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Can I switch to Basic Med with a Class III application in review?

Flying again!

Flying again!

Well Known Member
I have a question about if I can switch to Basic Med once my Class III paperwork is in with the FAA.

I did not want to wait until May for Basic med once my Class III expired on 28 Feb so I bit the bullet and completed the required forms in Feb. I am still waiting for my Certificate and all the FAA has been saying it was in the queue (for 7 weeks) and now in evaluation (for 3 weeks).

Background: In Nov 2015 I had a retinal detachment and had surgery to repair. My Class III expired while I was recovering. When I recovered I did the required test (field of view etc.) and submitted my application in Feb 2016. It was approved within a week and the Medical Certificate stated ?Not Valid for any class after 2/28/2017. The letter that came with it also said I had to resubmit the tests I did previously to verify nothing has changed.

So the Class III has not been denied and I am not under a Special Issuance, Waiver, etc. Can I apply for a Basic Med instead at this time or do I have to wait for the FAA to final approve my application (another XX months??).

Not sure why it only took 1 week for the initial approval and now over 10 weeks this time with nothing having changed in my health/vision.

Thanks
 
Flying again! said:
I have a question about if I can switch to Basic Med once my Class III paperwork is in with the FAA.

I did not want to wait until May for Basic med once my Class III expired on 28 Feb so I bit the bullet and completed the required forms in Feb. I am still waiting for my Certificate and all the FAA has been saying it was in the queue (for 7 weeks) and now in evaluation (for 3 weeks).

Background: In Nov 2015 I had a retinal detachment and had surgery to repair. My Class III expired while I was recovering. When I recovered I did the required test (field of view etc.) and submitted my application in Feb 2016. It was approved within a week and the Medical Certificate stated ?Not Valid for any class after 2/28/2017. The letter that came with it also said I had to resubmit the tests I did previously to verify nothing has changed.

So the Class III has not been denied and I am not under a Special Issuance, Waiver, etc. Can I apply for a Basic Med instead at this time or do I have to wait for the FAA to final approve my application (another XX months??).

Not sure why it only took 1 week for the initial approval and now over 10 weeks this time with nothing having changed in my health/vision.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I sort of have to ask...what's the worst that could happen? They deny your Class III sometime in the future? Whatever they do with the CIII they were likely going to do anyway, and in the meantime, you can go fly under BasicMed.

And who knows? Maybe you'll end up being a test case and create some sort of precedent :)
 
Flying again! said:
I have a question about if I can switch to Basic Med once my Class III paperwork is in with the FAA.

I did not want to wait until May for Basic med once my Class III expired on 28 Feb so I bit the bullet and completed the required forms in Feb. I am still waiting for my Certificate and all the FAA has been saying it was in the queue (for 7 weeks) and now in evaluation (for 3 weeks).

Background: In Nov 2015 I had a retinal detachment and had surgery to repair. My Class III expired while I was recovering. When I recovered I did the required test (field of view etc.) and submitted my application in Feb 2016. It was approved within a week and the Medical Certificate stated ?Not Valid for any class after 2/28/2017. The letter that came with it also said I had to resubmit the tests I did previously to verify nothing has changed.

So the Class III has not been denied and I am not under a Special Issuance, Waiver, etc. Can I apply for a Basic Med instead at this time or do I have to wait for the FAA to final approve my application (another XX months??).

Not sure why it only took 1 week for the initial approval and now over 10 weeks this time with nothing having changed in my health/vision.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I would ask your AME to check on it or call your regional office directly. You run the (small) risk of having a denial on your record which isn't good with BasicMed. You are right, it shouldn't take this long, especially if everything was OK.

John
Senior AME
 
John Owen said:
I would ask your AME to check on it or call your regional office directly. You run the (small) risk of having a denial on your record which isn't good with BasicMed. You are right, it shouldn't take this long, especially if everything was OK.

John
Senior AME
Click to expand...

My AME said he couldn't get any info and suggested I keep calling OK City which I have been doing. Very frustrating!
 
The rule is last ten years and never had one denied or canceled and as of this moment you have not had that happen but I would still call AOPA medical, they will give you the best guidance.
 
The rules are very clear on what is not approved for basic med and from what you have described none apply to you. At this moment in time, there is no exclusion to you getting a Basic Med cert and legally flying.

The fact that you have a Class III application pending doesn't change anything. There is nothing in the legislation or the FAA AC that says you can't go Basic Med while an application is pending. However, if they deny your application, BasicMed no longer applies for you. Given that your tests last year were adequate and nothing has changed, you're probably OK. If you feel there is any risk of denial, you could investigate the possibility of rescinding your application to avoid the risk.


I feel for you. 4 years ago my AME messed up the printing of the certificate, which forced them to send it OKC. It took 20 phone calls and over 3 months to get my certificate, which of course was back dated to my exam date. Hello Basic Med, Good riddance Oklahoma City.

Larry
 
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Thanks for the comments. I could not find anything to preclude me from applying under Basic Med. I'll call AOPA tomorrow and see if I can find a doc in the DFW area to do the Basic Med exam.

TJ
 
Flying again! said:
Thanks for the comments. I could not find anything to preclude me from applying under Basic Med. I'll call AOPA tomorrow and see if I can find a doc in the DFW area to do the Basic Med exam.

TJ
Click to expand...

I had good luck looking for Dr.'s that do CDL/DOT exams. You can find them on the internet. There is a large market for that and several advertise.
 
option

I once tried to rescind my class III application because I forgot to add a medication that was taking sporadically as needed. I was unable to rescind or amend. The direction was to update meds with my AME, it wasn't a disqualifying med and it was fine.

OPTION: just don't action the class III, leave the application out there, it will expire on its own and in the mean time get your Basic Med complete.
 
I just called AOPA's Pilot Information Center at (888) 462-3976 and they agreed that I can apply under Basic Med. The only caveat is if my Class III is denied then that also impacts the Basic Med (in other words I would not be legal to fly until the issue denying me the Class III is resolved - this is not likely).

They also said they have pilots report that they did the Basic Med in a day.

I've printed the forms and will see how it goes.
 
Well that was easy. Filled out the forms, got into to see the Doc today and $40 later and 30 minutes doing the course and quiz, I now have the Basic Med medical and can fly again!

I'll be airborne tomorrow for the first time in 3 months :D

1 day versus over 2.5 months (and counting) for a Class III.

I am sold on Basic Med!!!! Wish I had done it on 1 May:) Best part is it only cost $40 from Dr. Griffin in Roanoke
 
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Flying again! said:
Well that was easy. Filled out the forms, got into to see the Doc today and $40 later and 30 minutes doing the course and quiz, I now have the Basic Med medical and can fly again!

I'll be airborne tomorrow for the first time in 3 months :D

1 day versus over 2.5 months (and counting) for a Class III.

I am sold on Basic Med!!!! Wish I had done it on 1 May:)
Click to expand...

If'n I was you, I would definitely NOT poke any bears and go inquiring about the status of that Class III.

Brings up an interesting question, though...what if a Class III exam lead to a need to forward things on to OK, which then requested further information before they could issue one. Is that a denial in and of itself? If not, and one simply never forwarded the additional info on, what "state" would the application be in? Could you have an application that just sits in limbo forever, or until it "times out" and is no longer a valid application?

See where I'm going with this?
 
Update

I finally got my Class III in the mail, it only took 3 months (!!!!) and is good until 28 Feb 2018, so 9 months from now. I am so glad I can use Basic Med instead and do not need to deal with another Class III special Issuance renewal! :D
 
Okay, here's the FAA Medical un-horror story, or, how I got my medical straightened out with one phone call.

I got a Class I physical without at EKG because at the time of the exam, at the start of the month in which I turned 40, I was still under the age of 40. (Yes, that was a long time ago.) A few weeks later, the FAA since me a letter stating that my physical had been downgraded to Class II because I did not have an EKG. I called them and pointed out that at the time of the physical, in the same month as but before my birthday, I was still 39.

A few weeks later, I got a letter from the FAA that said in effect fuhgeddaboutit.

No Elvis. No Easter Bunny.

Ed
 
RV7A Flyer said:
Brings up an interesting question, though...what if a Class III exam lead to a need to forward things on to OK, which then requested further information before they could issue one. Is that a denial in and of itself? If not, and one simply never forwarded the additional info on, what "state" would the application be in? Could you have an application that just sits in limbo forever, or until it "times out" and is no longer a valid application?

See where I'm going with this?
Click to expand...

It won't hang in limbo forever, it will result in a denial or equivalent. I sent my package in for a special issuance authorization renewal. That was before I went to my AME for the exam. They decided they didn't like one of my tests and wanted it repeated. When I questioned it I was basically threatened with that if I didn't retest it would be viewed as non-compliance and they would revoke my special issuance. That would have made me ineligible for Basic Med. Once you start an exam or send them something for review it will result in and up or down verdict. They won't just time out and go away.

The good news for me was that although the retest left me without a medical for 2 months, when I did get the authorization (for 2nd class) it was good for 5 years. So I can just deal with my AME until 2022 and if I don't like the hassle for a 2nd class, I'll switch to Basic Med.
 
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