Yeah, SIs and other approvals are always backdated to the date of the original AME exam no matter how long the FAA took (or how recent the supplemental information is).
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gdwindowpane
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That's why I was interested when his was due to expire. Using our theory he should have received a medical cert that expired a month ago, lol.... I need to start working on my BasicMed, Third Class expires in June.
AggieMike88
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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
Slight correction.... "All SI's" isn't correct. Many/most are resolved in Oklahoma City.
But the really gnarly ones that involve psychological issues, alcohol issues, and I think some cardiac issues are handled in D.C.
For the lurkers out there... one method of hastening the processing of a medical application involving one of the "simpler" SI's is to make sure that the submission to OKC contains all the required items the SI needs, and written/formatted/organized in plain simple language. The objective is to provide the information such that one of the "lower level" reviewers can quickly compare the submission against the checklists and standards for the SI and approve the submission.
If the submission is missing items, or the information is not complete or doesn't meet standards, the application will either get sent back to you with a "short" deadline to respond, or get kicked up to to one of a very small number of extremely overwhelmed doctors. Either of this isn't where you want to be.
But for the more complicated Special Issuances like GrummanGang80 refers to, this is when the selection of Aviation Medical Examiner becomes paramount. Especially in two areas... 1) he or she makes sure the submission is 100% complete before sending it up, and 2) is willing to act as your advocate to following the submission through the system.
N
NotMyRealName
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I already had a contact in DC, and had been leaving them messages since February, but never heard anything back. However... Yesterday was my 9 month anniversary of my visit to Dr. Bruce, so I made another call to OKC for a status check, hoping it might be a lucky day. "Still in review by the Federal Air Surgeon's office in Washington" was the response. But later last night I was idly checking my info on the FAA airman database page, and lo and behold, where previously I had been seeing something to the effect of "no medical information available", I saw this instead:
I immediately made a printout, and then contacted OKC again today, but they still say it's in review. Also left a message for my FAS office contact in DC asking if this means I have it, but I'm not expecting to hear back from them. I'm not celebrating juuuuust yet, but I'm hoping that little snippet is the very thing I've been trying to get for over two and a half years!
THE *** To Verify... is the marker of a special issuance. It replaces the previous "NOT VALID FOR ANY CLASS AFTER mm/yy" that is actual on the certificate. Of course, the FAA refuses to believe they are violating FEDERAL LAW by disclosing any of this to the public.
Steve Kanefsky
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I immediately made a printout, and then contacted OKC again today, but they still say it's in review. Also left a message for my FAS office contact in DC asking if this means I have it, but I'm not expecting to hear back from them. I'm not celebrating juuuuust yet, but I'm hoping that little snippet is the very thing I've been trying to get for over two and a half years!
I had the exact same experience just over a week ago where the same message appeared on the website. I got the letter with the official certificate in the mail two days later. It only took about five months in my case, including a month to turn around a request for additional info on something relatively insignificant.
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Steve Kanefsky
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Also note that I had been checking the website about every five minutes, so it's not like it had been approved for a week before I noticed. I was very surprised the certificate came in the mail so soon afterwards. Nothing like my student pilot certificate which took at least several weeks to come in the mail after it was available on the IACRA website.
bbchien
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The FAA not only has extreme high level delays, but even at the analyst level the queue is now longer than the renewal time.
I issued on a verbal from an examiner, in December 2017. The guy is first class and his file has not even been reviewed by the letter-issuing minion, and he's due in 15 days.
Sadly they are now on the brink of interfering with air commerce rather than promoting safety
I issued on a verbal from an examiner, in December 2017. The guy is first class and his file has not even been reviewed by the letter-issuing minion, and he's due in 15 days.
Sadly they are now on the brink of interfering with air commerce rather than promoting safety
AggieMike88
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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
Wow....The FAA not only has extreme high level delays, but even at the analyst level the queue is now longer than the renewal time.
I issued on a verbal from an examiner, in December 2017. The guy is first class and his file has not even been reviewed by the letter-issuing minion, and he's due in 15 days.
Sadly they are now on the brink of interfering with air commerce rather than promoting safety
just........
wow....
Is the delay you describe for all levels/types of issances? Or special issuances only?
The FAA's practice of basing SI expiration on the application date instead of the issue date needs to be addressed in the next iteration of PBOR, IMO. Same for deferrals.
denverpilot
Tied Down
All that will do is speed up a “no” answer. Without an appeals process not run by them, any limits on forcing an issuance will just turn into more disapprovals.
I didn't say that the issuance should be forced. I'm saying that if they decide to issue, the expiration date of the privileges should run from the date that those privileges are granted, not from the date they were applied for.
The FAA not only has extreme high level delays, but even at the analyst level the queue is now longer than the renewal time.
I issued on a verbal from an examiner, in December 2017. The guy is first class and his file has not even been reviewed by the letter-issuing minion, and he's due in 15 days.
Sadly they are now on the brink of interfering with air commerce rather than promoting safety
Unbelievable. Wow.
I have one student who has been waiting for an SI. He was told back in January/February it would be a month. He calls once or twice a week and still nothing. The guy is getting so fed up with the process he is considering giving up flying all together. AME said it should have been a fairly easy SI, too
denverpilot
Tied Down
Fine, but it doesn’t address the root cause problem. What’s the motivation or penalty for a Federal bureaucracy to do its job well?
Oh no. They’ll get more loan money from Congress by whining they can’t keep up.
There’s a lot of unintended consequences with it, but I think privatizing AeroMed with not one but TWO competing contractors sounds like a hell of a lot smarter idea than privatizing ATC.
Let them see what working in the real world with competition is like. Paychecks tied to pushing the paperwork correctly and fast.
Why not try it? Doing it to ATC is stupid because ATC actually does their job, and pretty well... but a paper pushing organization that is a year behind? Screw it. Try something. Try anything. It can’t really get worse.
LoneAspen
Line Up and Wait
Unbelievable. Wow.
I have one student who has been waiting for an SI. He was told back in January/February it would be a month. He calls once or twice a week and still nothing. The guy is getting so fed up with the process he is considering giving up flying all together. AME said it should have been a fairly easy SI, too
That's disheartening
I'm just at the front end of the process getting a third-class medical. Finished up (well, at least I hope they're all done) some doctors appointments for a couple medical issues, one of which is OSA/CPAP related. If it takes 2 or 3 months, fine. I've probably still got a lot more training I need to do before I'm ready to solo, especially with the wacky weather here in Colorado lately. I've had several flight lessons postponed already due to wind and cloud layers.
But if it took like 6 months, I could definitely see postponing lessons until it's in hand.
Hell, I'd be willing to pay extra just for expediting, like they do with passports. But I guess that's not an option.
denverpilot
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What? You don’t want to launch into 300 OVC one day, and thunderstorms that produce over a foot of hail on the ground the next?!
Chicken.
LoneAspen
Line Up and Wait
What? You don’t want to launch into 300 OVC one day, and thunderstorms that produce over a foot of hail on the ground the next?!
Chicken.
LOL - I remember thinking when one of my lessons got canceled because the wind was gusting (to about 20 kts IIRC), I was thinking "That doesn't seem too bad!". And then when I went up next, on final the wind kicked up a bit, just a few knots, and I was surprised how much (it seemed at the time) we got blown around.
So yeah, low ceilings and hail isn't in my immediate future