much of anything. Unfortunately, she passed away two months ago. So right now I am in the process of playing catch-up in life, especially, working on completing my pilot’s license.

When I left off in September 2013, I was waiting for authorization from the FAA to visit my medical examiner. What happened was I did not have to wait for their authorization. All I had to do at that time was to go to my AME and take the medical examination and submit that information along with my report from my liver and kidney transplant physicians.

Here’s what went wrong. I called the FAA and spoke with one of the agents and he stated to me to take the plan of action what I have done or the past several years which was to send in my medical information from my physicians and they would send the authorization in writing. What I should have done was just to go directly to the AME and should have taken my examination and all of the updates would’ve been forwarded to the FAA for my AME. End of story, and my medical would’ve been approved.  After waiting for several months for my letter, and checking the mailbox every day, I called up the FAA and spoke with another agent. She stated to me that I did not need to do anything different, therefore I wasted a lot of time waiting for my authorization.

This process may be a little more difficult now because my medical expired, plus due to the stress of taking care of a parent in their final months, I developed heart palpitations, accelerated pulse rate, and a few other symptoms. Visits to the cardiologist did not uncover any major problems. I say major because we did find a heart condition known as Right Branch Bundle Blockage. This is not a disqualifying medical condition, therefore I should not have much of a problem. Hopefully, this is not much of a problem to create more delays in having my medical issued. I will see the cardiologist four days from today and I hope that everything comes back cleared up. I still show signs of palpitations, which are actually called PVCs. This is not a disqualifying condition. Therefore, I hope the FAA takes into consideration the stressful situation I have been under for the past 2 to 3 years. I have been to the emergency room three times in the past two years for this condition which the positions cannot find any problem therefore we are considering it a stress related condition.

Okay, Paper Work Sent to FAA

My kidney transplant doctor appoint, after being delayed by a month, went very well.  All of my numbers are within guidelines and medications are working well.  As far as he is concerned he does not need to review my blood work monthly, and opting for every other month. 

So, once my doctor completed his evaluation for the FAA, it was in the mail within 18 hours. 

Now, I begin the waiting game for my approval from Oklahoma FAA so that I can take official exam from my AME.  Usually, they are very reasonable and if I want to start some flying lessons before then I guess I can call and request them to expedite my paperwork.  Until then I might as well do ground school again and re-take my written and see if I can repeat that 93% I got last time. 

Update ... End of summer, 2013

Here we are in August, and very little has become reality on the aviation front.  Sort of.

If you happen following this blog you know that pretty much my time has been consumed as a caregiver for a senior parent.  This pretty much means that I cannot work a regular fulltime job.  And those of you who fly understand clearly that no money equals no flying.  But that is with me, because pretty much it is an honor to take care of the parent.

I did not renew my medical last year, but I am in the process of doing that right now.  Four weeks ago I saw my liver transplant doctor after undergoing a colonoscopy two weeks prior to that appointment.  The results from the colonoscopy were very good, followed up with the appointment, my regular checkup, and my liver functions are exceptional.  Therefore, six years after my liver kidney transplant my liver is working fine.  Unfortunately, my appointment with my kidney doctor was postponed due to a scheduling conflict and postponed until the second week in September.  Based upon my monthly lab reports from my blood work, my kidney doctors should give me the same report to turn into the FAA.  My blood lab resents over the past year have been extremely steady, and over the past three months have actually been exceptional.

Do two my transplant surgeries the FAA requires me to send in annual reports from both of my physicians, and annually the FAA will clear me for another year of flying.

All in all, I really have no worries about my upcoming medical evaluations.  My only concern is that when these reports go to the FAA somehow they seem to get lost in the shuffle and I have to wait 3 to 4 months before I get my approval.  At the same time, when I called the FAA months ago on their secret phone number I was advised by one of the staff that they will expedite with the simple phone request.  So I guess there’s nothing to worry about here.