View Single Post
  #1  
Old September 8th 18, 05:52 PM posted to rec.aviation.soaring
[email protected]
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 12
Default Flying Gliders in Europe: Medical Requirements

I'm trying to put together a trip to the LAK factory in Lithuania to test fly the new MiniLAK FES, a 16.5 meter self launch that I may decide to purchase.

The folks at LAK are onboard, but the civil aviation authority in Lithuania is raising bureaucratic barriers to my flying there. They've accepted my FAA license, passport, flight logs, etc. but have balked at a letter from my physician stating that I am fit to fly gliders. They want her to sign a letter stating that my health "corresponds to the requirements of Annex 1 of the Chicago Convention."

Translation: The ICAO convention in Chicago in 1944 set standards for international air travel, including pilot medical requirements, which are detailed in ICAO Document 8984, Manual of Civil Aviation Medicine. Unfortunately, the link on the ICAO web site to this manual doesn't work, and I can't find any other way to obtain that document, so I can't even inform my doctor about what she needs to know to write that letter.

Does anyone have experience obtaining certification to fly gliders in Europe? I've had no problem flying in New Zealand, but Lithuania seems to be a special case.
Matt Herron (Sr)