biam

Olivedrab, thanks for the correction in post #16, guess I should have had my glasses on when posting!

Hossfly

Mr. Lewneqban:

Please allow me to tell you a story and you use it as you desire. My eyesight was decreasing fairly rapidly. For some 8-10 years each year I was getting new prescriptions.
My depth perception was terrible and that is not good for a pilot even though I was retired then. I was using the typical eye service Optometrist . Then over a couple years I had pains in my temple, head aches, severe pains frequently. My heart doctor sent me to a nerve doctor. He could not find anything wrong and the pills and exercises were NOT helping. I was about to get to the point that life was not worth the pain.

Well after losing a couple nice RC models and wearing bifocal glasses that were very thick, I decided to see an Opthomologist (sp?) I found a great one. The first cataract came off in a couple weeks. Woke up the first morning after and I could read the time on the clock-radio without any glasses. Flicked on the TV and "Who the devil tuned that TV last night?"

3 weeks later the 2nd one came off. Long story but to shorten it up, I wear glasses now to correct the two eyes' differences. Left eye, 20-15 like when I entered Aviation Cadets, age 19. ( Then 71, now 77 and still the same) Right eye holding 20-30. I can get by reading small print with the 1.5 > 1.75 dollar store plastics. See the models fine.
BEST YET is that within several weeks, all the PAINS WERE GONE! They ease back if I run around a couple days without glasses, but disappear within minutes when I put the glasses back on. The pains were/are because of the large concentrations of neves behind and slightly below the ears, that were trying to equalize the eye strains.
About a year ago I got stung behind the right side of the head just on that nerve area by several hornets. The pain was terrible after several hours (Usually stings don't really bother me) so I went to a doctor and she fixed me up. She explained about the nerve groups and the sting swelling was causing the pain as it swelled against that nerve group.
IMO, never fool with these eye folks that just sell glasses. Rank amateurs. It may cost a bit more to get real professionals. You will be glad you did.

straitnickel

I found iron on covering shines to much in the sun. I proved this when i recovered a plane with a no gloss finish. Easiest plane to see i ever had.
Every plane will grayout on a cloudy day.
Keep the sun at your back.

Just my 2¢

Lifer

My Feedback: (1)

I have been taking an eye-focused vitamin supplement called Ocuvite for about a year. Not a cure, but it has helped. I buy it at Walmart.

ARUP

Hossfly- glad you've had the normal post operative course for cataract surgery. FYI- Cataracts come 'out' not 'off'. Too bad multifocal IOL's weren't an option for you or were they never offered? The over the counter reading glasses (which are usually crummy) wouldn't be needed. Just being a Devil's Advocate but why don't you go to an optometrist or ophthalmologist and get prescribed reading glasses? You want it perfect don't you? After all you have implied that folks that 'just sell glasses' are rank amateurs! Is this an unfair jab at optometry? opticians?
Lnewqban- you live in FL so go to the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (or similar) and seek the care of a vitreo-retinal surgeon as a second opinion. Any competent optometrist or ophthalmologist would NOT be offended and would actually encourage you to do so. Do not fool around if your trouble is retinal in nature.
This is from someone who knows these professions inside and out. As there are 'quacks' in both of these professions there are some extremely knowledgeable and competent individuals in each profession, too. It behooves us all to understand the merits of each in lieu of denigration of one vs the other. Good luck and I wish you the best. Remember... it's okay to be born blind but it is a tragedy to go blind!

Villa

I lost a good friend a while back. His brother later told me that Steve would simply not go to see eye doctors. Steve died very rapidly from a condition that, had he been seeing an eye doctor, there is no doubt he would be living today. I cannot remember his problem, but it is fairly common. I see an eye doctor every year.

raziel1

My Feedback: (2)

if you guys cant see that well maybe you should thing of another hobby . planes arent cheap if you keep balling them up do to poor vision [&o] and if it became a safty issue you would be asked to not fly for safty of others .
you older guys would feel very bad if you hit some one with your plane and put them in hospital or even killing some one .
thair comes a time were you need to just hang it up . sorry if you dont like how i look at it but i have almost been hit a few diff time from a guy like this at a field i final told him if he goes up again with me thair im taken out his ship !!!!!
and i hated to do that to him he is one of the nices guys i know but safty for my self and my other club members come first

Hossfly

Thanks for the input ARUP. I should have stated why I use the close-up reading glasses. I live in the country and am surrounded by woods and other homes on acrage. There is a small river nearby. I sometimes fish there. The area has plenty copperheads, cotton-mouths, and other species of life. I own properties about north of here where I also spend time in heavily wooded areas.
I do have bifocals however the focus is set on the area around where I am walking. I REQUEST such from my eye-doctor. I want distant focus for way out, RC planes, driving, seeing scenery, and the normal life visual. I want my second focus for being able to see what I might be stepping on before I step on it. It only takes once - for me anyway - to see a movement between my legs - and then see the head of a 5 ft. diamond-back coming up between my knees. I could never jump that far again!
In my young days, I could spot a snake 30 ft. away even if well hidden. I was in the woods hunting, or fishing the local creeks much of my time. I had 20-10 vision back then and up until about 40 +/-. My eyes are no longer trained to see such things so I use whatever help I can get. BTW I am typing this without any glasses at all.
The cheap stuff works fine for building, reading small print, etc. The real glasses also serve the purposes I ask for. The early-on eye doctors could not provide what I wanted. The current one is excellent. BTW, ".... unfair jab..." is of no concern to me. A person with a license to perform a job either does it well or should not be TRYING to perform or simply be directed to some other job. 'Nuff said!

MX240

My Feedback: (4)

Eyesight....First you have to start out with good genes. LOL
At 71 I still don't need any correction glasses to see the airplane. Just some 2x K-mart reading glasses to read the paper.
My daughter at 41 is a commercial pilot and has good eyes also.

Harlan

My Feedback: (107)

Lnewqban:

Damned if I can figure out how to make this font larger, but for you and other guys who have problems reading small fonts, you can make it larger while you are reading by holding the CTRL button down while hitting the "+" key (or "-" key to make it smaller). IT really helps me at times.

Harlan

maukaonyx

You guys who are far sighted should be happy! I am near sighted and it is not easy to get my glasses perfect so I can see the plane flying really clearly at all times. Right now I have the right eye really pretty good but the left eye prescription (I HAVE been back a number of times) for my glasses just doesn't get as clear as the right. Eventually I chose a weaker prescription to just blur the left eye a little and let the right eye's good focus sort of over power that blurriness in the left. When I had a stronger prescription on the left, it was clear with just that eye opened, but when both eyes were opened, the eyes kind of fought each other and I would see double objects...meaning the edges of objects were always like a double border line around a box. Hard to explain. I can see near things maybe up to a foot from my face pretty clear. I have one glasses for using this computer, then the other one is for flying and everything else...I wear it 95% of the time awake. The other pair is 5% of the time when I am here. My optometrist says I have cataracts in the early stages...it figures since my mom and her sibs all had cataracts, but they were in their 80's when they did the surgery! I am just 61, but maybe it takes 20 years to get bad enough, I HOPE. Anyway, just my 2 cents. I am happy I can see as well as I do. If I could not see, I could not enjoy this fine hobby of ours. Take care guys! Jon

joebahl

My Feedback: (2)

At 50 my eyes started to go south just when reading close up stuff and has not gotten any better almost ten years later now. I still can see far off pretty good and yes i have bigger planes and fly smaller ones i fly in closer. I buy the dollar store cheap glasses for building but if its not fine work i wear them on top of my head and cant find them.lol I hope to keep flying and building with good eyes but its almost time to go see a eye doc soon . We have a eye doc in our club and he gives discounts to club members . joe

Lnewqban

Best post so far !!!

Lnewqban

Thanks, Hossfly; great post and advice!

Lnewqban

Thank you very much, Arup !

I have been seen these doctors:

http://www.katzeneyecare.com/

Lnewqban

Jon,

As far as I know, cataracts develop and grow faster with more exposure to Sunlight.
That may be the reason for the difference of the ages at which symptoms appeared.

Take a look at this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cataract#Radiation

oil_can_harry

My Feedback: (2)

A good bright light at your workbench will help a lot. Small things I can't see in the garage, I can see with good clarity out in the sun. The best thing I have found to fly with is Serengeti sunglasses. They are too dark and really enhance colors so it makes them great to see your plane.

maukaonyx

Thanks, that would explain why I am getting them sooner/younger...it's because I fly RC all the time! Since about a year ago I have been putting clipon shades on my glasses. And in some of the years before, I had photogreys. Jon

hugger-4641

My Feedback: (6)

Harlan, if you use the "qoute" tab when you reply, there is a tool bar at the top of the page and a box that says "size" out to the left. You have to type in a couple characters, then highlight them, then go to the size box and click on the drop down arrow and click on "XXX large". Then go back and type your message in between the first characters you typed in and they will be in the large font"

oil_can_harry

My Feedback: (2)

Oops !! I meant to say " the Serengeti sunglasses are not too dark and they really enhance light and color " !!!

HoundDog

My Feedback: (49)

U guys using a "Brail" Transmitter?

U guys don't Drive your self to the field, do U?

Ken Kehlet

My Feedback: (89)

I have Age Related Macular Degeneration (Wet) There is NO CURE. I'm 78 years old, but if I figure in Dog years, I'm only just about 12.

And, for the last 6 + years I see a Retnologist and receive Hypo Injections into BOTH eyeballs every 30-40 days. 72 Injections of Lucentis in each eye so far. It has slowed the degeneration and I can still drive, fly large slower aircraft, and enjoy my time at the flying field.

I know what my limitations are, depending on the brightness of the day, size of the model, and how well I can see the colors.

Don't give up, when they started my injections, it was all experimental, but it seems to be getting better

Ken AMA 1528

hairy46

My Feedback: (1)

I fly closer and use red and yellow on the planes.

Lnewqban

Thank you much, Ken; great post !!!

Villa

Hi Harlan
The far left and closest to you computer key is the cntr key. Hold it down and then press =+ key to make the font larger, or the -_ key to make the font smaller. Does it work for you? On my new HP laptop I can also put my two index fingers together on the touch pad, then drag them appart, and this makes the font larger. Doing the opposite makes the font smaller.