Failed my Class III medical today.

EdFred

EdFred

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Well, I figured the day was coming, but not quite so soon. I failed to pass the Class III exam today. Until I put on my glasses, then I was all good. 20/30 uncorrected with both eyes at a distance, but 20/50 individually, so I had to put em on in order to get it issued.
 
Welcome to the mid-point in life, good friends.........

I did great on the eye exam till I turned 44......

10 years agooooo:cryin:
 
tonycondon said:
wow it must suck being old
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I'd always been right on the edge - even when I was 16. Depending on the time of day, and how I was feeling I would pass w/o glasses. I could probably go back this afternoon and pass. Here was the odd thing. 3 months ago I had an eye exam, and my right eye supposedly has better acuity than my left. Today, they were flipped. The left eye was better than the right.

Near vision was 20/10, and intermediate was 20/15.
 
steingar said:
Can you just go back and do it again with a new prescription?
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He passed it with his current prescription.

I was somewhat surprised at my last second class medical that I was able to pass it without my glasses. He didn't say how on the edge I was, though. We'll see what this year's olds for me.
 
ScottM said:
I had to wear reading glasses for my last Class3. I could not pass without them.
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I think there is a difference between using glasses for far vision and reading. My AME told me that next exam I'll need the reading glasses I was pretty close but said I only have to have them with me in the plane where as I think if you need them for far vision you actually have to wear them. Not positive on that but that what I understood. Guess I'll find out in a year.
 
AdamZ said:
I think there is a difference between using glasses for far vision and reading. My AME told me that next exam I'll need the reading glasses I was pretty close but said I only have to have them with me in the plane where as I think if you need them for far vision you actually have to wear them. Not positive on that but that what I understood. Guess I'll find out in a year.
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Correct. My medical says "must wear corrective lenses", and my dad's (and probably Scott's) says something like "must have corrective lenses available."
 
The knees are the next thing to go. Except that you can't just buy lenses and make them all better.
 
wabower said:
The knees are the next thing to go. Except that you can't just buy lenses and make them all better.
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Too late. I blew my knee out in a fight with a cracked-out freak about 6 years ago, ending my police career. Add that to the broken back and dislocated hip at age 24, the arthritis that's setting in from all my injuries as a youth, and bifocals since I was 26, and I'm starting to feel old.
If I'd know I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself.

The good news is I barely passed my last physical without glasses. I am trying to keep from having a restriction on my medical.
I'm not looking forward to the knee replacement that's probably 4-5 years away.
 
Jeez, get over it. I find it pathetic watching people who need glasses try to read without them for ego.
I found long ago that just leaving the glasses on and being able to see at all distances near and far better than 20/20 sure beat squinting, holding the paper full arms length away, and other silly antics.
 
Lance F said:
Jeez, get over it. I find it pathetic watching people who need glasses try to read without them for ego.
I found long ago that just leaving the glasses on and being able to see at all distances near and far better than 20/20 sure beat squinting, holding the paper full arms length away, and other silly antics.
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Some of us do wear our glasses all the time, but don't want a restriction on our medical. To me, it's one more thing for the Feds to jack with you about. Is that too difficult to understand?
 
I've learned to walk into the exam with my bifocals. Strangely enough, the only time I wear the bifocals is flying.
 
EdFred said:
Correct. My medical says "must wear corrective lenses", and my dad's (and probably Scott's) says something like "must have corrective lenses available."
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Mine says "must have glasses in possession" because I only need them for reading (for seeing the Kohlsman window on the panel, too, but that's the second of the three prescriptions I need and don't tell anybody. )
 
hey im just enjoying it while i can guys. take a deep breath. :)
 
yea but only because i have a 2nd class. last time or time before last i tried the test without the glasses and was 20/40 or whatever the requirement is for 3rd class. need 20/20 for 2nd though. i think i've got the opposite of what happens when you get old. the eye doctor tells me that as i get to 40 and beyond my vision will probably improve and then get worse again or something like that.
 
PilotAlan said:
Too late. I blew my knee out in a fight with a cracked-out freak about 6 years ago, ending my police career.
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J/C. that's what the TASER if for.
Add that to the broken back and dislocated hip at age 24, the arthritis that's setting in from all my injuries as a youth, and bifocals since I was 26, and I'm starting to feel old.
If I'd know I was going to live this long, I'd have taken better care of myself.

The good news is I barely passed my last physical without glasses. I am trying to keep from having a restriction on my medical.
I'm not looking forward to the knee replacement that's probably 4-5 years away.
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Sigh. Thank you for your service, Alan.
 
bbchien said:
Sigh. Thank you for your service, Alan.
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Thanks, but no need to thank me. It was a blast!
On my deathbed, I'll not have to wonder if I made a difference in this world.
 
Can a restriction on a Class II be easily removed at the next medical? Specifically, "Must wear corrective lenses."
I do not have very bad vision but had my contacts in as I normally do since I enjoy having perfect vision with them.
Would passing the visual acuity test without correction be enough to remove this or would there be additional paperwork?
There's no need to delve into a discussion on visual safety here.
 
I've been wearing glasses since I got out of college, so I'm used to them. Until this topic came up I never thought twice about the "restriction" on my medical.

It's not like I'd fly without them, so to me it's not really a restriction.
 
flyersfan31 said:
I've been wearing glasses since I got out of college, so I'm used to them. Until this topic came up I never thought twice about the "restriction" on my medical.

It's not like I'd fly without them, so to me it's not really a restriction.
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Same here - been wearing since I was about 8, so never really had a choice not to unless I wanted to spend life bumping into walls and seeing every light more than about a foot away as a big fuzz ball....

Prefer to fly with contacts, though - don't have to worry about sharp vision stopping at the edge of the frame, views are crystal clear with daily wear lenses , and all the cool sunglasses are still available :cool2:
 
OK, Ed... you scared me with that thread title... personally I wouldn't care if I had an entire separate page of restrictions stapled to my medical... as long as I had it in the end and could still fly! There isn't much I wouldn't do to keep it current... so far for me, I need lenses (glasses) for distance correction only. (Whew.)
 
flygirl34q said:
OK, Ed... you scared me with that thread title... personally I wouldn't care if I had an entire separate page of restrictions stapled to my medical... as long as I had it in the end and could still fly! There isn't much I wouldn't do to keep it current... so far for me, I need lenses (glasses) for distance correction only. (Whew.)
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...and your kneeboard.
...and your rudder pedal extensions.

:)
 
:redface: Whatever it takes, Jesse! I'm just happy to be a part of it all and can't ever take anything for granted. :thumbsup:
 
Without glasses my vision is worse than 20/200. :frown3: I go for an eye exam a month before my Medical and get new eyeglasses. Then I have a whole month to get used to them. When I got my last Medical 3 months ago I was told that with the glasses my vision was 20/12.5.
By the way, when I fly at night I wear one of those eyeglass holders - looks like a cord attached to each earpiece and goes around the back of my head. If my glasses were to fall off in flight, in the dark, how would I ever be able to find them? :eek:
 
Guess I don't understand the issue with reading glasses. I had 'perfect' vision until old age set in... long about age 38. Dealt with reading glasses, when I could find them, for oh, maybe two weeks, before I said to heck with that and ordered bifocals. These days my glasses are the first things I put on in the morning and the last things I take off at night. When I snorkel or dive, I wear bifocal contacts, but not happy with the best correction I can get with them, so it's four-eyes full-time, otherwise.

I'm a little amused at the expensive and inconvenient lengths most of my antique contemporaries go to, to pretend they're still 30- they dye their white hair blonde, smear their faces with fancy wrinkle cream, and can't read anything smaller than screaming 60 point typeface, but put up with the inconvenience for vanity's sake. Always wondered, but wouldn't dare ask, just who do they think they're fooling?
 
jxdrl said:
Can a restriction on a Class II be easily removed at the next medical? Specifically, "Must wear corrective lenses."
I do not have very bad vision but had my contacts in as I normally do since I enjoy having perfect vision with them.
Would passing the visual acuity test without correction be enough to remove this or would there be additional paperwork?
There's no need to delve into a discussion on visual safety here.
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I can't say about Class II- but I'll share my experience with a Class III medical.
I've done this twice now as my eyes are apparently borderline at distance. My last NJ medical, I was able to pass without any lenses; the next one needed the restriction back on. I passed my current medical without corrections. They simply don't type "Must wear corrective lenses." on the medical.

With the glasses, I check out at 20/10 for distance, so I use them. I like the option, if absolutely needed, to be able to get home reasonably safely and legally without corrective lenses.
 
As for the corrective lenses, my husband was a Navy flight surgeon during the Vietnam War. His fighter pilots would come in to get him to refract their eyes three or four times over several days, until they'd agreed on the best of all possible distance vision. These guys already had 20/20 vision or better, but with glasses they could crank it down to 20/10 or even 20/05. In that environment, being able to see that speck of an approaching MiG a few miles further away than they could see you, meant a lot.
 
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