Do I need glasses to fly?
Many people have come to me in the past and said they never followed through with getting their pilot license because when they went to the military to become a pilot they were told that they needed 20/20 vision. Just because of this, they gave up on their dream to fly. The private pilot vision requirement is 20/40. Don’t worry, that doesn’t mean that you can’t fly if your vision is worse. You just need to be able to correct your vision to 20/40 to do so. If you need glasses to correct your vision to 20/40 then you will have a restriction on your medical certificate saying that you must wear corrective lenses.
Lasik eye surgery
Some people get surgery to correct their vision which is allowed too but the last I heard, if you’ve had the surgery to correct your vision then you will have to wait 6 months for your eyes to stabilize before you can fly. Check with the FAA Medical Examiner to be sure. I personally have had RK done many years ago before Lasik came out. My vision was corrected to 20/20 and has stayed that way for many years. I can tell though that my eyes are starting to get a little worse as time passes. This is normal with eye surgery, your eyes will always get worse with age. It’s been over 20 years since I had mine done. At the time, it cost me about $1500 per eye, but it was new technology back then and I think prices have come down. Over time you will eventually need reading glasses or bifocals. If you choose to correct for this problem then the only way to do it with lasik is to do one eye for close vision and one eye for distant vision. It will take awhile to get used to it and eventually you won’t notice it much. The requirements with the FAA may be different though so I would check into that before you decide.
Natural eye exercises
Since I’m getting to the point where I may need reading glasses, I have considered this a million times. I just don’t know if it really works or if it doesn’t. This is one of those things that I’ve heard two sides on. Some people swear it works and some say it doesn’t. Just like some people love Chiropractors and some say they don’t do anything. This one is for you to decide. I have attached a link at the bottom of this article for you to read more about it. I see ads for this all the time and every single time I am tempted to spend the money for the chance that it will work and I won’t need to wear glasses. After all, I got eye surgery so I wouldn’t have to wear glasses! If anyone decides to try it and buys it through the link below, please let me know if it really works because I’ve been dying to try it and I don’t have the money to spend right now!
Can you really eliminate your glasses and improve your vision with simple eye exercises?