Getting a class 1 medical certificate with amblyopia?
Hi guys!
I'm about to start flight school. I have a class 3 medical certificate, as right now I only want to pursue a PPL and IR.
I have anisometropic amblyopia due to retinopathy of prematurity in my right eye. My left eye BCVA is 20/20, while my right eye's BCVA is 20/40. But due to my amblyopia, I effectively only use my left eye to see.
Hopefully at the same time I do my PPL checkride I can also do the MFT for the SODA to upgrade my medical certificate.
So here's an interesting question: why does the FAA even care about distance vision? Shouldn't they just require instrument training for ALL pilot licenses, require all flights to be IFR, and eliminate VFR? If one is trained to fly in zero visibility using just the flight instruments, the only reason you need distance vision is to detect traffic if ATC hasn't warned you about it. And if the plane is equipped with a TCAS II, looking out the window is completely un-necessary.
As long as you can read your charts and instruments and communicate with ATC, your near vision and hearing is what determines whether you can fly safely.
IFR is safer as you will have ATC tracking you, and you are required to file a flight plan, which will assist search and rescue in case anything happens. So why do we still have VFR?