R44: No, the distraught german that flew home from Gatwick wasn't me, but I had a similar trip back home from Stuttgart, Germany (one of FOUR Aeromedical Centers in Germany able to issue initial 1st class medicals).
It was expected, since my (slight) issues with color vision where known since my medical for the military years before.
Anyhow: the (highly recommended) Dr. Quast suggested I try the Lantern-Test at the german space agency (DASA) in Cologne... long story short: I passed with flying colors (literally
) having not been able to read half of those Ishihara pictures before!!!
Needles to say I almost shed some tears being able to pursue my dream after all - here I am, although not in europe anymore, but flying helicopters AND jets in the USA, knowing I would be (medically) able to do the same in my home country (not that I have intentions to do so, in the near future).
P.S.: With passing the Lantern Test you get a waiver for future color vision tests, since a man's color vision (no, not female; color deficiency is mostly a male problem) will not change for good or bad through his life.
Quite interesting article on that topic:
Color Vision Tests for Aviation: Comparison of the Anomaloscope and Three Lantern Types:
http://www.city.ac.uk/avrc/members/j...lour_study.pdf