My Vision (eyesight) ... My dream
 

Hello everyone,
I went in today to a LAME to get my first aviation medical, class 2. I always knew that if something would get me into trouble, it would be my eye sight. The reason why I went in to get my medical, is because I hope to go solo in the next month or two and get my gfpt in December. My dream is to become an airline pilot in Australia, I am currently 16 and a half. My heart dropped today when the LAME said I will require glasses If i wanted to fly. As a result my medical will not be processed until I get my glasses.

He said that my vision is 6/9 and 6/12, I am not quite sure how bad this is but I assume its pretty bad. I am fairly worried about this.
Want happens if my eyes get worse even after I get glasses?
Does this mean my chances of becoming an airline pilot are in doubt?

Agh Im worried.

Thanks ...

Mate dont worrie about it.

I'm as blind as a bat and I;m an Airline Pilot.
Not too sure of the rules but I think as long your vision can be corrected up to the required standard then you'll be fine.

About 80% (probably more) of airline pilots wear corrective eye wear of some kind.

:cool:

LAME?
 

More of concern is going to see a LAME (Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer) for a medical :)

But seriously, most problems with vision can be fixed with glasses. It won't affect your career prospects

Dont stress my friend. Go to an optometrist, get ur glasses, better yet, a set of soft contact leneses for flying. I;m -0.75 in each eye. I cant even see the damn chart on the wall, letalone read any letters. As long as there is nothing else wrong with your eyes you're good to go.

Then..........get your backside in a plane and follow your dream.

Concentrate on going solo and listen to the advice of older and more wise people from here.

Best of luck. let us know how you get on.

6/12 is half the norm. I have 20/20 so I can see the smallest letter on the chart twice the distance from where you would see the smallest letter. 6/9 is pretty much using the same principle.

That is correct.

Many of my friends wear glasses and they can see just fine. It's just a safety thing for having the requirement of 20/20.

Best of luck.

"20/20" is visual acuity measured in Imperial units (feet), and "6/6" is the same standard measured in metric units (metres).

If you are 6/9, then you have to be 6 metres from a target to see it with the same clarity as someone with normal vision can see at 9 metres and so on....

Bottom line ... who cares what the numbers mean, just do what the previous posters have said; get to the optometrist, get your glasses or contact lenses and go strap an aeroplane to backside and start having fun!!:ok:

By the way, I'm the same as Best Speed - blind as a bat without my glasses but I'm still a pilot.

Mate as has been said don't worry about it. Get your glasses and if you can soft contacts. All will be good.

Nomorecatring, if you are -.075 in each eye that is not too bad at all. Before laser surgery I was -5.75 in the left and -6.25 in the right.

Now I have perfect vision, well actually better than perfect. In the left eye I am now 9/6 and in the right 6/6. I have had this since 2003. I would recommend it to anyone. At 16 though wwejosh, you are too young for laser surgery, you need to have stopped growing and your eyes to be stable for at least 12 months. All the best.

Cheers
Mr B

Don't forget to get a pair of prescription sunnies at some stage too. You will look as cool as this ->:cool:

Makes looking into the sun so much easier...now that can't be too good for my eyes now I think about it.

Hasn't the RAAF even relaxed eyesight standards as long as they can be corrected with glasses?

I'm another blind bat -6.5 and -7.5 in a contact lense prescription (yes, that's bad!). I still hold a Class 1 medical and an ATPL (in three countries at one stage).

I would strongly recommend the soft contact lenses as you get to keep your peripheal vision more easily (important with flying), and you can wear normal sunnies :ok: If you go that way you should still carry a spare pair of glasses when you fly. I carry that plus spare contacts!

Good luck and don't be discouraged. I don't know about the RAAF though. I thought they still required 20/20 on entry but then don't care what happens afterwards (and a Hornet jock told me most guys end up wearing something before too long - especially after all the hard study slog!).

A bit of a thread drift :bored:..... But is there any guys or gals out there that had drama's with colour vision ?? I know you can still hold a Class 1 even if you fail the colour plates, I am lead to believe there is two practical test methods that are accepted by CASA ??

Is there any truth to this???

How are you not already wearing glasses? :eek:

I'm about the same uncorrected and 6/5 corrected on both eyes. CASA- and Qantas and probably most other airlines- don't care what correction you need as long as you meet the requirements.

airman1 - It depends.

If you're unlucky enough to be one of those that can't tell the difference between green and red you're screwed as the final test for a pass in the class 1 if you're color blind is going to the airport and getting ATC to shine the indication lights at you, if you can't tell them apart - thanks for coming.

Once you have your new glasses and you can see properly, you will probably find that you can't land anymore:}:}

Heaps of people with glasses flying airliners
Don't worry

Laser surgery
 

Mr Bomb - was that a brave decision to go for the laser surgery? I have often considered this but am concerned if they stuff it up and I end up in a worse situation.

Would I be correct in assuming that you were short sighted to begin with and is your vision now 20/20?

Interested in any info, thanks.

be very cautious before going for laser surgery. Some regulators take a more "80s" stance on laser surgery - get surgery, fail medical, automatic. So do some research before making an irreversible decision. There is also a small but possible chance that you will remove the bandages and discover to your horror that you will probably never hold a class 1 medical ever again, night halo's etc.

Opps, just realised my typo. I;m -7.5 in each eye. Blind as a bat without my specs.

By the way, NASA has recently approved a version of laser surgery for eyes for its active astranauts.

I;m now looking at PRK for myself.

Most of us
 

Most people over 40 (ie most airline captains) will probably need glasses. It an aging thing for most of us.

TonKat,
I researched it for about 12 months before I decided to go ahead with it and also who to do it with. I had LASIK. I did have the advantage of my work paying for it and also only having a certain list of approved doctors that well exceeded the 90% overall success rate.

Would I recommend it to others? I have and I will to both Friends and acquaintances and there are now 12 guys at my work who have had it and every one has 20/20 vision or better.

Note that the RAAF now accepts certain types of laser surgery for pilots. Check with RAAF recruiting as to which one. For my class 1 medical and obviously having to see an opthamoligist he said my eyes were perfect with no side effects. I hope it stays this way for along time yet!

However it may not be for everyone. Research it yourself and go in with eyes wide open (sorry for the pun) and know the risks involved.

Cheers
Mr B

eyesight
 

wwejosh,

6/9 and 6/12 would usualy need -0.75 and -1.00 to correct if simple shortsightedness is the problem [i.e. no astigmatism ]. This is at the low end of the scale .i.e. not needing a 'strong' correction.....and from memory would still pass the requirements for a private licence without spex.

For a CPL a minimum 6/9 is needed in the worse eye [again from memory].

However at 16 years of age shortsighted people tend to progress a bit till the mid 20s. [i.e. -2.25 and 6/36 approx.] Often this stabilizes, but occassionally could keep progressing esp. if parents are s/sighted .

Don't forget that if you need to wear spex ,a spare pair is required to be carried while exercising the priviliges of your licence.

Lasik surgery could be a consideration after 21yrs of age and if Rx has been stable for 2yrs,and most of the time gets excellent results ,but we see the odd duds!

Contact lenses occasionally have comfort issues but are generally well tolerated. Hygene is of the utmost importance .

Spectacles should be light ,comfortable and have thin flexible sides if you are wearing a headset.

Flopt [CPL,optometrist]

Flopt?

Ya can get pills to fix that (floptiness!) now, ya know!

BC :}