Here is the story about my LASIK surgery and experiences with the CAA. It will probably answer some questions but is bound to raise a few more.. .. .I had LASIK performed on both eyes about two years ago at the age of 21. In November 2000 I passed the FAA Class 1 medical. The FAA’s only requirement is that the surgery is reported on the official form and that there are no adverse symptoms. However, at that stage the CAA was still refused to give initial Class 1 medicals to those who had undergone any kind of refractive surgery. This rule changed in 2001; the catch being that if you were outside the JAA’s refractive error limits before the surgery you could not get a medical after the surgery. A true Catch 22 scenario. Although I had very little myopia (0.5D) in each eye, pre-operative astigmatism of about 3.00D/3.50D meant that I was not eligible for a Class 1 or even Class 2. The CAA confirmed this themselves. I did consider lying in the medical and trying to hide the fact that the surgery had been done. At one stage I had even booked the Class 1 medical. However, a visit to my optician persuaded me to back out. She had a slit-lamp that was hooked up to a PC and could photograph digital images of the Cornea. Where the surgeon had cut a flap in my eye there was a scar that would be obvious to any medical examiner. In short, there is no hope of concealing LASIK. However, the optician did say that she had once met an ophthalmologist who had PRK performed on one eye. PRK does not leave a scar and my optician said that even a slit lamp examination would not indicate which eye had been operated on. Only corneal topograhy would give the game away. I cancelled the medical in the hope that visual standard modifications pencilled in for late 2001 would let me in. When the changes came there were only slight changes to the rules regarding eye surgery. The strange 5.00D pre-operative limit remained intact; the only changes were that there was no mention that surgery for astigmatism and hyperopia was prohibited. Leaving me very confused as to whether I was now Class 1 eligible I contacted the CAA by email and through my AME. My AME asked the CAA who replied that the pre-operative astigmatism meant that I was not Class 1 eligible; they would grant a Class 2 though. Next came the letter from the CAA themselves. The letter requested a surgeon’s report detailing pre-operative prescription and also a report detailing post-operative progress. After hearing the CAA’s reply to my AME, I assumed they were leading me on a not so merry dance. I decided not to spend/waste any money on a trip to an ophthalmologist so I just sent the CAA a spectacle prescription from before the surgery and an eye evaluation form that was used for my FAA Class 1 medical. When the letter from the CAA (late February) came, I though that my chances of being Class 1 eligible were in the rocking horse excreta league. This is what the CAA said: -. .. .“Thank you for your letter with enclosures. Your surgeon’s report is acceptable. If you were to come for your initial Class 1 medical, provided all is well you will be issued with a medical certificate issued under a long-term exemption as the UK are implementing a proposed set of rules before they have been fully ratified by the JAA”. .. .I don’t have the Class 1 medical yet but I’ll book it for a few months time. As I said at the start of my posting, this story is likely to raise as many questions as it answers. Really though, anyone who is outside the JAA refractive limits should consider using the Baytes method or seeing a vision therapist to reduce their refractive error. These crazy refractive error limits will hopefully disappear in the not too distant future.