Color vision question

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I have a question about the color vision portion of the exam. I have been through many FAA medical evaluations before, and this is the one area that always makes me nervous. I seem to always barely pass this test. If I am looking through the eye machine, I struggle but pass. If I am looking in the book, I cannot read about half of the plates (last time I failed six). Light gun signals, PAPIs and whatnot are never a problem.

My concern is that one day I am going to just flat-out fail this part, and I will have to go to a towered airport to take the light gun test. Is there a way I can preempt this without failing the FAA exam first?
 
Great question!! I have the same problem and am wondering if I can go get a SODA before I fail.


Jeff
 
I'm wondering why one of our medical experts hasn't weighed in on this yet.
 
AuntPeggy said:
I'm wondering why one of our medical experts hasn't weighed in on this yet.
Click to expand...

I am wondering why as well. From what I remember in previous postings, the only way you can get a waiver is if you fail the color vision portion of the exam first. Is there no way to get the waiver first?

-original poster
 
...'cuase I missed the string.

Yes, the only way to get the waiver is to fail the color screening. I have a waiver but my current medical isn't dependent on the waiver. Why? I need the 7000K light intensity and spectrum that Dr. Ishihara demanded in his original (ca. 1966) publication. Flurosecent light in the AME office? 2000K if you're lucky.

I got my initial waiver because of crappy light in the original AME's office. I then stood at the end of the runway in Portland ME on a freezing winter day and squinted at the light guns.

But if I have the right light conditions, I can do it w/o problem.

The Reason you HAVE to have a failure first, is because resources are very, very limited.
 
Bruce, does color vision degrade with age? I think the question behind the question in this thread is: Would it be advisable, if one could marginally pass at the AME, to fail, get the SODA, and be done with it?

From my limited understanding, color vision does not degrade with age so that this tactic would only put unneccessary strain on the resources available.

-Skip
 
Usually, if color vision changes in midlife or later, you have a different SERIOUS kind of problem.
 
Everyone's vision gets slightly more yellowed with time as a result of aging lenses. Additionally, your lenses may get slightly cloudy (cataracts) and that can reduce the "brightness" of colors.

If you consistently fail a few plates, and if they are always the same plates, I would suspect you could be partially color blind, though I am not an expert in this area of medicine.

Hope this helps.

Joe
 
I think its great that everyone here at the orange board is so helpful.


Man I'm sorry I just couln't resist that.
 
AdamZ said:
I think its great that everyone here at the orange board is so helpful.
Click to expand...



Very funny, very funny. :rolleyes:


Must be viewing the world throuhg rose colored glasses and/or eating too many cheesesteaks.




:D
 
You could look for a AME that does not use a system so complex. The one I had told me to read the color and numbers from a book and then she just told me to read the lowest letter from a wall. That was it my AME took less then 20 min. hope that helps
 
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