View Full Version : Eyesight, Help Me!!!
Speedbird20
23rd Jul 2002, 14:32
Guys I really need some help quick, for the class 1 medical the eysesight requirments bit says refractive correction can be no more than +5.00 or -5.00 dioptres. My eyes are I think -3.00 and -5.50. Does this mean I am completly exempt from the Class 1 med, are they really strict?
I can see all my plans fast going down the toilet infront of me at the moment, somebody please help!!! Im only 17 and I really dont wanna do anything else for a living besides flying, is there a way round it if possible!!!
Please Help.......:confused: :(
Lou Scannon
26th Jul 2002, 11:36
The only thing that will count here is the CAA medics opinion as to what your eyesight standard is-and how it compares with the minimum that they set. All other opinion will only raise false hopes or incorrectly dash them.
I realise how important it is for you to find out whether you can become a pilot but you must focus (sorry!) on this one question and the answer must come from the CAA docs.
'Phone them up and if necessary pay for for one of their authorised medical examiners to check you out. You will then have an opinion that is worth something and on which you can decide on the future.
Good luck sport!
Cosmo
26th Jul 2002, 12:20
Lou Scannon has got it right. Despite people being kind enough to offer advice on vision requirements, sometimes this advice is not based on the regulations applied by the relevant national authorities. Call the CAA to whom you'll be applying to and do what Lou said.
There's also no reason to rush things, you're only 17. And should it prove to be impossible to get a class one, there are other ways to be involved in aviation. One is to get a PPL and fly during your spare time. Also, getting yourself a backup education is not a bad idea all in all, in my opinion. Others might think otherwise.
I was in a similar situation at age 21. Got it into my head that flying is the only thing I wan't to do for a living. I also have a refractive error which put a stop to it. However, I've since then "calmed" down and reviewed other options and now it turnes out that I can get a class one (vision's got better). So don't get discouraged. I have a degree plus I'm more mature at this age to start training should things go my way. Another plus is that my decision is at this point no longer rushed.
Cheers,
Cosmo
Speedbird20
26th Jul 2002, 20:17
Thanks guys, you two really are a credit to this whole web site and to the PPRuNe name. This is the best advice i've ever had off here. Actually I rang up the CAA today and things might not be so bad, my eyes are bad but not as bad as I thought. And the nice lady at the CAA med dept said they are looking at relaxing the eysight requirments in the future. I thought I might go and get a Class 2 and do a PPL in the mean time...
Thanks again guys!
Speedbird20
silverknapper
30th Jul 2002, 18:12
Just a quick one mate.
Just passed my class 1, left eye is -5.5. The guys are right, they look at the bigger picture. The optometrist at gatwick is very good and a nice bloke so talk to him and forward your prescription to him. At present you should get one at 25 regardless. You are right there is a proposal to change it for all ages to be the same and not the present skewed situation. Look on the bright side, I am informed that once you bhave passed it has to drop to -8 before they worry about you!
Cheers
SK
Hi there! Very impressed and congratulations Silverknapper! But is there ant luck for me. Got left -6.5 and right -5.25 (no atimag.). I have to get thru the initial check. My eyes are stable for one year now. Should I begin with the Bates method or not?! And do you have the number to contact this doctor! Thanks Batu
silverknapper
31st Jul 2002, 19:27
Bates method has been mentioned here before. I know not much about it but I intend to look into it. Try a search on old forums. Asked my own optometrist about it, he is very broad minded about alternative therapy. He says some of the exercises are a bit strange and has personally seen no physical evidence of success. The way I see it anything that doesn't involve Laser is worth a shot.
CAA number is 0207 379 7311, ask for optometry dept.
All the best Batu
SK
Just a quick note: I've managed to shave off 1,5 diopters in one eye and 1,0 in the other. My prescription was at worst -3,5 diopters two years ago. Having tossed my hope of ever getting a class one out the window, I started, for my own benfit, to take my glasses off when reading. Eventually I got into the habit of wearing a weaker pair at home and taking my glasses off when sitting in a café etc.
As it turned out I had a bit of over-correction. Due to the fact that I did a lot of near work (reading, using the computer), the muscle surrounding the lens of my eye (the one inside the eýe) had to do a lot of contracting to be able to focus on close objects. This in turn meant that the muscle couldn't relax properly when looking at far objects. The result was that I received stronger and stronger prescriptions. I can't blame the opticians, for after all they corrected my vision to the level requiered so that I could drive, for instance. But, most of them dissmised the idea of being able to do anything about my degrading vision. Just accept it for it'll continue downhill 'till your around thirty, they said.
In my case that was as load of b0llocks, as proven by my current prescription. My vision was over-corrected, beyond that required by the shape of my eye alone. So there is always a possibility that ones vision is over-corrected due to lots of near work day in and day out. You might be able to shave off a bit off your prescription if this is the case, but don't bet on it.
I simply changed my daily habits little by little accepting my vision for what it is/was. And that's probaly the key: become less dependant on your glasses by varying the way you wear them without worrying about everything being out of focus, nor should you be expecting any change.
Surprising how quickly one learns to adapt. When sitting in the uni café, I quickly learnt when it was worth putting my glasses on by simply looking at the reactions of my mates, if you get my drift. :D
Cosmo
Thanks for all your replies! I will defiantly contact the CAA med. department.....and will do some bates methods (with a teacher).But I'm still 17 and have to focus on some important tests next year...but first HOLIDAY!! :D Bye Batu
Cosmo has it right. My eyes have way improved, by about the same as his. Read some of the Bates method stuff and just make it a habit.
You will freak out opthalmologists if you do this. ;-) hehe
You will freak out opthalmologists if you do this. ;-) hehe
and what a feeling it is when you renew your prescription at the opticians. When I hand in my new prescription and say I want the lenses changed to my old frames, the standard question is "So you need stronger lenses?"
"Actually no, the ones I have are too strong" :D
and off I go....
Cosmo
waspie
10th Aug 2002, 20:48
I was told that if your eyesight is -3.00 or worse then you cant, but when I phoned up the guys at Gatwick one of them told me there is nothing to worry about, the rules will have chagned by the time i am there (im 15) and that even now if your eyes are worse it doesnt matter, its just if your eyes are very unstable then it can matter, but it might not!!
Mark Wilson