paestarr

I recently went for my First class medical and found out that I'm partially color blind. I took the Ishihara, Dvorine and AOC-HRR and failed by 1 or 2 plates on all of them. Now my last chance is the signal light test and I'm praying to all the gods to help me pass this test. My life long dream has been to become an airline pilot and its taken me 8 years to at least get enough money to go to one of those flight schools that offer everything "but" the airline job. Does anyone have any good and reliable and not beat around the bush advise for me because my moral and pride are just flushing away every second.

ny311

here you go

Color blindness

Av8trix

You may be able to pass an alternative test, the "Farnsworth Lantern" seems to be the one that folks have some positive results with. They're becoming increasingly hard to find- call every optometrist you can find, or alternatively, if you're willing to shell out the cash, there are aviation medical services out there that will even ship one to you I believe.

If you pass the lantern test, you'll give the optometrist a form to fill out, and you'll send that to the FAA. In return, you'll get a "letter of evidence" which exempts you from ever having to pass a color test again. So... not the end of the world. The good news is, I've heard many stories of folks taking the lantern test getting a few times to "warm up" with the lantern before being evaluated.

I had a student a few years back who failed the plates when he went in for his first medical. He started calling optometrists within a 3-4 hour driving range and finally found one. He passed just fine, and now has no restrictions on his medical.

**Don't** go take the light gun signal test just yet, leave that as an absolute dead **last** resort. If I'm remembering correctly, you only get two tries on that, and that's the end of it. No more evaluation- you get stuck with the night flight/color signal restriction.

⌐ AV8OR WANNABE

Some good advice here! It sounds like you are color deficient and like other here said there are waivers for it. If you were color blind like my cousin, you'd be out of luck, no waivers. Since you only missed 1 or 2 plates on all those tests you are not color blind.

If I were you, I’d contact those guys and ask for their help – that’s what they do for a living. I do not get any referral fee I’ve just heard they do a good job.

FAA Medical Certification / Color Vision

The FAA accepts several different tests to meet the color vision requirements. You must be able to differentiate between Aviation Signal Red, Green and White. If you do not pass the test given by the FAA medical examiner, you may take an alternate test.
An FAA administered light gun signal test is one option, however, if you fail, you will have a permanent restriction precluding night flight and flight requiring light signal control.


We have helped thousands of pilots with this process. We assist you by working with a private ophthalmological facility / practitioner to obtain alternative color vision testing such as the Farnsworth Lantern.
After obtaining the essential records, we work directly with the FAA to obtain a letter of evidence. This letter may be substituted for the FAA medical examiner's color vision test during future exams.

767pilot

I'm color deficient, no problem with a flying career. Like you, I miss one or two plates more than you are allowed, sometimes I even pass. For a waiver that allowed a second class medical, I took a test where I stood with an FAA inspector about a mile from the tower, and identified light gun signals. To get a first class medical I had to take a flight check with an FAA guy, flying around the city and identifying lights. Not a problem

PS- flying a brown airplane helps with the while red/green thing

⌐ AV8OR WANNABE

It also helps with the black and white thing, well more black than white..