Class 1 Medical
 

Hi,

I am wanting to become a commercial pilot.

I rang up the CAA to book a Class 1 Medical today, and was asked for my eye perscription.

They then replied that i would not pass it because my stigmatism is outside the limit.

The limit they said was 2, my left eye is 3.5 and my right is 2.5.

Perhaps someone could let me know if this is right or what can be done

THanks

Unfortunately it sounds like there is nothing they can do. JAR FCL 3 states that the limits for astigmatism are -2 for initial and -3 for subsequent renewal medicals.

Although the CAA try to help as much as they can and will examine you to renewal standards if they think your vision won't deteriorate massively, one thing they can't do is to examine and pass you if you're already outside these limits, which you seem to be.

Pardon me but what is an astigmatism?

The cornea is meant to have a perfect curvature or sphericity. An astigmatism is when the cornea has an anomaly in the curve.

If you have an astigmatism and wear hard contact lenses, the lens will pull the cornea into shape. This remains for sometime after you stop wearing them. I used to wear these lenses and when I would lose them my vision was almost perfect for up to three weeks. It is worth a try as hard lenses don't cost the earth.

Hello

What is the technical word used in the ophthalmology examination report?

Didn't notice any astigmatism relation section on the report...

Thanks for your help...

L|kA|r

Found here

Astigmatism is the term used.

I have a refraction on the Right eye of -3.00 (sph) and -2.50 on the Left eye.

Does that mean that I'm on the edge of the Initial Class 1 Medical specs...
since "At initial examination the refractive error shall not exceed +/-3.00 dioptres along the most ametropic meridian with no more than +/-2.00 dioptres astigmatic component and no more than 2.00 Dioptres of anisometropia."

And I think I conform with the list from the link...

What do pathology and myopia mean?

Regards
L|kA|r

Pathology - what's wrong - illness
Myopia - shortsightedness

You are marginal but should pass. Try the hard lenses.


Google is your friend, so is your dictionary:ok:

if you really want to fly you could try laser corrective surgery, or lens implants. Obviously both have risks involved so you'd need to weigh up ho much you want to fly against the risks involved. The CAA wil consider an eye test tree months after LASIK surgery and a year after any ther procedure. Have a look here for more info.

The hard lenses route works in many cases indeed.

Strictly speaking you should not wear lenses for a fixed period of time before the initial class 1 test, but it is difficult (although not impossible with the correct equipment, which is not installed as yet in Gatwick) to determine whether you have done this or not.

A more specialist method of correction is called Orthokeratology, using a specifically designed lens to change the shape of your eye, which lasts from one day to up to one week depending on your individual case. It is expensive, about £500, but apparently it works. Lenses are worn overnight, are uncomfortable (as a hard lens is), and are removed after sleep. There is some research into making permanent change in this way with the use of enzymes to encourage the new formation of the eye shape, but as far as I know this is in its infancy, and a similar suspicion is held to that of Lasik regarding long term side effects, or should that be affects, I can never remember the rule?

Hello

Hard lenses are very mentioned a lot and seems to be used quite frequently by many pilots.

But I 'm a little bit confused since my optometrist has recommended to use the softlenses which are very comfortable to wear.

Is it true that Hard lenses pull the cornea into shape mentioned by effortless??
What about soft lenses?

Thanks for your attention...

L|kA|R