Bi-Focals for flying

[Richard Grogan]

How many of you eyeglass-wearing stunt flyers fly with bifocals? I am far-sighted, but often forget to change to regular shades after starting the engine(I am blind up close). I wear progressive lens that are polarized. Just curious for input... 

[W.D. Roland]

Hey Richard
How you doin man?
Long time no talk.

Getting to where I dont see good up close.
About 2x glasses for normal building or working on stuff.
About 3x for detail stuff like examining engine parts.
Sun glasses with as big and flat a lens as I can find.

Its not uncommon to see me with 3 pair of glasses hanging from my shirt collar and pockets.
Except for when I loose them.

Planning to make the B.R. contest for my first try at stunt.
See you there?

David
AMA 51336

[ray copeland]

I am near sighted, i wear one contact in my dominant eye for flying, i can still see up close with the other eye!!

[Garf]

I wear bifocal sunglasses for flying. Seems to work ok.

[Steve Helmick]

I don't see real well up close without corrective lenses, or very far away, for that matter. Arms length is about perfect. My Eye Dr. says my vision has improved, and am legal to drive without corrective lenses.  So, sometimes I fly with just dark glasses, and sometimes I fly with tinted single vision (distance) glasses with dark clip-ons added (can almost stare at the sun).  Mostly, it depends on how bright the sun is. I have flown with blended bifocals without a problem, but non-blended give me trouble. Can't tell where the ground is/isn't, apparently. Exactly where your bifocals are located on your lenses would make a difference, or if they slip down your nose.    Steve

[W.D. Roland]

Steve
That reminds me of an article I read in MA about 20 years ago.
Written by an eye doctor r/c flier who noticed that his flying buddies/patients were developing cataracts way younger than normal.
His research was the extreme amout of time compared to "normal" people looking sky ward.
The solution was to use UV protected glasses min 100UV which was the max available at the time.
I think last I knew it was up to 300UV.
I do not know the rating scale so might have it backwards.
I do know that the sun glasses I had my eye doctor supply me with allowed me to fly directly in front of the sun and not loose the airplane(R/C)

Just something to think about.

David
AMA 51336

[minnesotamodeler]

I have progressive lenses, polarized (darken in the sun), UV protective. I can see to fly with them just fine (except when I fly through the sun). Gotta take my hat off when I go overhead though, can't bend my neck back far enough to see around the brim.   In my younger days I took my glasses off to fly combat because I kept losing the planes in the frames! People used to get a kick out of seeing me feeling around for my glasses after the match.

[Bill Heher]

I'm extremely near sighted ( as in blind as a bat without glasses), and had to go to bi-focals about 3-4 years ago.

I fly with a pair of Polarized /  photo-grey / UV blocking / plastic lenses called "Drive-wear" at the place I get my glasses. They stay a bit tinted all the time - so are poor in low light, but seem to work well for both driving and flying. I can see what I'm doing when hooking up lines / fueling / starting, and still see the plane clearly at the end of the lines.

I can also read both street signs and the speedo / gauges while driving, something i had trouble with before I switched to bi-focals. Mine are old school- with a visible line between the 2 perscriptions- it was $100 more for lineless, and I don't see the added value, progressive may help when reading  / typing - I have to move my head up and down sometimes to see stuff on the computer- but overall I am happy with bi-focals.

[john e. holliday]

I have been wearing bi-focals for too many years now.  The early days I would take them off to fly.  Now I have to keep them on so I can adjust the needle.  Usually no problem unless I fly across the sun and then it is fly by feel for a second or two.  Now I wear wrap around sun glasses from Wally World when I remember to put them on.  Really helps when I do fly across the sun.  Having fun,  DOC Holliday

[dennis lipsett]

I've been wearing glasses since age 3 and at about age 40 was ready for Bi Focals. That didn't mean that I got them per se. Get Varilux or equivelant and you won't have to deal with the bi focal line or raising your head to read bulletin boards or all the other things that bifocals make you do. I do not wear multiple pairs of glasses as it overly complicated my management cycle. Can you say loose it if it isn't fastened to me type. I've always wondered how people with tri focals cope.
I got used to putting those large wrap around sun glasses on in my R/C days and have continued to do so.
Oh, and as I got older I'm still as near sighted and blind as a bat but somehow I seem to cope a lot better with it then when I was younger.
dennis

[Will Hinton]

I wear bi-focals, have for close to thirty years, and I use what is clasified as "fit-overs" for bass fishing.  They are an orange color, UV protection, very light, and are the same thing I wore when crop dusting to sharpen the images of wires, etc., but still mute the sun's effect very nicely.  I far prefer being able to fly without them, but when the sun ain't where I want it to be, that's harder for me to cope with than strong winds, and I'm a sissy in the wind!

[Richard Grogan]

Hey Richard
How you doin man?
Long time no talk.

Getting to where I dont see good up close.
About 2x glasses for normal building or working on stuff.
About 3x for detail stuff like examining engine parts.
Sun glasses with as big and flat a lens as I can find.

Its not uncommon to see me with 3 pair of glasses hanging from my shirt collar and pockets.
Except for when I loose them.

Planning to make the B.R. contest for my first try at stunt.
See you there?

David
AMA 51336

Hello David!Long time no type indeed! Whatever happened to Supertiger? I dont know about BR this time, we'll have to see.

Steve,I guess it reall does have alot to do where the transition is on the lens. I know it has to be tough to fly overheads with lined bifocals! 

Thanks for your input guys!

[Robert Schroeder]

I bought a set of progressive trifocals once!  I then went back to lined bifocals.  I absolutely hated them and I tried to cope for almost two years.  I now have a set of proper bifocal sunglasses along with a regular pair of safety bifocal glasses  Sometimes (and before I bought the sunglasses) I use Zurich sunglasses over my regular glasses.  Zurich sunglasses are made to protect your eyes from uva and uvb and not shatter if a broken prop blade hits them (I don't want to find out if that claim is true).  My glasses are made so that I can put a book in my lap and read, then look up and see straight ahead.  Yes, I have to raise my head and look down through the close up lenses sometimes but in general whey work well and I don't have a problem with the overheads when they're configured in that manner....I guess I should say I don't have trouble seeing the plane while it's flying overhead.

Bob

[FLOYD CARTER]

Before cataract lens replacement, I saw 2 planes out at the end of my lines! I learned how to tell which one was the "real" plane, and which was the artifact.

Now, I have no excuse for poor scores.

Floyd

[phil c]

I've had bi-focals for years, never had a problem flying, sometimes had a problem lining things up for close up work without taking them off.  Got a pair of lineless bi-focals, but couldn't stand them.  Took about 10 years to figure out that the right eye needed the bifocal about 2 mm  higher than the left one.  Once I got that fixed I've been fine.  Strangely, after 30 years of using the same distance correction, they reduced it this last time around.  The eye guy wasn't quite sure why.

[Jim Thomerson]

I fly with bifocal prescription sunglasses. Never had a problem with bifocals once I got the line moved down to where it belongs for me. 

[Steve Holt]

I have a very dark pair of prescription sunglasses that are for my distance prescription only.  I use them for driving and most of the time for flying.  When the wind puts the sun right into where I have to fly the pattern, I switch to my regular glasses (blended bi-focals) with a pair of Zurich's darkest glasses that fit over them.  Either works well as far as seeing the airplane, but the two pair of glasses can get uncomfortable over the ears after a while.

Zurich has been advertising that they will make these very dark glasses to my prescription and I will try that next time I need sunglasses.
Steve

[john e. holliday]

I agree about the wrap around glasses causing pain over the ears as well as headaches.   I started using the dremel sanding drum to releive the stops so the ear peices open a little wider.  Have fun,  DOC Holliday