Forum: Off-topic

Oh no , but I can. The initial eye test I passed them last month , but next month , or in June I will have the special medical exam required only for fighter pilots. There's my problem. I want to tell you that I was in the Army 2 years ago , at the Air Force Academy , but it was a class of officers that were trained for Anti - Aircraft Operations ( Surface to Air Missiles ) , I stayed in the Academy for 2 weeks and I dropped out because in that year they didn't have a class for pilots. In Romania , the age limit to become a fighter pilot it's 22 , and they don't have a class of pilots every year , so from 18 to 22 years , yo can try to become a pilot for only 2 times. And that's really a tragedy . Imagine , you have to pass medical exams , physical endurance , and then to have a test in mathematics , psychology and an English exam. And if that's not enough , there are just 20 guys ho make it out. So it's really a big deal Very Happy

F-16.net Sponsor

That is similar to Turkey, and most other European countries... There are no options like ROTC and OTS like we do here. I was selected for flight training when I was 31, imagine that. And I don't get it, why is there a special exam for only fighter pilots? We all see the same. In the US, as a matter of fact when the Army requires 20/50, USAF requires 20/70. Guess it is all about reducing the applicant pool... Just because someone have better eyesight (which could be totally hereditary and out of your control) that doesn't make them the best pilot candidate, or no one knows if he will be a good pilot...

Exactly , I have a friend ho is a MIG-21 Lancer pilot , and he said the same thing and another friend , ho last year got in the Academy . There are 25 girls and boys in the first year at the Air Force Academy. And this guy told me that from those 25 , only 4 said that this think was a dream for them , becoming an Air Force pilot , and the rest said that " it was a challange ". In the Army , if you have more than -0.75 they will not let you pass the first medical exam. I understand , if you have -3.00 diopters at 20 years , that not a good thing. But for 0.5 , I think it's a mistake. And my eyesight it's ok. As a matter of fact , my best friend , he is at the Romanian Army Academy , and at the special forces , last year , at hes medical test , he scored no diopters ( Emmetropic ) , so I asked my friend if he will let me test he's eyes. He said ok , and we put an eye chart at 20 feet , and he saw the bottom row - 20/10 - ( we put the chart outside in a sunny day ). So I tested my eyes , and they scored 20/14. Anyway , this think is over my power , I will tell the doctor about how in the US , thinks are different and so on ... But that's the only thing I can do. I hope that this year thinks will change for me Very Happy

You will be alright...

I hope so ... So what helicopters do you fly?

I haven't started flight yet, before flight we have other training we have to attend, like SERE, HOST, BOLC etc... I would probably start flying at the end of summer. We start with TH-67s, during Basic Warfighter Skills portion we might fly the OH-58C. Then we track, attack, scout, transport, cargo... I want attack but scout would be OK too.

Oh , but that's really cool ! I wish you good luck and as we say in Romania " Cer Senin " meaning "Clear Sky". In Romania in flight school cadets are flying the IAR - 316B and after a really "multiroll" IAR-330Puma SOCAT. This helicopters aren't so advanced but they are ok. So you will practically have the chance to fly the AH-64 Longbow Apache?

Yep, that is what I want. I have worked on 64s for 5 years as armament technician, now I want to fly them. I will let you know if you are still around next year.

Ok . I wish you luck . I don't think that is a better helicopter to fly than the Longbow Apache. I hope I will have a chance to see a Long. Apache Very Happy

Last week I had to do my medical tests for fighter pilots. And good news , I passed them , I had the same diopters but it was different from last year when I had the atropine, my diopters remained the same. I don't know what's different , but for the last 8 months I took eye vitamins and did eye exercises. Now I only have to study so that I will be accepted in the Academy.

I am glad to hear this man... Lots of people start wearing glasses when they have a tiny prescriptions, I like you never have done that, I have a very similar prescription what I had when I was 17...

You can also use plus lenses, those are the ones people use for reading after a certain age. When you are doing close work where eye muscles get strained the most. That will also relieve lots of eye strain... I don't know if you can find them but I use those when using my computer.

http://www.i-see.org/eyedocs.html

Forum: Off-topic

US Air Force Eye Examination