New eyeglasses: how do I get them to do it right?

AggieMike88

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The original "I don't know it all" of aviation.
So I want to get new eye glasses. And I prefer the progressive no line style.

What is the simplest way to ensure they get the various focus parts correct for me and my looking at distance, the instrument panel, ipad suction cupped to the left window), and normal reading distance?
 
How about clip on, flip up reading glasses for your normal glasses? 95 percent of the time, everything you need to see is far enough away to be within infinity focus of corrected eyesight.
 
How about clip on, flip up reading glasses for your normal glasses? 95 percent of the time, everything you need to see is far enough away to be within infinity focus of corrected eyesight.
Tried some clip on flip ups…. Discovered I wasn’t a fan of that. Desire a “non-portable” solution
 
Mike, I’ve been using progressives for 22 years. I never once thought about those various issues. My glasses just work. It takes a little head movement to find the right spot, but it is always there somewhere. At least that has been my experience with them.

The one issue I never tried to resolve was getting the overhead panel to focus. I just looked over the top of my glasses and that worked good enough for me.
 
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Here’s what I do for lined bi/tri focals:

Sit in the cockpit while wearing an old pair of glasses, or sunglasses. Use post-it notes or similar, positioning the edge to match the top of the glareshield, for example. Then draw a line on the lens, using a marker. Take those glasses to the optical store, and while seated look at some object that’s aligned with your mark. Then, without moving your head, put on your new frames with clear lens and guide the sales person to place a mark aligned with that same object.
 
Of course, how foolish of me to get ahead of the correct first question...:lol::lol:
 
So I want to get new eye glasses. And I prefer the progressive no line style.

What is the simplest way to ensure they get the various focus parts correct for me and my looking at distance, the instrument panel, ipad suction cupped to the left window), and normal reading distance?
Make them remake the lenses at their expense until they get it right. The first year it took me 3 times, second year 2 times, last two years they’ve got it right first try.
 
Sorry, I've had progressives for some time. Things are sure spendy. Haven't had any issue with them on at all. I think the OP is making a 747 out of a 150.
 
Find a good doctor. I've had progressives for while now, never mentioned I was a pilot, they work great. Took me about 3 minutes to get used to them.
 
Sorry, I've had progressives for some time. Things are sure spendy. Haven't had any issue with them on at all. I think the OP is making a 747 out of a 150.
If it ain't a problem for Steingar it ain't a problem for anyone.
 
Start asking around among friends and business associates. Not just which store, but which employee really knows his business. Fitting glasses to your needs is somewhat of an art. Look for gray hair, too. It ain’t rocket science, but it does take experience.

-Skip
 
When the style went back to big and squarish the progressives work for all distances. Only problem is they look like what my Dad wore in the 60s. The rectangular style with a shorter vertical dimension doesn’t work for me, it’s trying to squeeze too much progression into too little space. I have a pair of each right now, only the big ones work for mid distances. The narrow rectangle I just use for general out and about.
 
Fitting glasses to your needs is somewhat of an art. Look for gray hair, too. It ain’t rocket science, but it does take experience.

-Skip

A recent eye exam at a new office (my last long time eye doc retired) was with the gray haired old fella. Hate to admit that it was the worst prescription I've ever received. Was hard to read a stop sign at a couple hundred feet. Told them when I put them on they were incorrect and got the old "wear them for a few days and get used to them" line.

Went back and asked for a different eye doc and got a very young, attractive, and quite knowledgeable doc to do the exam. New prescription is excellent. As noted above, if it ain't right make them fix it.

BTW ... I gave up on progressives and had my prescription set for distance as I can see up close very well. When really close I take them off or put them on top of my head so my wife can find them for me. :)
 
I went to an eye doc once during my long no-flying period. He happened to be an aviation optometrist but I was there as a normal ground pounder. He was a Private Pilot.
I just searched for him to see what his aviation credential was called and learned that he died just a few months ago with Covid. RIP.
Anyway, I remember talking with him about making bifocals and glasses with the reader part on the top and bottom for pilots with overhead panels. Not sure about progressives that way...I'm thinking probably not.
But my point is, look for an aviation eye doc.

My other point is about progressives generally. I found in my several years of wearing them, that it pays to spend as much as you can afford. The high end models have a significantly wider useable field of view. It really does make a difference. I never could get used to the lower end one....
 
Back before I had my eyes replaced, I had some very custom lenses made to my specifications with trifocal sections at the top and bottom to accommodate the overhead panel and the instrument panel. The dude who wrote the prescription for me physically measured the locations on the lenses and made specific instructions for exact placement of the corrections.

Unfortunately, they did no good at all since my lenses were degenerated to the point where a synthetic replacement was the only option for me to get my vision back.
 
I went to an eye doc once during my long no-flying period. He happened to be an aviation optometrist but I was there as a normal ground pounder. He was a Private Pilot.
I just searched for him to see what his aviation credential was called and learned that he died just a few months ago with Covid. RIP.
Anyway, I remember talking with him about making bifocals and glasses with the reader part on the top and bottom for pilots with overhead panels. Not sure about progressives that way...I'm thinking probably not.
But my point is, look for an aviation eye doc.

My other point is about progressives generally. I found in my several years of wearing them, that it pays to spend as much as you can afford. The high end models have a significantly wider useable field of view. It really does make a difference. I never could get used to the lower end one....
Can't agree more. I get the best lenses available because they provide a higher field of view than the cheaper ones. Even though my prescription isn't that strong and my lenses aren't thick, the expensive lenses usually used if you have a strong prescription are much, much better. But they are not cheap. This is not an area I'm willing to compromise.
 
I was going to say start by pretending you're at a party and walk up to an attractive woman and introduce yourself.

Seriously, when I transitioned to progressives, I sat in cockpit and took a picture with my phone, and then measured distance from eyes to the six-pack, to the far right of the panel (which is 2-3 times further away than the six-pack). This was inspired by a similar thread here years ago.

Then I went to optometrist, showed her the picture, and said “up here I want to be able to see at infinity, and then I want to be able to focus here at 15 inches, and over here at 32, and read my ipad in my lap.”

She really got into it, as it presented a little bit of a challenge for her; something out of the ordinary. Whether or not she actually wrote the prescription any differently, I don't know. But I was happy with the results. YMMV.
 
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I’ve had progressives for years. Never had an issue. The doc does the prescription, but it’s usually the optician in the front that does the pupil distance and height measurements for where to place the prescription on the lens. After that, like all glasses, they slide down and forward or the nose pieces get bent, or whatever, and all those exact measurements (except for the pupil distance) are just estimates.

Getting ‘best’ distance prescriptions can sometimes be helped if you mention to the doc where your normal reading, mid, and distance vision usually lands.
 
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I was going to say start by pretending you're at a party and walk up to an attractive woman and introduce yourself.

Seriously, when I transitioned to progressives, I sat in cockpit and took a picture with my phone, and then measured distance from eyes to the six-pack, to the far right of the panel (which is 2-3 times further away than the six-pack). This was inspired by a similar thread here years ago.

Then I went to optometrist, showed her the picture, and said up here I want to be able to see at infinity, and then I want to be able to focus here at 15 inches, and over here at 32, and read my ipad in my lap.

She really got into it, as it presented a little bit of a challenge for her; something out of the ordinary. Whether or not she actually wrote the prescription any differently, I don't know. But I was happy with the results. YMMV.
Thanks for this…. That is a an idea worth trying.
 
At any rate, glasses solutions are always adjustable. If you choose to get Lasic or PRK, do NOT choose any correction other than full long distance vision. You can always do progressives, or reading glasses for the fine print if you need. But once your long distance vision is gone, it's gone.
 
May sound funny but I had the bifocal put at the top of the lens. I would rather look down than up....:rolleyes:
 
At any rate, glasses solutions are always adjustable. If you choose to get Lasic or PRK, do NOT choose any correction other than full long distance vision. You can always do progressives, or reading glasses for the fine print if you need. But once your long distance vision is gone, it's gone.
At the moment, no interest in LASIK or PRK
 
So I want to get new eye glasses. And I prefer the progressive no line style.

What is the simplest way to ensure they get the various focus parts correct for me and my looking at distance, the instrument panel, ipad suction cupped to the left window), and normal reading distance?

Why not multifocal contacts?
 
Why not multifocal contacts?

My optometrist specifically advised against wearing my multifocal contacts while flying, and especially at night. And in my case, they did not totally eliminate the need for reading glasses. Could see panel ok, but not ipad. For the short hops for proficiency, I wore the contacts; but for long trips and at night, wore my progressives. But for everyday terrestrial use, loved them.
 
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I wish I could do contacts, but they never worked for me back in the day. I've been wearing glasses way too long to change now. They're now a part of my appearance.
 
Sigh. Twice I've tried progressives, at different times and with different optometrists. Both times they made me seasick and gave me headaches for the week or so that I tried them. I never could get used to them. Don't tell me I didn't give them enough time; believe me, I did. It seemed to me that the middle distance part was too narrow and never really centered on my pupils, even though the optometrists swore up and down they were (why they can't make the middle distance part wider is beyond me). I tried trifocals for awhile (with lines), but the fields of view are just too narrow, so I have two pairs of glasses, one for computers and reading and one for distance and reading. Makes the panel slightly blurry (because it wants the middle distance ones, but I have to wear the distance ones to see and avoid), but not so I can't read it (also I've been flying the same airplane with the same instruments for years, so I know exactly what the instruments say even if I can't see them with perfect clarity).
 
I just got my eyes examined and ordered all the bells and whistles like all the pairs before. My wife is bedridden so the young woman at the counter helped me pick out new frames. They are wider and taller than my current pair. She said the bigger size will help my progressive lenses. I didn't worry about getting them customized for aviation. I haven't had trouble seeing the IP because of them. I have trouble seeing Sports car's EFIS, but that's because I'm a lot taller than the FAA standard issue pilot.

BTW, when I first got progressive lenses, I wasn't safe to drive a shopping cart, but I got used to them pretty quickly.
 
Exam was today. Chose new optometrist and lucked out one of the partners is a pilot.

The suggestion to bring photos of the panel with measurements from my face to the instruments and iPad helped.

They also had a machine that could measure the fields of my existing glasses and notes that they were pretty narrow in the middle and close areas. We discussed that wider was possible.

They are one of the few Flying Eyes dealers in the area that can do prescription. Which is why I went there. The Luzon frames were selected (and look good) and have the magnetic clip on option.

Will report additional results when glasses are in and I have had a flight or three with them.
 
BTW, when I first got progressive lenses, I wasn't safe to drive a shopping cart, but I got used to them pretty quickly.

"Pretty quickly" being how long? I figured if, after a week, things weren't getting better at all, it was enough time.
 
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