Opticians who understand pilots needs

[OpenCirrus619]

Folks,

My AME has indicated I will (almost certainly) need glasses for my next medical - old(ish) age comes to us all :{

I will certainly only NEED near sight correction to pass the medical - but there will probably be some improvement to far sight possible.

Bearing this in mind I'm thinking about vari-focals. I seem to recall that, ideally, these should have the near/mid/far areas in a different part of the lens from normal (looking through different parts of the lens compared to usual - in particular during the flare/hold-off phases).

Does anyone know of an aviation aware optician, in London / SE, who could help me?

Thanks

OC619

[Cusco]

You'd be surprised how many opticians are aviation aware:

Just take your half mil with you so you can put it on your lap to represent the type of near vision you want and also be aware (ideally measure it) of the distance from your eyes to the panel, when you go to have your eyes tested.

Or be able to illustrate the distance with your outstretched arm.

And varifocals IMHO are the D's Bs for flying.

Cusco

[Mark 1]

There was a specialist aviation optician (http://www.aviationoptical.co.uk/index.html) based at Coventry Airport, though I believe they closed that office and now operate from a London base.

As said, there are plenty of other opticians that understand the needs of pilots. They may ask you if you need to operate overhead panels (not many of them in a bubble canopy). Just make a note of your normal reading distance for the panel, kneeboard, map etc.

[OpenCirrus619]

Thanks for the quick replies (especially the poster who also replied to my post on "the other side").

From your replies, providing I explain what I'm after, I shouldn't have a problem.

I think I recall someone posting tales of doom some years ago - which is why I'm cautious.

Thanks again.

OC619

[P.Pilcher]

As I approached my 50's, I got the same from my AME. "You need an eye test" he assured me, "but only need the weakest form of near vision correction." Eventually I popped into an optician who could do me then and there. After much "argy bargy" I was declared to need 1.25 diopters correction in one eye and 1.0 diopters in the other. Furthermore he declared that I needed astigmatic correction in both eyes. Unfortunately, I did not believe him, nor did I accept his quotation of £50 for an appropriate pair of specs! In fact, I crossed the road and went into the local chemist. There I obtained a pair of "readers" at 1.25 diopters for £10 which worked prfectly. At my next medical my AME was totally satisfied with my corrective specs as was an optician who was a friend of mine. He holds a PPL and knows well the requirements of a pilot. Unfortunately he has now retired. After a further thorough eye test, he assured me that astigmatic correction was not required and added that the cheap £10 specs I was using for reading correction were totally satisfactory. 17 years later that near vision correction is now in the regon of 2.25 diopters and I can recognise the signs that I may soon need something to watch T.V. As I said my mate has now retired, but I went to see another one for an eye test a few weeks ago. There was no mention of fancy specs and when we got to the near vision test I asked him to give me about 2.25 diopters in each eye. Reading his tiny script was easy and I was assured that my policy of buying cheap specs from the local car boot sale was absolutely fine!
Now, I am not for a moment suggesting that anybody should follow my suggestions, but we all know that some opticians have to meet such large overheads that they are obliged to do their best to sell glasses whether they are really necessary or not. Of course, if I did need astigmatic correction or different strength lenses in each eye then I would be obliged to purchase glasses from a specialist.

P.P.

[peterh337]

As a brief general comment -

(1) Long distance glasses are a specific prescription and they are either right or wrong.

(2) Near distance glasses have no specific prescription; you have to decide on the distance at which you will be "doing your stuff". For cockpit use, this distance is much longer than one would use for typical reading glasses. Not every optician will tell you this...

The problem with going for the full numbers for (1) is that is usually screws up your near vision to such an extent that you need bifocals... which is a pity because having a bit less power would enable you to see very well (and pass your medical) without the considerable issues of bifocals.

The issue arises because the glasses you need to pass your medical are not necessarily the ones you need to fly with. So getting a pair of cheap bifocals (internet, £70) will do the job for the medical, but you won't be flying with them because the distance at which you need to read your kneeboard and your approach plates etc is much longer than the distance at which your eye test is done.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Just take your half mil with you so you can put it on your lap
Yes, I didn't do that the first time, and they had to throw the lenses away and start again. At least I didn't get charged for the useless ones!

[Pace]

You will not believe my story.
I went for my medical 5 years ago and was told by my AME that I too needed the weakest strength glasses for close to work.
I was told to come back when I had them.
Off I went but being coy did not want to look as if I wore glasses and asked the opticians to tinge them so that they looked a little sunglass like.
Back I trundled for another test sporting the new glasses.
I was then told by said AME that all the eye tests had to be done wearing the new glasses.
Colour test? I could not read a damn page or see the right numbers!
I protested that colour vision does not change so why now!
My AME mumbled about a Lantern test.
Then it dawned on me!
Look at blue through yellow glasses what colour do you see? Green etc etc etc!
I had to go back again and buy a new pair of clear glasses before I passed the test.
I complained that this medical had cost a fortune and shouldnt the CAA ban all pilots from wearing sunglasses as they would all become color blind in an instant.
As you can imagine I used a different AME the next time.

Pace

[jxk]

I've been wearing varifocals for years with no problem. But, I know some people who have never found them satisfactory and have multiple pairs of specs dangling around their necks. I hate this! I choose to wear my specs all the time but must confess that the first time I needed them vanity dictated and I went for all the options: tinted, harden, expensive frames. Now I just opt for the cheapest. Usually you can get a sunglasses with the same prescription thrown in with the deal.

[Gertrude the Wombat]

Peripheral vision is important http://images.ibsrv.net/ibsrv/res/src:www.pprune.org/get/images/smilies/smile.gif
Those of us who have been wearing glasses since we were small children don't miss it.

[chrisN]

I have varifocals, following advice from a fellow pilot who was also a very good optician. I had used glasses to correct short sight since my teens. He said that if I had varifocals as soon as I needed a different prescription for near objects, I would probably get used to them without a problem. People who started with bifocals and tried v. later more commonly had problems.

I have had v. ever since.

I used to have the best quality Zeiss lenses that I could get.

There is now another type, for which it is claimed that they have a larger area of sharp vision and I now have those.

(All this is about to change as I have a cataract operation tomorrow. If successful, that will give me good distance vision without correction. I will need to take advice about what to do for near vision, but I suspect it will still be the new type of varifocal.)

Chris N