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i didn't know that combat pilots could have glasses? i thought they had to have 20/20 vision?

<img src="http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com/AWA1/301-400/walk325_A-10/part2/images_Everett%20McEwan/74.jpg" border=0>



Edited by - Yojimbo on Apr 29 2003 02:16 AM

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i didn't know that combat pilots could have glasses? i thought they had to have 20/20 vision?
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The Air Force has a limit to what you vision can be and still fly. As long as you're under that limit and it's correctable to 20/20, you can still be a pilot. Also, certain types of laser correction surgery are being allowed by the Air Force. I don't have the specifics on that, but I'm sure someone here does.

damn if only i'd known that years ago ..

I think the limits only recently (in the last 5 years or so) started getting that broad. As far as I know, it's waiverable up to 20/200 provided it's correctable to 20/20, and you need to start with 20/250 to be elligible for the eye surgery waiver. But that's turning out to be more of a pipe dream than anything, since very few people end up qualifying for flying after having it.

I learned something that surprised me this morning: allergies no longer require a waiver. You can take Flonase, be DNIF for a week, and if you have no bad side effects you can then take it whenever you need it and don't need a waiver for it. If it doesn't do the trick you still need a waiver for Allegra. Allergies used to be the kiss of death for pilots.

"See that green switch? Flip it down."

Glasses? That surprises me.
I had glasses for many years and now I use contacts.

With glasses you have limited vision to the sides. I´m not a fighter pilot of course but I could imagine that especially when flying CAS missions you have to have your eyes everywhere with perfect vision. But maybe I´m thinking wrong here..

BTW I just read that women naturally have way better peripheral (?? just translated directly from german...?) vision. Thats great for them because they don´t have to move their head when an attractive man is walking by. So nobody realizes it.. <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle> right Poke?






"I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!"
-Homer, The Simpsons

_________________
\"My name's Pitt, and you ain't talkin' your ass outta this shit.\"

Careful, Homer! You're getting too close to figuring out our secret! <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

As for contacts, the Air Force is as usual about 10 years behind the times in medicine. They have just recently started allowing pilots to fly with contacts, but they have to be wearing certain kinds or something like that. The hesitations they had before had to do with stuff like what do do if you lost a contact, or got a speck of dust in your eye, or something like that. A cockpit isn't really a great place to be fishing around in your eyeball trying to find a lost contact lense. I guess TPTB got over it, though!

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Careful, Homer! You're getting too close to figuring out our secret! <img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>

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Ok, I´ll stop it here. I know you´re dangerous, Poke<img src=icon_smile_wink.gif border=0 align=middle>
Perhaps someday you´re flying over Germany and you might take revenge then.










"I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!"
-Homer, The Simpsons

_________________
\"My name's Pitt, and you ain't talkin' your ass outta this shit.\"

I'm still out of luck. 20-400, right eye only corrects to 20/30. Blind spots on both retina. The USAF recruiter said: "son, you may fly, but it won't be as a pilot in one of OUR aircraft." I got depressed and went into another line of work. Mother Nature is a bitch.


"The First Rule in a Gunfight: Have a gun. If you violate this rule, no other rules apply" Jeff Cooper

They haven't been acepting people like us for long, still deciding if the millitary is the way I want to go, but if they would let me fly the hog I may just (assuming that they haven't decommissioned the fleet in 5 years). For now though I'll have to be happy with my R/C.

It´s too bad, I never get a chance to try it because of my eyes.
But thats just the way I am...
Man I hate it to put in my contacts in every morning and out every night...<img src=icon_smile_dead.gif border=0 align=middle> gotta make that laser deal sooner or later...

rc hog, do you have an rc hog for real or is that just your name? you have a pic? i´d like to see that!




"I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!"
-Homer, The Simpsons

_________________
\"My name's Pitt, and you ain't talkin' your ass outta this shit.\"

Yes I have a R/C, haven't quite finished it yet (looks done but needs some electronics). Don't have a pic yet but hope to get a few. Here's a link to the company's site. http://www.gws.com.tw/english/product/airfly/a10.htm if it tells you to download a font just cancel.

Cool, RC, but why is the gun missing???
That´s what the A-10 is about isn´t it?
I hope you´ll add it to yours.


"I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!"
-Homer, The Simpsons

_________________
\"My name's Pitt, and you ain't talkin' your ass outta this shit.\"

I would, but I plan on belly landing on grass and a gun would just catch and cause it to flip. from the air no one will know the difference.

<img src=icon_smile.gif border=0 align=middle> ok, good point!
happy landings!! <img src=icon_smile_cool.gif border=0 align=middle>




"I'm not normally a religious man, but if you're up there, save me, Superman!"
-Homer, The Simpsons

_________________
\"My name's Pitt, and you ain't talkin' your ass outta this shit.\"