Pilot Vision

academyboundd

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Joined
Jul 13, 2018
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I was wondering...does pre-PRK vision matter in whether you are qualified to be a pilot or not? Both of my eyes are -6.00 which is FAR below the vision standard and am kind of banking on PRK to bring me up to vision standards.
 
I was wondering...does pre-PRK vision matter in whether you are qualified to be a pilot or not? Both of my eyes are -6.00 which is FAR below the vision standard and am kind of banking on PRK to bring me up to vision standards.

Yes. It does matter. You can’t be worse than -8.00 diopters before surgery.

What are the other numbers of your eye glasses prescription?

Also, high myopes like you are at increased risk for retinal detachment. The back of your eye (retina) will be examined closely. If there is anything wrong with your retina like there are holes, tears, lattice degeneration, etc then you won’t be qualified even though your pre-op refraction is better than -8.00.
 
BC: 8.5
DIA: 14.2

Cyl: -.5 for both eyes
Axis: 176 Left 174 Right

I’ve been told by the eye doctors from my DoDMERB exam that other than the nearsightedness my eyes are healthy.
 
Last edited:
BC: 8.5
DIA: 14.2

Cyl: -.5 for both eyes
Axis: 176 Left 174 Right

I’ve been told by the eye doctors from my DoDMERB exam that other than the nearsightedness my eyes are healthy.
How indepth was the eye exam because when you finally go through your 3 day pilot medical exam, where one day is basically dedicated to your eyes, they catch things there that you wont catch with a general eye examination. Plenty of Rotc guys make it through the medical exams without any problems during their four years at college and then get rejected when go to this 3 day event. If the stuff your civilian doc puts in your eyes to dliate them is equal to a 3, the stuff they put in your eyes at the the exam is like a 10. Your eyes are out of wack for about 2 days. Having my son go through this and sucessfully, i would have my kids eyes fully examined by an opthomoligist and have them do a full exam in order make sure there is nothing wrong. My son along with three others went to Wright Patterson to get their physical. Of the four, my son was the only one that left Wright Patterson with a pilot spot. Of the other three, one was rejected because they discovered he hade cataracs that he was probably born with, the other was rejected because the placement of his eyes were off and the third wasnt rejected as he went in as RPA. Another guy from another group was rejected because with glasses the best he could do was 20/25
 
BC: 8.5
DIA: 14.2

Cyl: -.5 for both eyes
Axis: 176 Left 174 Right

I’ve been told by the eye doctors from my DoDMERB exam that other than the nearsightedness my eyes are healthy.

So based on the numbers you provided, you meet the waiver standards for corneal refractive surgery with your pre-op refraction being better than -8.00 (yours is -6.00).

Pre-op refraction is just one of the standards though. There are many other wickets to get through like @Humey alluded to.
 
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