Forum: Off-topic

Hi !
My name is Victor and I'm from Romania ( Europe ), as long as I can remember I wanted to become an Air Force pilot . So , last year I applied for the Air Force Academy , but at my eye exam I had 0.75 astigmatism at my right eye , and 0.5 astigmatism at my left eye, an 20/20 vision for both eyes.
But the doctor sad that I can't go on because of my astigmatism , he sad that in the contact with atropine my diopters are to big.
So can anyone tell me what are the US standards for the eye exam? Because I searched the web and I found some sites that have different standards on the US Air Force eye examination.

P.S. : The Romanian Air Force want to buy the F-16 so , I don't want to miss that ! Very Happy

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i feel for you..im 16 an irish ..i also want to be a fighter pilot..but ireland hasnt really got an airforce.. i was thinking of joining U.S.A.F but i heard you have got to be a U.S citizen and to become a U.S citizen you need to be living in america for 5years Sad

im kind of lost now though Sad

but anyways i also know that you have to be under 30 years of age to become a pilot ..so not alot of time really.. good luck

Thanks , next week I will have my eye exams . In Romania the age limit is 22 , I'm 21 this year , so , this could be my last chance...
I tried eye exercises , the internet are full of them , I even ordered a package for U.S. , my eyes did improved with 0.25 diopters , but I hope that it will be ok.
Good luck

You have gotta realize that European Air Forces has smaller fleets, therefore in need of lesser air crews and since supply is high and demand is low, they will use stricter standards to reduce the applicant pool. I was born raised in a NATO country, today a pilot candidate with the U.S. Army so I know how tough the standards are over there. In the US, corrective laser surgery is allowed, but over there it is not. You are saying they are DQ'ing you with a half diopter astigmatism, our limit here is 1 diopter astigmatism, -1.50 for myopia, +3.00 for hyperopia and if cutting close there are waivers. I can tell you that with your eye exam results you could be qualified to fly in the US Military. Also USAF requires a minimum of 20/70, while in the Army we have 20/50, still much better than 20/20.

Eye exercises won't help much though, with exercises you are improving your muscles ability to contract and focus, however, they will dilate your eyes during the exam and remove the effects of muscles to get your true refractive state. So, under dilation, your results could be MUCH WORSE. Or slightly better.

hisense wrote:

i feel for you..im 16 an irish ..i also want to be a fighter pilot..but ireland hasnt really got an airforce.. i was thinking of joining U.S.A.F but i heard you have got to be a U.S citizen and to become a U.S citizen you need to be living in america for 5years Sad

im kind of lost now though Sad

but anyways i also know that you have to be under 30 years of age to become a pilot ..so not alot of time really.. good luck

You have to be max 28 1/2 to meet USAF Officer Training School selection board and entered flight training before 30th birthday. Also you have to be living in the US on a permanent resident status for 5 years. Other visas do not count.

Bushmaster78FS wrote:

You have gotta realize that European Air Forces has smaller fleets, therefore in need of lesser air crews and since supply is high and demand is low, they will use stricter standards to reduce the applicant pool. I was born raised in a NATO country, today a pilot candidate with the U.S. Army so I know how tough the standards are over there. In the US, corrective laser surgery is allowed, but over there it is not. You are saying they are DQ'ing you with a half diopter astigmatism, our limit here is 1 diopter astigmatism, -1.50 for myopia, +3.00 for hyperopia and if cutting close there are waivers. I can tell you that with your eye exam results you could be qualified to fly in the US Military. Also USAF requires a minimum of 20/70, while in the Army we have 20/50, still much better than 20/20.

Eye exercises won't help much though, with exercises you are improving your muscles ability to contract and focus, however, they will dilate your eyes during the exam and remove the effects of muscles to get your true refractive state. So, under dilation, your results could be MUCH WORSE. Or slightly better.

Ok , thank you very much. My medical examination is now scheduled in June , so I hope I will pass it then. My eyesight is considered good , I have 20/16 with my left eye ( that has 0.5 astigmatism ) and 20/20-20/25 with my right eye that has (0.75 astigmatism) . Thank you anyway for the information .

Do you know the standards of your Air Force? If they have the requirement of "no refractive error" (Emmetropia) then I don't think you have a chance with astigmatism.

Well , I know that the limits are 1 diopter of astigmatism , 0.5 diopters of myopia and 1 diopter of hyperopia.. Last year they told me that I have a problem because my diopters were to big when they put atropine in my eyes. And the filed of view limits are 20/25-20/30. I don't think that this means that the requirements are in a Emmetropic condition.

That is good. Like I said though, when they dilated your eyes, true refractive state was revealed. Usually, in the US, when a candidate fails an exam, he is referred to a specialist to get it checked in depth. What I can recommend for you is to go and get your eyes dilated somewhere else and see if your refractive error is improved or progressed.

Ok , thank you again. Anyway they recommended me to go to choppers because there they don't have a limit to dilated eyes.

So , do you fly the F-16?

Ha! I wish... But I will fly helicopters in the Army. It is as good. I haven't tracked yet.

Well , last year that doctor that failed me at my eye exam , told me to go to fly helicopters in the Police Force . In Romania , if you what to fly helicopters in the Army you have to failed a part of your medical exams , at the end of the academy . Pretty smart ha?

What country are you from?

Sorry, totally forgot about this one... So what you are saying is that you get assigned the best aircraft if you don't wash out, and if you do wash out you get the next in line? Well, it is similar in the US, as far as I know, if you g-loc and determined you can't do fighters, you track transport/cargo... As far as I know. In the Army, we don't have that problem, but if a student is washed out for some reason, they would try to branch him whatever branch needs officers. There are situations we completely send guys home or back to their enlisted ranks.

I was born and raised in Turkey, and my last church priest was from Romania. Pretty cool Romanians Smile

Oh , no problem.

Yes , that's how thing work here . I'm going to try one more time , this year to pass my eye exams , otherwise I'm thinking to go to fly Helicopters in the Police Force. I'm very sad thinking that I'm not going to fulfill my long life dream , but I'm glad I have an alternative.

Thank you anyway for your assistance. I hope that we will keep in touch.

So you won't even get to try the Army if you can't make the initial eye requirement... Man that is an unfair system, but what can you do...

Forum: Off-topic

US Air Force Eye Examination