"Sylvain" wrote in message
om...
"treefroginometry" wrote in message

I'd like to thank you all for all your advice and feedback. You've given
me
a lot to think about and very much rekindled my avaition ambitions.
Sylvain, excuse my cheek but did you pass the test through good luck or
could you actualy tell the difference in colour?

I am a text book example of protanomalous vision (red / green); actually
the Farnsworth D15 test is pretty good at identifying the specific problem
(it is the test that consists in lining up a serie of coloured cilinders
according to their colours); luck might indeed have been part of it, who
knows, who cares. What certainly helped, and I would suggest anyone
considering taking the test to do so, was to be able to get my hand on
one of these light guns and play with it before the test; asking the
tower to shine them for you a few times before the test won't help if,
as was my case, they don't tell you what colour they are showing you
as they are doing so; i.e., it helps to be able to 'calibrate' your
vision so to speak;

surprisingly, being protanomalous, the problem I had the first time
I failed the test, was not between red and green, but between green and
white (and if you remember your light gun signals, confusing these two
will never be an issue, right? :-)... hmm, may be not in UK actually
where you guys use white flashes towards aircraft in flight... but the
context makes it unambiguous anyway; actually, having played with the
light gun, I just learn that whatever I was seeing blue was green and the
one I thought was green was white; and then I could consistently
interpret
the signals. don't ask :-)

by the way; while preparing for the test, I did ask a friend of mine,
female, i.e., less likely to have colour vision deficiency; moreover
someone who did work in the printing industry, i.e., where they
apparently
have far more stringent requirements concerning colour vision, to come
along with me when I asked the tower to show me a few signals: she
couldn't
tell the white from the green either... I would very much like to see
how 'normal vision' pilots would fare should they be given this test...

a little parenthesis about getting your commercial certificate (in USA):

the snag was that part of the requirements include doing at least 5
hours of night flying solo; but, as I found out -- see
14 CFR 61.129(a)(3)(iv) -- this only concerns an airplane
single-engine rating; should you want to do your commercial in a
multi- first, 61.129(b) does not specify *any* solo night time
requirement; moreover, once you have a commercial multi- in your
pocket, adding a single engine rating, i.e., another class rating,
61.63(c)(4) says quite explicitely that the applicant "...need not meet
the specified training time requirements prescribed by this part that
apply to the pilot certificate for the aircraft class rating sought..."

In other words, it is perfectly ok to take your initial commercial in
a multi-, then add a single- additional rating to it, without ever
having
flown solo at night (now of course, if you have a no night flying
restriction
in your medical, you keep the restriction);

And that's exactly what I did (but then I eventually got the practical
test alright -- plan A eventually worked -- so it proved to be an
overkill of sort); so the first time I have ever flown an aircraft at
night on my own, was *after* I got my commercial certificates :-)))
(and it was quite a thrill);

(my "plan C" was to spend a vacation in Australia and get my 5 hours solo
night time there);

read the regulations.

consider immigration.

but if you want to get this commercial ticket, you shouldn't let little
details like this stop you.


--Sylvain

ps did I mention that I was also paraplegic?



Sylvain,

One day, I'm going to fly over to you (at night, in a 737 ;o) and buy you a
beer! Thanks for your advice, you've quite possibly totally changed the
direction of my life (for the better).

Cheers,

Nathan