A place near me sells Progressive for $100. Some folks go there instead of using insurance. Seem as good as pricier outlets. I’ve worn Progressives for 30+ years. Only issue I had is playing sports where I think a fixed lens is better.
As I've mentioned in other posts - get them fitted by an experienced optician - skip the big chain stores, find a mom&pop that's been round a while. Tell 'em you fly, and use an instrument panel that's a bit closer than an auto's dash (if yours is)
I think there's a significant difference in the demands placed on eyeglasses when comparing different types of aircraft. An aircraft which affords a good forward view over the panel both in flight and during takeoff, landing and ground operations isn't going to demand as much of the eyewear than an aircraft with limited forward visibility. The plane in my avitar completely blocks forward view of the runway during takeoff and landing flare. It is difficult to see over the nose just taxiing. I have progressives which work fine for everyday use, but are at times quite disorienting if used in the plane on the avitar.
That’s no joke. I’ve been noticing the same thing taxiing the Beech 18. For a taildragger, it actually has god forward visibility over the nose, but because of the angle on the ground, you end up looking through the bottom of the lenses to see forward which blurs things quite a bit. Pain in the butt.
There is no reason to call someone names because you don't agree with their opinion. Are progressive lenses the same as no line bifocals?
This is correct for day vision, but for night vision the rods are primarily used, and are not in the center of the eye. Which is why most night vision occurs from peripheral vision. From: CFI Notebook Because rods are mostly located away from the fovea, they are responsible for peripheral vision This requires a pilot to look off center to see an object at night I tried progressive lenses for computer work and distance vision so I didn’t have to take off my glasses in a conference room or to walk around. I couldn’t get used to the lack of clear peripheral vision. After a year, I am now switching back to single vision for computer, and ordered a pair of bifocals with appropriate correction for reading instruments and adequate for reading paper checklists. They placed the bifocals at the place they do for all their pilots. I don’t have them yet, so we will see if I can get used to them. Clearly progressives work well for many pilots here. I’m curious about night flying and how you use peripheral vision to identify traffic. Maybe I had a bad manufacturer, but they were certainly not cheap.
Progressive lenses have a design that resembles an hourglass. )( The distance correction is at the top of the lens, so even at night, you have a wider field in focus helping your peripheral vision. The narrow field in the middle is for arm's length focus, such as the instrument panel. The wider field at the bottom is for reading, about 12 inches from your eye.
That’s how mine, from Walmart, seem to work and work well. I can see how in a cockpit with lots of overhead switches an additional “midrange” strength at the very top could be handy.
That was my problem. When my head was level, the sides of the )( were out of focus. If I dropped my head and looked through the upper portion of the lens, the peripheral vision improved, but it was not comfortable over long durations and I never got used to holding my head that way. We'll see how the bifocals go as I've heard those are also hard to get used to.
With my progressives, I have seen no significant difference based on the airplane, it's attitude on landing (many cover the runway and rely on peripheral vision for height and position), or time of day or night. Obviously, others have, which just goes to prove the point that one size does not fit all. The only way for anyone to know whether they work for them or not is to try them. For at least a few days since even our rates acclimation to those kinds of changes can be very different. (BTW, I once tried bifocals. That was a definite No Go for me!)
They work great for me. At night, it's more difficult to see overhead switches or something in the periphery but doable.
There is an incredible variety of lenses available for different applications. You can purchase lenses with a reading correction at the top to help with overhead switches (also very useful for mechanics). You can buy lenses with a reading correction way off to the side so you can fill out a golf scorecard without it interfering with your game.
I use Wayfarer Ray Bans from Lens Crafters with my Rx for near and far and I can see everything fine. Traffic at long distance, to the panel at medium distance, to my iPad mini (Garmin Pilot) close up -- with no problems. Actually, only problem is the cost. They are like, $600. Killer.
@Mark Krisburg brings up an important and potential safety issue with progressive lenses for some people. My corrective Rx when applied to progressive lenses only allowed sharp focus in a very small area of the lens when viewing text/objects at panel distance and closer. Far vision had the same effect but not as pronounced. I have to resort to trifocals in the plane. I tried progressives for a while and it worked until instrument training. Having to turn my head during panel scanning to keep items I was viewing in focus was a no go. With trifocals my peripheral vision remains in focus with only shift gazing required instead of turning my head. VFR flight was not an issue but I still prefer the trifocals even then. I think this effect will vary based on the correction required for each pair of eyes so it will be a personal preference.
@Matthew how do you know the brand of lenses? How do you know which are better? Folks mentioned Nikon and Kodak up thread. I've worn glasses for 40 years (since 2nd grade) and wasn't aware of any of this. @Llewtrah381 you fly an open cockpit trike? So this is eye protection as well as providing vision. What glasses are designed to take Walmart/Amazon clipons? I never find clipons that actually fit my frames and I always lose them. How do you have them ready (keep them in the plane and in the car)? @Initial Fix wgat are computer glasses (vs my near sighted coke bottles or progressives). So I've got a strong distance Rx. Added reading correction 3 years ago around 45 yo. I cheaper out and used Eye Buy online. Dumb. Im going to get new glasses now but don't know where to go. Local shop. Costco. LensCrafters/Pearl. Im blind for distance. I can't read my computer screens anymore with this RX and then a tablet/chart/Harry Potter book being read with mi kid - I lift these progressives up to read. It's old. Eye strain. Headaches. Neck aches. BUT - I do want to get my IR. I've been reading a lot that you DON'T want to move your head to prevent inner ear / spatial disorientation issues etc. IR is a year maybe more out for me, but considering all that.
I've been using progressives for flying for at least 5 years now. All of these gloom and doom posts about them haven't happened to me or the other pilots I know who use them. I see better than 20/20, great acuity. I move my head flying on instruments, they work great with a hood, the only issue I can think of is that foggles didn't allow me to get to the mid range of the lens so I couldn't use foggles. My suggestion is to talk to your eye doctor or eye glass technician about it. I buy glasses that use crizal lenses, they cost more, but maybe that's why I don't have any of these complaints. I will say, the last set of glasses I got a few months ago were not good. Long distance was fuzzy, up close was ok. I thought maybe I was getting old, but I would see better out of my old scratched glasses. So I went back. They ordered new lenses for me, tested the crap out of them when they got back, I put them on, I saw perfectly again. Don't put up with crappy or incorrect glasses.
I actually fly a Magni M-16 gyro, which has a reasonably effective windshield up front (and one for the back which is less so). In the gyro, I use flip-ups since I can easily manage those with one hand. Otherwise I use clip-ons. Walmart has a pretty impressive array of sizes of clip-ons as well as flip-ups. The 54 (size) Rec 19 (shape; rectangular, shape “19” in their collection) works very well for the glasses I go with. I have probably 5 of the clip-ons from over the years, in my vehicles, plane, and elsewhere. As they get scratched up from me just putting them in pockets when I’m out and about, they graduate to my weed-eating pair. Just start by going to WM with the glasses you currently use and see what they have.
I'm really, really picky about lenses. I have no problem at all with my Zenni lenses. No distortion, clear and sharp. The frames aren't as expansive as the ones they sell at my local optician, but they are good frames, and nice looking. I have zero complaints with them. Yesterday I went to get my eye exam and new glasses. I always buy ONE pair from my local place, we have known the owner for decades. The exam, frames, and lenses came to over $1100 (ONE pair); after insurance I ended up paying about half that. They'll have them to me in two weeks -- or so. I plugged the numbers into Zenni's web site. $146 all in, including shipping, and they'd be here in a week. I'll probably order a pair of sunglasses from Zenni, and may get a backup pair of regular classes as well. The difference? My local place guarantees everything for 2 years. Frames, lenses, all of it. The only thing they don't cover is loss, theft, or pets chewing them up. If I drop and scratch or chip a lens, they'll order a new pair for me, no charge. I've used that a couple of times over the years. If I get the new progressive lenses and hate them, they'll swap them out with bifocals for free (once). So it's not exactly apples to apples, more like apples to apple crepes Suzette prepared for you personally at tableside by Wolfgang Puck.
My optometrist does this as well. As I mentioned above, I have bifocals on order. If I can't adjust to them, or don't like them, I may give progressives another try, but using one of the brands of lenses mentioned in this thread. My first set was not good, but I didn't focus (ha ha) on the brand of the lens.
[QUOTE="PaulS, post: 3364804, member: 2569" I buy glasses that use crizal lenses, they cost more, but maybe that's why I don't have any of these complaints. Don't put up with crappy or incorrect glasses.[/QUOTE] I had 3 pair of glasses with top quality lenses (one clear, one transition, one tinted). All had the same effect for my eyes. I wish they would work but I've tried for months to adapt and it was pas bon. I don't like trifocals either but they are much more functional. Unfortunately I spent several AMU's before finally giving up. If I had to do it over again with the theoretical 20/20 hindsight I would have put in the basic progressive lenses in a single pair and tested it before I bought several pairs to have them in my vehicle/home/work/plane. I've swapped lenses in 3 out of four of the frames; I still use the progressive tinted lenses in my car. On Paul's second comment on quality....absolutely buy the best quality 'glass' you can afford; it is worth every cent.
Fortunately, that hasn't been a problem. Over 30 years with glasses, I haven't had to hypothetically use the almost $900 differential even once, so figure $900 x 30 as my savings (feel free to figure the differential was smaller in the past.
Computer glasses are basically reading glasses set for about 2 foot viewing distance. Your optician will know what they are. They have really helped eye strain as I stare at a computer far too much at work.
At the same time there’s no reason to slam something that plenty of people have no problem with. So why do you have an issue with my rebuttal? They were over aggressive in their opinion against. I replied in kind.
