Use of Eye Drops on CAA Class 1

[BlueRobin]

I am having an initial exam next week. On the supplementary information sheet it states that "eye examination drops may be used..although this should improve prior to departure, you should not drive for 12 hours"

Are they being super conservative? I was rather hoping to drive down :uhoh:


*title should have read UK JAA Class 1 I know...

[EGBKFLYER]

Not a doctor but I reckon that's super conservative. The drops were used on me and made my eyes water a bit, causing some short-term double vision. Cleared up by the end of the medical though (about 3 hours later!)

[7gcbc]

You cannot tell how long it will last , everyone is different, I guess it depends on your own physiological age, but I personally would not drive immediately after the exam.

See how you go once the drops are in, its quite disconcerting if you have never worn corrective lenses of any sort, and I certainly did not enjoy it one bit.

[Loose rivets]

Sometimes they seem to put in more than others.

On one occasion I was totally disabled after drops, it was however an eye-test at an hospital.
Attempts to see (while my wife was driving) were painful and it wasn't a very bright day. Sun glasses did not help.

As mentioned above, the CAA medical drops are not nearly as bad. Ask if you can have the minimum, but be prepared to have a long wait if the worst happens. Do not be tempted to drive if the irises are still wide open...especially at night.

[Irishwingz]

DO NOT RISK DRIVING!!!!!

I got the drops in at about 2pm, the effects did not wear off 100% until the next day! 2 hours after getting the drops I left Gatwick and took the train back to London to stay with a friend. I was unfamiliar with the route for one thing but I could not:

1. Dial my friend from my mobile cos I couldnt read the screen!
2. I could not read the tube maps on the train (I could only read the station names on the platforms)
3. I had to ask people for directions at all the stations.

It was extremely unnerving, If I had to drive home I would have been camped out in my car all night!

Funny when i look back on it though! :O

[7gcbc]

just had a funny thought, just imagined all these underground/rail staff giving directions to pilots with impaired vision at Victoria Station........

there's a harry enfield sketch in there somewhere :p

[loftustb]

DON'T risk driving. I couldn't even walk straight for the rest of the day.........couldn't judge the distance between eyes, feet and pavement...and like Irishwingz, I had to ask a friend to dial telephone numbers.

[Loose rivets]

I told the (true) story a while back, of my pal who asked for the anti-dilater type drops to counter the effect. He was on a Dublin bus and his eyes closed down till everything was so dark he had to ask for help. They said the blind home was two stops down...and of course he replied. "Oh no...I'm an airline pilot, I need the airport service road."

He said that he tried to keep a straight face.


The thing is that the drops cause blurring as well. The poor vision is not just the iris ‘setting'. So the anti drops were....er, dropped.

[BlueRobin]

Well in the end, they were not administered so I needn't have worried. Class 1 was not much more onerous than a Class 2. :)