Class 1..

Yesterday I have the joy of having my Class 1 Medical revalidation. I probably should have been a touch more organised and planned it in advance, but as I have been busy studying lately it had completely slipped my mind. As a result I had to book at a surgery in the middle of nowhere. This meant some rather lengthy travel arrangements.

Nonetheless, I attended the Surgery earlier than planned. I was not quite sure what to expect with the medical as I had only had the initial exam prior to this. Just to put it into perspective, the Medical is a very big deal for pilots. It is a Go/No Go item, if you have the medical you are fine, if you don't then you can't be a pilot.

I remember the stress of the initial exam; it being very rigourous. With this renewal, if something was not quite right, it could spell the end for my sapling career. Having been instructed to reduce my Salt and Caffeine intake a week prior to the exam for the purposes of reducing Blood Pressure, I sought to do so. This was met with blase comments from veteran airmen, telling me not to worry about it with comments like

- "If you hear them call your name, you've passed the hearing test. If you find the right door, you've passed the sight test..!"

Regardless I was a bit nervous.

The medical included some very strange tests which I have never come across before, many of which did not feature in the initial Medical. A plethora of tests later saw the confirmation of my revalidation.

In some tests I even performed better than I did in the initial..!