Glass's and flying????

[Sloper]

Goodaye all

 

Well l have to admit l am getting older.

 

Today l got my first pair of bifcal or transition glasses.

 

Certernly different.

 

Do people use single lens for flying or just use there bifocales all the time?

 

l find the perifial vision is a bit blurred.

 

l could proberly get by wityh single vision for flying and driving.

 

Marking out on the plane l had been taking them off.

 

regards Bruce

 

 

[foxy]

hey sloper,

 

i cant give you an educated opinion on what is better to use, but what i would assume.....you have two places to look at, at all times...out the window at whatever distance, and also close up in the cockpit at t's & p's, instruments, and maps etc....so u need to have the focus for both areas. id probably suggest sticking with the bifocals. saves u changing glasses all the time.

 

is your peripheral blurry through the bifocals??? May be a drama as that might just be where an aircraft or a bird or two are hiding.

 

i know some guys who change their glasses over for reading checklists, etc inside, then use different for the flying side. seems like a lot of drama if u already have the easier option for a fix.

 

Liz.

 

 

[Guernsey]

Hi Sloper,

 

I use bifocals all of the time with no problems. About 5 years ago I had Tri Focals. The bottom section for close work (reading etc) the middle strip for Car dash panel or aircraft instrument panel, and the top section for long distance. Having said that I have now reverted back to Bifocals as my eyes have altered and cope very well.

 

Incidentally my eye specialist told me once that some older airline pilots have trifocals, the bottom for instrument panel, the middle for long distance and the top for overhead instrument panel distance.

 

Alan.

 

 

[kaz3g]

...Do people use single lens for flying or just use there bifocales all the time?regards Bruce

Hi Bruce

 

I am now on my fourth pair of photosensitive multi-focals.

 

Funnily enough, I had the last pair for several years - probably too long - and my eyes had changed so I just got a new pair which are a little stronger for the close-up stuff.

 

I've been landing a bit high the last few weeks and I think I've just realised why. I can see bugger-all out the front when I round-out for a 3 pointer so I look down at the ground beside me.

 

It all seems closer with these new specs!

 

kaz

 

 

[sfGnome]

Bruce,

 

I had to get bifocal sunnies made just so I could read the instruments! It made such a difference being able to read the labels instead of attempting to remember which switch was the strobe and which was the mags...

 

I just told the optometrist that the lower part needed to focus at about arms length, and then got him to put the separation line between the two halves down lower than normal so that the bulk of the lens is for looking out of the cabin, and only a relatively small part is for reading the panel and maps.

 

 

[Sloper]

Thanks, they do seem fine for driving.

 

Can focus on the dash and outside very well.

 

Time will tell.

 

regards Bruce

 

 

[poteroo]

Started with lookover bifocals back in 1985, and my vision has steadily deteriorated to where I now wear graduated glasses 100% of the time. I have had my ancient Raybans changed over to each new prescription. I still hold a Class 1 medical, and instruct both GA and RAA, night & day, high & low level - and still manage to get it down in one piece! Just accept that your body is crumbling with age - so use modern technology to keep you in the race. Artificial hip, botox, viagra........what next? We baby boomers are here for the long haul!

 

happy days,

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

Multi-focals, both clear lenses and a pair of wrap around sunglasses.

 

Works well, as I can focus on any distance between about 15cm and infinity.

 

There is a bit of distortion in peripheral vision for the sunglasses, but you soon learn to turn your head.

 

It did take me a few months to get used to Multi-focals lenses.

 

 

[Neil_S]

Hi Sloper,

 

I use multifocals (ie graduated) all the time - driving, flying, working on the PC - just need to tell the optician what you need and they sort out the appropriate details for close work, distance work etc.

 

Cheers

 

Neil

 

 

[Sloper]

Just accept that your body is crumbling with age - so use modern technology to keep you in the race. Artificial hip,

Already have a pair of those. :clap2:

 

regards Bruce

 

 

[Kyle Communications]

Well I am no expert with the flying yet but I recently got some new glasses with flying in mind as well as driving. I have 3 pairs of glasses now its a pain getting older. I have 2 sets focally the same the top is for long distance the bottoms are set for reading but at a slightly longer distance than normal. I set a set of clear in these and a set of sunglasses but NOT polarized so I can read lcd displays as polarized on some lcd's you cant read the lcd. I went flying 2 weekends ago with the new sunglasses and they were perfect for flying. I could see for miles out the windshield and just dropped my eyes and the instruments were all perfectly in focus so I was really happy with the result. The other pair I have is for working on my workbench doing the radio and electronics I do for my normal work. They are set totally differently. The tops are set for 800mm and the bottoms are set for 200mm. The bottoms are set so I can pick up the job and look very cloesly at the pcb then I can just look uo at all the test equipment and read the instrumentation. The other 2 pair the ones for driving and flying I am glad I put some thought into them when I got them made this time. I am extremely pleased with the outcome after the first "test fly" of them the other week.. Just put some thought into what you want to use them for

 

Mark

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

The more posts in this thread I read, the younger I feel...

 

 

[eightyknots]

The more posts in this thread I read, the younger I feel...

I take it, David, you read all the posts on this thread with your bi- or tri- focals

 

 

[Guest davidh10]

I take it, David, you read all the posts on this thread with your bi- or tri- focals

Multi-focals ie. continuous change from distance to closeup by head tilting. The close-up is very directional, in that I have to scan to read the PC screen... took a bit of getting used to, but after a few years doing it, I don't think about it consciously.

It just ticks me off when I have to keep swapping between ordinary clear lenses and sunnies (both multi-focal). That's for the glaring posts :big_grin:

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

The more posts in this thread I read, the younger I feel...

You definitely need a pair of steam-punk goggles in that trike David.

 

I've had single vision glasses for 30 years now but I don't wear them a lot, mostly when driving or flying. I might be wrong but I reckon it helps to wear them as little as possible as things haven't changed much for me in that period, my original ones are still just about right. Recently got some new ones & the opometerist scolded me for not having an eye test for more than 10 years (maybe he would go broke if everyone did that).