Progressive lenses OK for pilots?

pgbnh wrote:
Ron - I do not understand "Monovision contacts are still right out as far as
the FAA is concerned."
Are you saying the FAA approves of disapproves of monovision?

Monovision contact lenses are not permitted for flying.
If you wear contact lenses, your AME is supposed to tell you
this.

I normally do not wear my progressives. I wear contacts to correct for
distant vision and keep a pair of dime store reading glasses handy for near
vision. Charts etc. I do not need near vision correction for the
instruments, but I do for the fine print tower frequencies on charts.

I am lucky that I can wear my contacts for 14-18 hours per day with no
problems, they come out every night, get cleaned overnight and back in in
the morning. Every two weeks I open a new pair. I keep a pair of reading
glasses in my shirt pocket, a back up pair in the flight bag, plus a back up
pair of perscription bi-focals and perscription sun glasses.

I like downloading the approach charts I need and printing to full 8x11
size.

I did recently drive a car one weekend my my progressives, it took some
getting used to for the perifery, but I did not like it.
Most pilots I know will wear bi-focals with lines, so they know which part
of the lens they are using. Some even had the line set high enough so that
it correspons to the glare shield in a normal sitting position.

Ever see the airline pilots, with tri focals low, and bi-focals over the top
for the overhead panel?

On another note, I just started flying a G-1000 cockpit in the C-T182T, and
I found that my normal sunglasses just do not work well to see the AP
buttons set low in a dark part of the panel (day time ops).

BT


"skyfish" wrote in message
0...
I want to get current on my VFR Single Engine Land license but my eyes
are not what they used to be. The strength I need for good far vision
makes it so I can't read charts in the cockpit without taking them off.

I figured I would try a progressive lens because I thought it would
eliminate the extra task of taking my glasses off to look at a chart
(less work load is good right?), but I'm concerned about a few things:

1) the distortion of my peripheral vision for the top part of the lens,
let alone the bottom part.

2) the narrowness of the "corridor" that forces me to turn my head for
every single thing I want to look at... flight instruments and radios
are far enough apart to require a head turn.

3) can't view the entire width of a 81/2 piece of paper. I can only get
good focus on about 1/3 of it. The beginning and ends of the sentence
will be out of focus.

4) how much of my attention will be on getting my glasses to work vs.
looking out the window or at my instruments.

Any thoughts, ideas or personal experience you would care to relate
would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I have pretty good (post-laser) vision, but I got some distance lenses to
take me to 20-10. It is hard for me to read charts with them on. I got
some Randolph shooting glasses. They have interchangeable lenses in many
different colors, from yellow to purple. I picked a medium yellow, which
works as sun glasses in the day, and is still usable at night.

The neat feature about these glasses is that the nose bridge can be pushed
down (thus raising the lenses). This is designed to allow you to put your
cheek against the stock of a gun and still be able to look up and track a
target. With the nose bridge pushed down just a little, I can look below
the glasses to read a chart. The lenses are a little high, and I look
through the lenses to see the panel and out the windscreen. It's a neat
little system. When I get aroung to it, I'm going to get some other color
lenses.

"skyfish" wrote in message
0...
I want to get current on my VFR Single Engine Land license but my eyes
are not what they used to be. The strength I need for good far vision
makes it so I can't read charts in the cockpit without taking them off.

I figured I would try a progressive lens because I thought it would
eliminate the extra task of taking my glasses off to look at a chart
(less work load is good right?), but I'm concerned about a few things:

1) the distortion of my peripheral vision for the top part of the lens,
let alone the bottom part.

2) the narrowness of the "corridor" that forces me to turn my head for
every single thing I want to look at... flight instruments and radios
are far enough apart to require a head turn.

3) can't view the entire width of a 81/2 piece of paper. I can only get
good focus on about 1/3 of it. The beginning and ends of the sentence
will be out of focus.

4) how much of my attention will be on getting my glasses to work vs.
looking out the window or at my instruments.

Any thoughts, ideas or personal experience you would care to relate
would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Morgans wrote:


Although I have not tried progressives, as a carpenter walking around on
stuff way up in the air, I rather like knowing which range of lens I am
looking through.
I've really not had all that much of a problem...the transition area
isn't that large. For me the key was to get them to put it in the
right place ( a problem that would probably bother me as much with
regular bifocals as well).

Fortunately I can see the panel fine with the reading (or no)
correction, so I don't need trifocals.

As for work, I'm a computer programmer. My entire world consists of
2 20" flat panels about 18" away. I can't wear the bifocals, I take
them off. If my close vision progresses, I'll have to switch to
straight reading glasses for working.

skyfish wrote:
I want to get current on my VFR Single Engine Land license but my eyes
are not what they used to be. The strength I need for good far vision
makes it so I can't read charts in the cockpit without taking them off.

I figured I would try a progressive lens because I thought it would
eliminate the extra task of taking my glasses off to look at a chart
(less work load is good right?), but I'm concerned about a few things:

1) the distortion of my peripheral vision for the top part of the lens,
let alone the bottom part.

2) the narrowness of the "corridor" that forces me to turn my head for
every single thing I want to look at... flight instruments and radios
are far enough apart to require a head turn.

3) can't view the entire width of a 81/2 piece of paper. I can only get
good focus on about 1/3 of it. The beginning and ends of the sentence
will be out of focus.

4) how much of my attention will be on getting my glasses to work vs.
looking out the window or at my instruments.

Any thoughts, ideas or personal experience you would care to relate
would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

A number of people have said this, but it is really important that you
tell the eye guy about needing to see the panel. If you don't say
anything, the normal thing they do makes you put your head at an
uncomfortable angle.

Tell him you will use them to fly so he can set them up right for you.

Brad

On Sat, 18 Nov 2006 10:37:49 -0800, Jim Stewart
wrote:

skyfish wrote:

I want to get current on my VFR Single Engine Land license but my eyes
are not what they used to be. The strength I need for good far vision
makes it so I can't read charts in the cockpit without taking them off.

I figured I would try a progressive lens because I thought it would
eliminate the extra task of taking my glasses off to look at a chart
(less work load is good right?), but I'm concerned about a few things:


Some excellent comments have been made and in particular by 'Bushy
Pete'.
When I first went for the PPL medical I had to wear glasses for the
first time. I had almost mastered landing but with glasses it put me
back about 3-4 days until I got used to them!

I chose progressives (varifocal) with photochromics which after a few
days I got used to them. What I found at this time was I'd had
astigmatism for 48 years without knowing.

About a year later I needed 2 pair of glasses to comply with UK
requirements for a spare and was advised by the UK AME (also a pilot)
that I should use bifocals as they had less distortion.

I still sometimes use them, though that prescription is from some
years ago, but mostly I continue with progressives. I changed optician
and explained in detail the need to read maps, see the panel and
distance with maximum clarity at the sides. I also said I don't want
to tilt my head too high to read close up but still want to see the
PC. Oh! yes and I wanted anti-reflection, maximum darkness in sunlight
and maximum transmission of light at night - otherwise just a pair of
glasses?

About 2 years ago a new lens was on the market which allowed me to
tilt my head only slightly as the vertical range of focus changed
quickly from distance to close-up. The prescription was actually
backed off slightly to that from 2 years previously and I achieved
everything almost perfectly.

What I have learned over the years is photo gray can be made to from
about 2% to 95% transmission compared to normal photochromics only
around 20% to 80% so not as good for night flight.

With progressives the stronger the prescription the narrower the field
of view. If you imagine the clarity is best in the middle of a 'V'
shape the stronger the prescription the closer the sides of the 'V'.

Bi-focals have good lateral clarity but make sure the change does not
occur in the middle of the panel.

In conclusion I almost always use progressives except perhaps at night
then I return to the bi-focals but they were set with the line right
in the middle of the panel. A real pain but I can still see the panel
with either part of the lens.

skyfish wrote:

I want to get current on my VFR Single Engine Land license but my eyes
are not what they used to be. The strength I need for good far vision
makes it so I can't read charts in the cockpit without taking them off.

I figured I would try a progressive lens because I thought it would
eliminate the extra task of taking my glasses off to look at a chart
(less work load is good right?), but I'm concerned about a few things:

I guess the first question is what are you
currently using? If you have never tried
progressive lenses, you should know that
people generally love them or hate them.
I'm in the second group. They take quite
a bit of getting used to them, but my wife
loved them before she got her LASIK operation.

Personally, I find them an unacceptable
compromise. I have prescription bifocal
sunglasses for flying and that's what works
for me.

I had a long and happy career wearing bifocals and ultimately trifocals.
Worked for me. My eye doc, who was a pilot, had little good to say about
progressives.

Bob Gardner

"skyfish" wrote in message
0...
I want to get current on my VFR Single Engine Land license but my eyes
are not what they used to be. The strength I need for good far vision
makes it so I can't read charts in the cockpit without taking them off.

I figured I would try a progressive lens because I thought it would
eliminate the extra task of taking my glasses off to look at a chart
(less work load is good right?), but I'm concerned about a few things:

1) the distortion of my peripheral vision for the top part of the lens,
let alone the bottom part.

2) the narrowness of the "corridor" that forces me to turn my head for
every single thing I want to look at... flight instruments and radios
are far enough apart to require a head turn.

3) can't view the entire width of a 81/2 piece of paper. I can only get
good focus on about 1/3 of it. The beginning and ends of the sentence
will be out of focus.

4) how much of my attention will be on getting my glasses to work vs.
looking out the window or at my instruments.

Any thoughts, ideas or personal experience you would care to relate
would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

"skyfish" wrote in message
0...
I want to get current on my VFR Single Engine Land license but my eyes
are not what they used to be. The strength I need for good far vision
makes it so I can't read charts in the cockpit without taking them off.

I figured I would try a progressive lens because I thought it would
eliminate the extra task of taking my glasses off to look at a chart
(less work load is good right?), but I'm concerned about a few things:

1) the distortion of my peripheral vision for the top part of the lens,
let alone the bottom part.

2) the narrowness of the "corridor" that forces me to turn my head for
every single thing I want to look at... flight instruments and radios
are far enough apart to require a head turn.

3) can't view the entire width of a 81/2 piece of paper. I can only get
good focus on about 1/3 of it. The beginning and ends of the sentence
will be out of focus.

4) how much of my attention will be on getting my glasses to work vs.
looking out the window or at my instruments.

Any thoughts, ideas or personal experience you would care to relate
would be very much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

I got progressives. It is handy because I have a spot for the panel just
below the distance portion of the lense, and then a spot for close work
below that. However, the bifocal strip is indeed very narrow and the
distortion in the corners is considerable. After I started flying with the
durn things it took me a year of flying before I got my altitude right on my
roundout. With the big Stinson Reliant I can't see the airport in front of
me, much less the runway. I always glance down to the left to pickup the
edge of the runway so I can track down the runway when I land. The
distortion made it jump up in my face at a strange angle and I tended to
make beautiful landings about three feet above the runway! I finally got
used to it and now I can't land without the glasses. I tend to hit the
runway way before I expect it and make some very interesting bounces and
bounds! :-)

Highflyer
Highflight Aviation Services
Pinckneyville Airport ( PJY )

On Tue, 21 Nov 2006 21:05:02 -0600, "Highflyer" wrote:

snip
However, the bifocal strip is indeed very narrow and the
distortion in the corners is considerable. After I started flying with the
durn things it took me a year of flying before I got my altitude right on my
roundout. With the big Stinson Reliant I can't see the airport in front of
me, much less the runway. I always glance down to the left to pickup the
edge of the runway so I can track down the runway when I land. The
distortion made it jump up in my face at a strange angle and I tended to
make beautiful landings about three feet above the runway! I finally got
used to it and now I can't land without the glasses. I tend to hit the
runway way before I expect it and make some very interesting bounces and
bounds! :-)

Ad I mentioned before. I had the progressives for a while and was
doing fairly well until my first night landing with them. As I tend
to land quite nose high (if I stretch I can see over the glare shield)
with full flaps. Any thing less than full all I can see it the runway
lights on either side as they go by.

At any rate I started easing the nose up in the flare and suddenly I
had three sets of runway lights. One to the left, one to the right,
and one down the middle. Like the drunk, I picked the one down the
middle, but as I'd move my head that runway would also more around.
The glasses ended up in the back seat, but as I pulled them off with
the big Telex ANRs on I though one of my ears was back there with
them.




Highflyer
Highflight Aviation Services
Pinckneyville Airport ( PJY )


Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com