By: Chipmunk Carol - 17th October 2004 at 19:02
A225HVY: Your avatar is irritating. Rant over.
I have been told that varifocals can be adjusted specifically for pilots inasmuch as the area on the lenses used for each type of focus is different. I believe the centre area is wider. There are about 4 different areas, as opposed to the original type which just had a half-moon area at the bottom of the lens. The cost is £275 as opposed to £125 for standard lenses!!
By: A225HVY - 17th October 2004 at 14:07
I wear varifocals for flying and driving have no probs whatsoever with normal or peripharal vision….maybe due to size of lenses as they are quiet small..
A225HVY
By: EwenT - 16th October 2004 at 22:02
Janie
I tried vari-focals and considered them downright dangerous when driving a car. Over a period of several months I had three different pairs ending up with the best available but finally settled for bi-focals. With or without single or bi-focal lenses I have good periferal vision but with vari-focals this becomes seriously degraded. If you go for vari-focals make sure that the optician will exchange and refund if they don’t work out for you. Good luck.
Ewen
ps. With the bi-focals I sat in the aircraft and marked the bottom of the windscreen on a old pair of glasses so that the optician knew where to make the change between the top and bottom sections – works OK.
By: Moggy C - 16th October 2004 at 10:45
Janie, It’s quite simple.
You can wear what you like so long as in doing so you can pass the minimum eyesight standards required to exercise the privelege of your licence.
I have heard of at least one airline pilot flying with three segment ‘tri-focals’ giving appropriate focal lengths for the panel, the world outside and the overhead panel.
But the eyesight test for your medical must be taken with these glasses, and you must have an identically configured spare pair.
If still in doubt e-mail the Belgrano. They are actually very helpful.
Moggy
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October 15, 2004 at 11:22 pm