Advancing years - a presbyopic myope needs advice

[JFDI]

Hi:
As the advancing years creep up ever more quickly, I wonder if anyone out there has succesfully solved the short-sightedness/long-sightedness problem?

I'm short sighted (myopia) and normally wear contact lenses, including while flying. I wear sunnies as required, which is usually:cool:.

I'm beginning to notice, however, that close work is getting tricky due to long-sightedness with advancing years (presbyopia).

Normally if I have a bunch of close work to do in moderate light I use reading glasses - sound familiar to anyone!? The little plackards etc on the roof the helicopter are particularly bad - close and in relatively dim light. It wonm't be long before map reading gets tricky...

So what to do when flying?


Get some sunglasses that have a "reading" segment at the bottom?
Stop wearing contacts and switch to bi-focal sunglasses?
Stop wearing sunglasses?
Wear reading glasses under the sunglasses?
Get someone younger to read the small stuff?



You tell me!!!!

Thanks in advance,
JFDI

[SASless]

Simply allow your vanity to be outweighed by your curiousity....get yer speccies. I got mine design built for looking at the instrument panels....but at the cost of fussing with the quack each time I take a medical. The focal length of the panel exceeds the 18 cm reading standard thus it becomes a hassle each medical when I have to extend my arms to read. It works great in the cockpit. The overhead panel is another problem...have seen guys with special built glasses with "bi-focal" lenses on both bottom and top of the lens....I have even seen guys take their glasses off..turn them upside down....to read the upper panel. I prefer the "Brail" method for that...but then I only fly aircraft that do not require any switches to be thrown on the upper panel except at start and shutdown.

For sunglasses...I had the Optomertrist tint a regular pair of glasses.....with bifocals...works great....and cheaper than special purchase sunglasses.

The only real problem I have now is finding a way to fit my Seeing Eye Dog into the Jetranger....the Huey is no problem. Longline work is a real exercise....finding a cane long enough is a chore.

[Thomas coupling]

Try the medical forum -you'll get no sense from this lot re - going blind!!:D

[NickLappos]

I have progressive segmented bifocals called "Smart Seg" that are a variable lens in the lower half of the lens. At the top of the bifocal region, just below mid-lens, the focus distance is 30 inches, so the instrument panel is sharp. At the very bottom, the focus distance is about 12 inches, so maps are crisp. They are ideal for flying.

Overhead switches are a pain, but you can get special small segments inserted that focus at short distance for them.

I bought my glasses from an outfit that specializes in airline pilot's glasses, called Hidalgo's in Texas. They are pretty inexpensive, and nice folks (it is nearly a one-man operation). They can make special pilot glasses with the upper segments, too.

http://www.hidalgos.com/

[GLSNightPilot]

I knew you were smart, Nick! Higalgo's has moved to Louisiana, though, they're no longer in Texas.

I have the same glasses, SmartSeg bifocals, and I love them. I started out with regular bifocals, then went to trifocals, and when I found these it was love at first sight. I have some frames that only have a thin wire for the temple pieces, so they don't break the seal of the headset earseal. They're the memory metal, so they don't get bent out of shape. Unfortunately, Hidalgo's has discontinued them, but I expect to go through a few sets of lenses before I need to get new ones.

The SmartSegs are available at a few optometrists, notably TSO, but they aren't that common for some reason. The common no-line bifocals are worthless to me, because I can't afford to lose the peripheral vision where they are blurry. The ones I have have the normal lens at the lower corners, so hovering isn't a problem. I can still pass the far vision test (and the near vision test with a few hints from the nurse :cool: ) but I just gave up on the reading glasses years ago and wear the bifocals all the time, even though the main lens has little or no corrections.

If you need correction for far vision and near vision also, just give it up and get some bifocals. The SmartSegs are by far the best I've ever tried, and I won't use anything else again.

[NickLappos]

GLS,

I have a new pair of progressive bifocals that are awful, with only a small section in the center that is actually in focus. They work ok for normal living, but for flying they really do not cut it.

The SmartSeg works just right, as you say. Based on this tiny sample, I'd advise staying away from progressive bifocals except for the SmartSeg.

[Whirlybird]

Get whatever works for you; I just have bifocals; this lot are confusing me! If it's only just starting to be a problem, you'll probably find you don't need anything that complicated; I use the main part of the lens for distance, have a little bit for map reading...and I can read middle distance instruments through either. Whatever you get, just get clip-on sunglasses to go over the top when required; much less hassle than anything else.:ok:

[Pat Malone]

I had a similar problem a while ago and it was solved for me by NR Fairy, who posts here. His wife is an optician and he passed on some excellent advice. I now have a pair of varifocals that come out of the drawer once every six months so I can pass my medical.
PM him and I'm sure he'll help.

[The Nr Fairy]

I'll speak to my missus in the morning !

PM me, or better, email [email protected], and I'll pass the message along.

[GLSNightPilot]

Whirly, that's the way I started out. At first, I just got some reading glasses to read the fine print, got tired of that and got some plain bifocals, which worked for a few years, and I could see stuff in the 206 cockpit through either lens. Then I transitioned into the 412, and couldn't read some of the gauges in the center clearly through either the top or bottom, so I got trifocals. Those lasted for awhile, and eventually it got so there were some things I couldn't see really clearly through any of the three, and all the lines were a pain. I found the SmartSegs, and all my problems were solved. Now I can focus clearly on anything, at any distance.

I really wish I could still see as well as I could when I was 20, but the alternative to getting older isn't very attractive to me. :}

[pa42]

Off-the-wall solution: needing to be able to read broad areas of map in flight (geologic map, lots of detail), I got an 8 x 11 fresnel-lens magnifying reader, hung it from strings around neck so it is 5" above map and perpendicular to downward glance. Awkward to wear, but I can skip the reading glasses and have uniform field of view for instruments/outside world, magnification only kicks in when contemplating navel.

A possible kinky solution for those concerned about appendage size, I guess. Myself, I'm fully clothed when flying helicopters.

D

[Nigel Osborn]

Interesting to read how many pilots can't see too well!!

Being very young still ( no rude comments from those who know me!!), I've found my distance vision has improved with age but my arms have shortened. Biggest problem is trying to read in poor light, hence night flying is much harder. I find anything over 18-24 inches is no problem, so all instrument panels and centre consoles and most roof panels are no problem except for the stupid roof panel in the 206 which is about 6 inches from my nose. So I just wear basic reading glasses for studying charts and IF plates.

Now, what about the radio. What's that, didn't quite catch what you said.:(

[Hilico]

Nick

Would there be a big certification issue with just retrofitting magnifying lenses on all the gauges?

[JFDI]

Thanks for so much useful comment and advice! More folk seem to be suffering this problem than I thought!!!

How about the non-myopic folk - those with perfect distance vision but are now getting caught by the presbiopia?


Do you wear sunnies?
Do you wear "half-moon" reading glasses?
Do you have fancy sunglasses that have reading segments in them?

And while we're at it - who prefers what lens colour for their sunglasses?

Brown
Green
Grey
Purple Oakleys

??
TIA
JFDI

[John Eacott]

As the last pilot to get into the RN with glasses (DCI changed the loophole the second week I was at Dartmouth !!!), I've lived with the problem for a while ;)

Currently I have graduated bifocals, both clear and RayBans, plus a "straight" non bi focal set of prescription RayBans. The latter are most important, it took me years to realise that my inaccuracies in sling loads/fire bombing was resolved when I stopped trying to see the ground through the reading segment of the glasses :rolleyes: Similar problem as Nigel for night ops, or when the instrument panel is in deep shadow.

Colours for sunnies? Personal preferences will always take over, but brown works best for me.

[muffin]

I find the worse thing to see is when I get into a rental R22 that has a wide screen GPS mounted on top of the instrument binnacle about 4 feet away. I can't see the things on the screen without glasses, and the focal length of the map reading glasses is too short. So I have to switch the thing off and use a little hand held model strapped to my knee. which is at the right distance.

[GLSNightPilot]

JFDI, for what it's worth (not much, I think) here are my opinions.

I have tried just about everything, I think, from the little reading glasses to stick-on magnifying lenses on my RayBan sunglasses to my present setup: SmartSeg bifocals with little or no correction in the top, because my distance vision is still good enough to pass the physical with no restrictions; Brimz sunglasses, which attach to the bill of my cap, and flip up out of the way when I don't need them, while providing wraparound sun protection without touching my face or breaking the earseal on my headset at all. They are grey because that's the color I found at the time. I prefer brown lenses for flying offshore, because they seem to filter out all the blue haze and provide more contrast, but the grey ones do just fine, especially since I rarely fly in sunlight. All those photons beating down on the rotor blades and destroying lift scare me. :cool: :eek: