Crownz

Hey guys, i checked some posts and saw nothing on this subject. I keep hearing by a bunch of ppl that you can't become a pilot if you have vision glasses. Is it true that you need perfect 20/20 vision to become a pilot or can you have 20/20 vision with glasses. Afterall, i cant think that they would limit the spots to ppl without glasses, so many others would be rejected. Can anyone inform me a little on this?

F15AvionicsTech

On the civilian side I believe there are no restrictions as long as your eyesight problems are correctable.

ctd57

That is correct. There will be a restriction on your medical that says that you must wear corrective lenses while operating aircraft.

PIC4ever

Correct, you will have it listed same as on your Drivers Lic. Get started and have fun!

ERJ135

Thats definitly true, I cannot pass a drivers test without glasses. For civlian when I do my medical occasionally I need to go to the doctors and get my glasses prescription strenghtened. No problems on teh civlian side. As far as military, I checked them out and they told not only I could not fly but even be in the military all together. Its that bad . I am not dissapointed, I'd rather have a cute FA behind me than a navigator, FE, or Bombs anyday.

Taylor0289

Do contact lenses count?

NE_Pilot

It is a common misconception that you cannot obtain a Pilot Certificate if you do wear glasses. As said, if your vision is not 20/20 or better, it must be correctable to 20/20. If you are nearsighted, you will have a restriction on your medical stating that you must wear corrective lenses while operating an aircraft (contacts count as corrective lenses), if you are farsighted, it will say that you need to have corrective lenses on you, not nesscarily wearing them, while operating an aircraft.

Same goes for color blindness, you will have restrictions, unless you can pass the tests.

Also, I don't know how, but you can still obtain a first class medical even if you are blind in one eye. There was an article on AvWeb not to long ago stating that there is somewhere around 200 ATP Rated Pilots who are blind in one eye. I'm not sure how this works, or what your restrictions are, but unless you are completely blind, eyesight problems don't seem to be a huge problem to overcome.

cloudjumper

Everything mentioned here is true.. I just wanted to throw in my two cents... At some companies, its policy that pilots who do wear corrective lenses carry with them a back up set. For example, if you wear contacts, you'll be required to carry your glasses in your flight case.
Also as far as I know, laser surgery is now an acceptable form of vision correction and wont disqualify you from a first class medical.
Hope I didn't just kick a dead horse.

Crownz

Thanks! That's pretty reassuring, because i would have been pretty ****ed if i was disqualified due to my eyesight. When you say civilian side, do you mean Private Jets aswell as big planes such as The Airbus or Commercial Airplanes?

cloudjumper

Civilian is anything that isn't millitary. Anything from a C-172 to a 747 is civilian.