Hello everyone,

I've received my class 1 medical in May. I should start my integrated training in 30 days. Last month however I noticed I've been blessed with tinnitus out of the blue. 2 weeks after, I went to an airshow and while looking at the strip, I noticed the following thing in my central vision:

youtu.be/wPjHOkSWvRM

Bright sun and lots of heat sound like the trigger. I've experienced the same thing a month later while visiting the same region and under the same conditions. I am a bit baffled on what to do here. I've noticed that I also have the blue field entoptic phenomenon plus a few floaters.
My eyes, according to the two class 1 exams I've taken are fine, but this is a bad state to be in since flying consists mainly of blue sky and bright light all day every day, thus I am unsure if I should drop the idea, since this can be a possible safety issue. Any ideas on how to move forward would be greatly appreciated as I have 20 days before I have to sign my contract.

Dr Google has some information on Visual Snow. It seems to be a neuro ophthalmic disorder and like tinnitus you have to learn how to live with it.

Living with it is fine, but what about working? I can go to the AME and say - I think I have Visual Snow - any idea on what happens next?

For rare conditions, it totally depends on your national CAA - could be anything between allowable and permanent denial.

In the US, pilot unions and associations have expertise to help members work through aeromedical issues. Possibly you could take out a membership in AOPA and then contact their aeromedical people.

Aspiring Pilot - Seeking Class 1 & 2 Medical advise before commencing training.
 

Aspiring Pilot - Seeking Class 1 & 2 Medical advise before commencing training.

Hi, I hope everyone is doing fantastic and awesome.

So, I am currently 22 years of age and I am an undergraduate student. I was hoping to embark on my training throughout the modular route over the next year or so.

However before doing so, I was hoping to get an input from anyone out there who may be able to offer any advise in regards to the following concern I am having. This concern of mine has simply put my pursuit into the aviation industry to a halt for almost a year now.

The concern I am having is with my my vision, as the vision in both of my eyes does not qualify for 20/20 vision. My right eye is 20/20 but not quite 20/15. My left eye is noted to be 20/40. This cannot be corrected. I have been to the local SpecSavers store here in UK for an eye test, and have been advised that my vision condition is called Amblyopia (Lazy Eye) and cannot be corrected. However I am still able to see everything clearly at almost most reasonable distances. I have been to a specialist here in the UK for a consultation and they have confirmed that my vision in my left eye cannot be corrected with any form of aid. However they said there may be a chance with vision therapy NOT surgery, but there is small margin of success. However this is significantly costly and wanted to see if anyone else has ever had to face anything like this.

I have been advised to just go and take the class 1 Medical exam and see what happens but I thought I'd get ahead of any surprises which may come my way.

I will appreciate any advise, experiences or inputs shared.

Thank you for viewing my post, I appreciate it very much.

## Also Please forgive me if this post was slightly extensive.

Austrocontrol Class 1
 

Hi Everyone

I am looking to transfer my medical from a UK CAA class one to an Austrian class 1 under austro control, however before doing so I want to be sure that I meet the eye sight requirements. Does anyone know where I can find the austrocontrol Austrian class one eyesight requirements? or will they be the same as that for the UK CAA

Thanks!

I am not allowed to post URLs, so go on Austrocontrol website in English language, in the pilot section there is an Aeromedical section with guidelines. They all refer to Part-MED.
If you hold already a Class 1 there's nothing to worry about. It's just paperwork.

Eye Surgery for Presbyopia
 

Hello All,

Am getting to that age where I need to wear glasses for my night flying.

This is complicated further by the fact that my job requires me use night vision goggles.

I have heard that presbyopia doesn't really have a long term laser surgery solution, but I love to get just another 5 years of flying without faffing around with glasses.

I'd really appreciate any advice or to hear of anyone's experiences.

Thanks

There is an argument that laser eye surgery increases depth of field in some way. The idea is that you can have one eye adjusted to be slightly shortsighted so you can read without glasses but also have useful distance vision of 20/40 or so, then have the other eye corrected (or left alone) so that it has good distance vision.

I was speaking to a BA pilot in her late 50s who has had this done and has a class one medical with no need for eye correction. Expensive though, about £6k altogether.

Class 1 eye test
 

Hello,

Wondered if anyone could help me, I wish to undertake my Class 1 soon and my concern is with the eye testing, my corrected prescription is well in the requirements, however my problem is the distance vision or how they conduct this.

For example testing with my local Specsavers my corrected vision is

6/6 in the right eye
6/7.5 in the left
6/6 both together

but when at home if I conduct the test using a snellen chart at 6m away I struggle with my left eye to achieve the minium standard of 6/9.

So my question is how do they test for this at the Class 1 conduct the test is it the same as an optician in a chair for the illuminated screen?

many thanks

CLASS 1 Eye requirements and limitations
 

Confusion about CAA GM for eyesight
 

Hi all,

In the next few months I'll be applying for my initial Class One medical. However, one thing that has always concerned me is my eyes. I have myopia and very slight astigmatism: -7.5 and -7.25 myopia, with -0.25 astigmatism in both.

The CAA GM states this in the 'Accetable Means of Compliance' column:
Applicants with the following conditions may be assessed as fit subject to satisfactory ophthalmic evaluation and provided that optimal correction has been considered and no significant pathology is demonstrated:
(ii) myopia not exceeding -6.0 dioptres;
(iii) astigmatism not exceeding 2.0 dioptres;

Therefore, by this, I should fail my medical as my myopia is outside the limits. However, in the 'Guidance Material' column, it states:
Applicants for a class 1 medical certificate with any of the following medical conditions shall be referred to the medical assessor of the licensing authority and may be assessed as fit subject to a satisfactory ophthalmological evaluation:
(i) Myopia exceeding -6.0 dioptres;
(ii) astigmatism exceeding 2.0 dioptres;
Assessment should be conducted by, or under the supervision of, an ophthalmologist and ensure that there is no underlying pathology or other ocular abnormalities. Monocular visual acuities shall be 6/6 or better. Assessment shall include:
1) Dilated, binocular, indirect ophthalmoscopy in cases of myopia exceeding –6.00 dioptres
2) Corneal topography at initial assessment (and at renewal where there is significant change in refraction) in cases of astigmatism exceeding 2.00 dioptres.

The local optician said the myopia should stop when I get to around 22 (I'm 18), and the astigmatism shouldn't get passed the -2.0 limit.

My question is this: has anyone successfully been certified an initial Class One with an exceedance in myopia or astigmatism? I know for myself there is no underlying issue and my eyes are healthy. I'm just concerned given that the CAA GM seems to contradict itself (probably me being paranoid...). Should I be worried about my medical? From what I can tell, I'll just be referred to someone higher up ('the medical assessor of the licensing authority'?), who can then approve it?

There is always the alternative of getting LASIK to bring my eyes within the limits.

Class 1 medical with monocular exception
 

Howdy all, got a bit of a weird question here so I guess I’ll just lay it out. I’m 31 years old, ever since I was a teenager I’ve been wanting to become a commercial pilot how ever my eye sight is not great, essentially I have one eye that is better than 20/20 but my other eye is far worse, and unable to be corrected with glasses to 20/20. Initially when I was 18 I attempted to get a medical but my regular optometrist said quite clearly to me that I would never pass a medical. Silly me took them at their word and didn’t get a second opinion, made piece with my life and found a different career. Obviously 10 years later I’m in a far better position financially and still have that itch to go flying. I’ve since seen yet another casa approved optometrist in the hopes of anything changing and they said basically the same thing, this time I had done some research and found that it was possible to pass a class 1 with an exception, when I asked about that they tried to push me away from aviation with something along the lines of well if an airline had someone with no restriction vs someone with a restriction who would they take. I guess my question is if anyone knows of has experienced something similar. The two problems I have is getting a pass on the medical but even then I don’t want to invest a ton of money into cpl atp ect if airlines are going to see that and dismiss any application. Any guidance or stories of similar situations would be appreciated, I’ve always been flexible where I live so even employment out of Australia is a possibility for me. Thanks in advance.

Depends on the individual case. It may depend on when you first developed the problem. There are monocular pilots out there with class 1 medicals, but I believe, (don’t quote me) that they have not had use of that eye from birth. That may have something to do with the development of the visual pathways from the lens all the way to the visual cortex.

Eyeballs in the sky...

Have a look at CASR 67.150, specifically section 1.31 in the table for Class 1 requirements (page 370). Essentially, it's 6/9 in each eye, but 6/6 with both eyes (plus some requirements for close-in). That'll give you an idea re your first question.

If you’ve got the class 1 medical, a valid licence and pass the recruitment process, you’ll get the job.

You will only have an issue if there’s a restriction on your medical such as copilot only, or day ops, VFR only etc.

Hey guys thanks for the replies, most of what you bought up was how I was thinking it was just a bit worrying to have 2 CASA optometrists tell me not to bother even trying to get the medical. I guess for a little more history, my eyes have been that way since birth. My bad eye is worse than 6/9 but with both eyes my vision is better than 6/6. Most likely I'm just going to go for it regardless of what the 3rd optometrist will say, and see what they come back with once it all gets sent away.

I remember hearing of an eye injury to my teacher's son. He lost vision in that eye, but eventually obtained a Class I medical and CPL in Canada in the 70s. The CAA tends to lag.