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Eye Vision For Pilots

Mh772 From Canada, joined Jul 2000, 68 posts, RR: 0
Posted (9 years 2 months 2 days 17 hours ago) and read 2612 times:

I've seen that most airlines require corrected 20/20 vision to be able to fly as one of their pilots. I have also heard that they do put on limits, to how bad your true level of eyesight could be, which is usually 20/50 or 6/60. My question is what is the difference between the 20/50 eye grading system and the 6/60 eye grading system??? also which countries uses this 60/60 eyesight grading system??? Thanks for anybody who can fill me in on this.

13 replies: All unread, jump to last

B747skipper From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 1, posted (9 years 2 months 2 days 8 hours ago) and read 2513 times:

Dear Mh772 -
xxx
Suggest you ask our friend Mirrodie about that subject...
He occasionally visits Tech.Ops forum...
But maybe send him a note that you have this question in Tech.Ops...
xxx
Happy contrails Smile

(s) Skipper

Mirrodie From United States of America, joined Apr 2000, 7421 posts, RR: 65
Reply 2, posted (9 years 2 months 1 day 21 hours ago) and read 2411 times:

Support Airliners.net - become a First Class Member!

Hey, I haven't posted here in a while and ironically found this.

hey dude, Im an eye doctor.

20/20 and 6/6 are nothing more that ratios used to measure the vision. They are a level, not a prescription.

For instance, think of 20/20 as 6,000 feet. Almost any airplane can easily reach 6,000 feet.

BUT that can use all sorts of varying POWER or engines to get to 6000 feet. Think of this power as your Prescription. Confusing still?

I digress. 20/20 and 6/6 are equal. They are nothing more that a RATIO...

so
20/20 = 1 = 6/6
20/40 = 0.5 = 3/6
20/60 = 0.33= 2/6

they are all just ratios, not absolutes.

So most of the patients I say today, they all read the SAME 20/20 line of letters, yet the higest Rx I found today was -7.25 and the lowest -0.50. Get it?

nighters!

Forum moderator 2001-2010; He's a pedantic, pontificating, pretentious bastard, a belligerent old fart, a worthless st

T prop From United States of America, joined Apr 2001, 996 posts, RR: 1
Reply 3, posted (9 years 2 months 22 hours ago) and read 2327 times:

Speaking of pilots vision requirements, here's a news article from the Honolulu Advertiser. Several years old but interesting.

http://the.honoluluadvertiser.com/2000/Dec/01/121localnews1.html

T prop.

[Edited 2004-03-25 05:30:17]

YoungDon From United States of America, joined May 2001, 306 posts, RR: 0
Reply 4, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 2112 times:

Hello all,

I noticed that this is a very old thread, but it directly references a concern I have.

I am a flight student and I'm about to start flying, but Im concerned about a comment my instructor said about eyesight. He said that while you must be corrected to 20/20 to pass the first class medical exam (which I have already passed), some airlines place limits on how bad your uncorrected vision can be. I know that both of my eyes are -6.00, which is pretty poor uncorrected vision. Is this unacceptable to the airlines?

Thanks all.

Jutes85 From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 5, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 5 days ago) and read 2091 times:

I believe that as long as you have no other problems with your eyes ei. color, it does not matter how bad they are in measure of strength.

However, one thing you do have to consider is, that the airline will look at your vision and perhaps pass you for a job. If both applicants are equally qualified, they might use this as a tie breaker, so to speak.

YoungDon From United States of America, joined May 2001, 306 posts, RR: 0
Reply 6, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 21 hours ago) and read 2065 times:

Thank you very much for your reply. I can deal with that as long as it doesn't outright disqualify me from working for the airlines. So, that provides some insight there.

Jeffry747 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 961 posts, RR: 2
Reply 7, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 15 hours ago) and read 2043 times:

I would like to ask this for myself: I am extremely nearsighted. If I hold my hand up in front of my face, I can see it clearly up to about 4 inches from my face. Farther than that and my vision starts to degrade. Of course, it has been corrected to 20/20 with a good pair of glasses. It is my ultimate desire to fly widebody aircraft for a major airline. As a pilot, how far along the road can I get with my current vision? And eyesight wise, what are my options?

C'mon Big B, FLY!

ShyFlyer From , joined Dec 1969, posts, RR:
Reply 8, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 4 days 3 hours ago) and read 1979 times:

Quoting Jeffry747 (Reply 7):
As a pilot, how far along the road can I get with my current vision?

I am not a doctor, but I do need correction for my nearsightedness. As far as I have been able to determine, as long as your vision is correctable to 20/20, you will have no trouble passing a FAA 1st Class medical exam.

Brettbrett21 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 436 posts, RR: 0
Reply 9, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 1915 times:

for a CAA class one i'm pretty sure that u cannot exceed +/- 5.00 uncorreted.
I'll try to find where I saw this for you.

Brett

i'm so excited i wish i could wet my pants!

Brettbrett21 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 436 posts, RR: 0
Reply 10, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 3 days 5 hours ago) and read 1913 times:

http://www.jaapilot.co.uk/

i'm so excited i wish i could wet my pants!

Jeffry747 From United States of America, joined Jun 2005, 961 posts, RR: 2
Reply 11, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 1866 times:

Quoting Brettbrett21 (Reply 10):

So going by what your source says, laser eye surgery is not a good idea if I want to fly commercial aircraft?

C'mon Big B, FLY!

320tech From Turks and Caicos Islands, joined May 2004, 487 posts, RR: 5
Reply 12, posted (7 years 8 months 2 weeks 2 days 23 hours ago) and read 1864 times:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/CivilAviation/Re...rs/cars/Part4/Standards/t42402.htm

This is a link to Canadian medical standards for commercial, private, and glider licences, and ultralight permits. For vision, a commercial pilot needs to have a correction factor of no more than +/- 3.00 diopters. For a private licence, it's 5.

Once you have received your licence, your eyes are allowed to deteriorate somewhat. It's not on the site, but I know this because it happened to me. My eyes dropped to -7, and are now about -5.5.

The primary function of the design engineer is to make things difficult for the manufacturer and impossible for the AME.