Bifocals vs. Progressive Lenses ???
 

I am 43 and my vision has changed a lot in the last year. My eye doctor sold me on progressive lenses and I have hated them since day 1. I find that I have to move my head excessively to see what I need to see because of the distorted peripheral vision that comes with progressive lenses.

The other issue I have (and I know it's not unique) is that everything I need to see is at different distances. I need to see to infinity out the windshield, to arms length for the EFIS tubes and close in for the IPAD, side panel and overhead. I see the tubes quite well without any glasses at all, but I need the glasses to land the airplane at night or in low visibility. When I put my old distance prescription glasses on it makes the tubes fuzzy.

I am about to go spend more money and try bifocals. I spent quite a bit on the progressives and it was a waste. A co-worker suggested executive bifocals with the line all the way across the lens. I also read that glass lenses are better then plastic for bifocals, and in low light conditions because they are supposed to have less glare.

I may ask for a distance correction on the top of the lens and a 0 correction on the bottom of the lens. I am going back to the optometrist next week.


My question is what works for you? Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

If you have Varilux or another quality lens, progressives can work really well. But, budget progressives are prone to the "barrel" effect and peripheral weirdness. You get what you pay for but if you have good progressives already, you might indeed need a different type of lens.

My eye doc says most pilots hate progressives. I experimented with bifocals but found that trendy narrow lenses don't have enough near or distant "working space"...I had to move my head up and down way too much and the transition line was always right in the middle of everything.

Turns out that the near correction is counter-productive for the instrument panel, and is really only useful for charts up close. Part of my problem is that my near vision isn't that bad, not 20/20 but I can still base the FAA test uncorrected so don't actually need near correction just yet.

The transition line would actually make my eyes water, probably because my vision system "felt" that something was in my eye making things blurry.

I got some larger"accountant" style glasses with a larger distant area and the near area much lower. Hopefully that will allow me to use distant correction for the panel and everything outside and keep the near correction out of the way until I need it for a chart. Not wearing those glasses outside the cockpit though!

This might be the reverse of you but could work...

I flew with one dude that had bifocals made with the line higher so it fell on the glare shield. It naturally fell where you would least notice it and he could keep his head more still and just move his eyes.

Thanks for the advice. I saw the ophthalmologist yesterday. I ordered bifocals. They recommended the "flat D 35". They did not recommend the executive bifocal with the line all the way across. They said that line creates a ridge in the lens that bothers a lot of people.
I also had the line set much higher then normal to give me a larger intermediate viewing area.

I will get the glasses next week and will report back.

I too am in my 40's and wearing progressives, which I have grown to like. If your aircraft's flight deck has an overhead instrument panel, then it may be challenging since the upper part of the eyeglass lenses are for distance vision (normally).. I have heard of some pilots going for a near vision line at the top of the lens for this reason. Less neck strain!

Here's how I took care of it. Was given Bi-focals that worked ok. On a day flight adjusted them so the break was right on the glareshield. Above glare shield was the distance lens. Below was the near. Went right to the office after landing and stated this is where the line needs to be. It is different from where they put the line for non-pilots. Also don't go full power on the bottom, that way you can read the instruments cross cockpit.

Progressive lenses.....hands down!


atp

I'm new to progressives as well. Definitely takes some getting used to but they seem to be ok. New airplane now with a different o'head and I notice now I sometimes have to look over the top (so what's the point, I was just peeking under my single visions!?). Generally speaking I do like them but I may try the multi-focal contacts again when my benefits renew next year.

Them dang progressives also make it harder to see all the sights while you walk thru the terminal.

Masterpiece HD lenses from wings eye care. I had a hard time adjusting to the Sam's club progressive lenses. The more expensive high definition lenses from wings eye care gives me the vision that I had at 23. You have a much wider viewing area so you do not have to turn your head as much. Normal price was $1000 for the lense/ frame combination, but got a 2 for 1 end of the year special.