jgpo@iwu1c.UUCP (John, KA9MNK) (03/09/84)
(CLEAR!)
Has anyone out there had any experience with requesting a waiver of
vision requirements for a Second Class medical? I managed to get my
Third Class with no problems, but I might want a Second in the future
so I can get my Commercial.
SPECIFICS:
Vision in both eyes 20/400 minus (Chart?? What chart???)
Both eyes correctable to 20/20
I wear my glasses ALL the time
Vision has been stable for the past 5 years
Vision had improved slightly at my last checkup (last year)
I have no other visual disturbances; just the myopia
When I asked the doctor at my Third Class examination, he hemmed and hawed
a bit and then told me that I could always get an instrument rating.
When I pressed him for an answer, he told me I could apply for a waiver, but
not to hold my breath.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance,
John Opalko
AT&T Bell Labs
{whatever}!ihnp4!iwu1c!jgponathanm@hp-pcd.UUCP (03/19/84)
[]
Despite the total lack of evidence that wearing visual aids
has *ever* caused an accident, the rules live on. I recall
reading somewhere that the FAA will be investigating the
subject, so things may change in our lifetimes. Or perhaps
those of the next generation.
Like you, I suffer from 20/400- myopia. At my first aviation
physical, for reasons I never understood, the doctor made me
remove my contact lenses and look at the chart. "Can you see
the E on the top line? It's OK to squint." So I squinted
until I scrunched my face into a tiny little ball. "Yes," I
concluded, "it's an E." Of course, this was a third class
physical.
The one treatment I know of that is often used by airline pilots
is orthokeratology. In this treatment, your lenses are slowly
reshaped with a series of contact lenses (through selective
oxygen starvation, I once heard) until you attain 20/20-hood.
After treatment, you need to wear retainer lenses for a few
hours a week... otherwise your good vision will slowly slip away.
Since this slipping away takes months instead of seconds (unlike
dropping glasses or popping contact lenses), the FAA considers
it acceptable.
If you're really impatient, you might consider radial keratotomy,
the surgical counterpart to orthokeratology. It's still pretty
new in this country and I don't think the long-term effects are
understood. But you could be the first on your block.
While I'm at it, maybe I'll suggest an answer to the question I
started out to address: I wouldn't bet a dime on your chances
of getting a waiver. Sorry.
----
Nathan Meyers
{hplabs,allegra!harpo}!hp-pcd!nathanm