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Old 19th February 2014 | 19:17
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ChrisVJ
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 517
Likes: 37
From: Kelowna Wine Country
If you are red green deficient you will fail the Farnsworth test.

I failed it forty eight years ago when I applied for RAF Flying Scholarship. It also ruled me out of a CPL and a career in Flying.

Surprisingly I have, since then, designed colours for stains as part of my furniture business. The deficiency has only been apparent in daily life on maybe half a dozen occasions in the last forty odd years. Meeting just the shades of red and green that don't register when compared is rare outside of aviation and marine environments and apparently not all that common there.

It was unbelievably stupid of those who chose the earliest navigation lights to choose red and green when those are the prevalent colour deficiencies for humans!

At the time I didn't know that other countries had other tests and different standards (no internet!) so I had be content with a PPL which in the UK didn't then require a colour test. Since I moved to Canada I have got a 'Recreational Permit' which also does not require a test althought the Canadian PPL does. Also here you may opt for other tests if you fail the Ishahara (which I do every time!)

If you are dead set then I'd suggest you look around for a country for which you meet the standards and take flight training there.

This has been an ongoing battle in, for instance, Australia where a doctor has challenged the usefulness of the standadrs and some pilots have been granted licences based on 'practical' tests but some are still failed based on the old standards.
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