OK folks, I've been reading all the replies in re: glasses for near and far
vision
correction but no one has yet to mention the simplest and by far the cheapest
solution. Yup, that would be contact lenses. Not only do you get to have
normal peripheral vision which you don't have with glasses of any kind, and
especially
with progressives, but you can get one eye corrected for near and one
eye corrected for distance (aka, mono-vision). For us older folks, that also
helps with a quick transition from far to near or vice versa since older eye
muscles take longer to accommodate the change. You also can choose from a wide
variety of sunglasses that are far cheaper than prescription sunglasses.
Now, the FAA will tell you that you can't fly with mono-vision (actually you can
and still be legal but only if your vision has been surgically corrected, but
not with contact lenses - go figure!) because the FAA apparently does not
understand
that at any distance further than about arm's length, two eyes are not
needed for perfectly normal depth perception (ask your eye doc). I learned
to fly (before the FAA changed the rules) with mono-vision so I know it does not
affect depth perception as required for landing (or anything else). Of course
I need a spare lens for the "near" eye (which in my case is does not require
any correction for near vision) when I take my Class 3 Medical so I can pass
the "two eyes for distance and two eyes for near" vision test, albeit with a
pair of "readers" for near vision.
Best regards,
Rob Housman
Irvine, CA
Europa XS Tri-Gear
A070
Airframe complete
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com
[mailto:owner-europa-list-server@matronics.com] On Behalf Of Frans Veldman
Sent: Friday, October 23, 2009 3:38 AM
Subject: Europa-List: Flying and reading glasses?
Hi Everyone,
So far I have had the luck that I never needed any eye correction.
However with an age of 45 I'm finding myself getting more and more
troubles to focus nearby, and for working on small parts (electronics)
I'm already using reading glasses.
I made the unfortunate discovery that the instrument panel of the Europa
is becoming quite close to the range where I can focus comfortably, and
that alternating frequently between looking outside and on the
instrument panel is no longer comfortable for my eyes. :-(
There must be more people on this forum with similar problems. How does
one solve this? What I was thinking about is special "flying
sun-glasses" with a sharp change-over exactly at the angle where the
glareshield is in my vision, with everything below that with some mild
"plus" correction. This way alternating between looking outside and on
the instrument should go with minimal changes in focal efforts for my
eyes. My optometrist is happy to construct special sun glasses if I
measure the exact angle where the division between outside and
instrument panel is, but is "my" solution workable in practice? I am
aware that there are glasses with a gradual change-over from far to
near, but in the Europa there is no gradual change over, it is either
focus on "infinity" or focus on "instrument panel" and nothing in
between (unless something disasterous is about to happen).
I guess I'm not the first one thinking about this problem. How do other
people solve this? Or am I just spoiled, being used sofar to superb
vision without any corrections?
Wearing "just" reading glasses for looking at instruments and maps does
not work as I like to wear sun glasses as well, so it should be all
together in one device.
I would love to hear other peoples solutions!
Frans
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