Xirus

What would you say is minimal vision requirements for flying RC? I used to fly when I was in high school and then quit the hobby because I thought I wanted to get in to boats. I did not have glasses at the time and things did get out of focus pretty quickly. I had 20/60 to 20/70 vision.

Years later (I'm 25 now) I have thought of getting back in to the hobby. I now wear glasses with about 20/40 to 20/50 vision and fit in to the military V3 category meaning I can do most combat arms trades if I wanted to. I plan to get laser eye surgery in the future so hopefully that will get me better than 20/20 even with my astigmatism.

I love planes and am studying to be a gas turbine mechanic as we speak. I would love to get back in to the hobby but don't know how my vision will hold up out there in the field.

Any tips? What are the best colors to paint your plane so you can see it better? Orange? Yellow?

rceric

Why don't you take a ride to your local club and see if you can "see" the planes flying.

Just a suggestion,


Eric

rc_monster

[sm=idea.gif]

Xirus

Not that easy. Dont really have a local club. Closest club is quite the drive away. I just want a Nexstar or something of the sort and fly by myself.

rc_monster

I have a nexstar, if you decide to go with one get the arf and get a better radio. The 46fxi is a great motor, runs extremely well. Pull the afs and the speed brakes, you won't need them. The nexstar is hard to see when flying inverted from a distance, but thats why I maintain altitude so I can roll right back over. I doesnt like the wind, it will float and float for days! But overall its a respectable trainer.

Bad_Daddy

So get the plane and fly to the limit of your ability to see it. Most of the people here only wish they could do exactly that, because their flying ability is the actual limit of their flight durations.

(Now how do I know that?) [sm=red_smile.gif]

Insanemoondoggie

Well the best tip I can give you , is stay away from the Majors airlines if you get your A&P , except for American Airlines , they do their own in house work . The others send it to China to have fisherman do the work .

If your sight is good enough for combat , you should be able to fly o.k. Biggest problem , may be orientation , which sides up . Make sure you have good contrast between the bottom and top .

Hooking up with someone that flies , well greatly improve your odds for success.

overbored77

My Feedback: (11)

you could also go with a larger plane such as the Sig Kadet Senior. It flys very nice on a powerful .46
and is very large 80" wingspan. I have flown a few different trainers and this is the one I like the best.
Very easy to see and possibly one of the best trainers ever made.

Here is a link http://www3.towerhobbies.com/cgi-bin...?&I=LXBDE9&P=0

But I have to say it also, some help would increase the chances of success

rceric

The Nexstar is white and red and even though I like it a lot is is sometimes easy to lose orientation with it. You might want to add an orange stripe or something of the sort to the bottom of the wing.

TexasAirBoss

My Feedback: (22)

Lots of friends, including some that have worn thick glasses since childhood, have had lasik eye surgery with amazing results. They see better than me now. IF you feel that your vision is holding you back, and since you are so young, you should speak with an eye doctor and learn what options are available for you. No need to wait. The results are immediate. I too, have astigmatism, which has only become noticable in my 40's. If I forget to put on my glasses before taking off, it becomes aparrent immediately. I struggle around the patch and land , run to the car and get my glasses. With my glasses on, I see fine.

I'm not certain if lasik is appropriate for astigmatism or not. I don't know what procedure might be used. What I do know is this : certain vision problems are corrected with synthetic lenses implanted in the eye. Some lenses are rigid and some are flexible. Years ago, and even now, the focal point was fixed. Eye surgeons were placing lenses with focal points set to infinty in one eye, and then placing lenses set at reading distance in the other eye. For most of the population, this was a satisfactory compromise that allowed them to perform most functions. However, for RC enthusiast, this practice is not acceptable. You will see two airplanes. I don't know why they don't set both lenses at infinity. You would have to ask a doctor.
I've also heard that for some people, and I forget what thier particular vision problem was, there are new flexible lenses. When implanted, they actually can change focal point. I don't know if this was in trials, or actually being used in the general public. And they may not be appropriate for you situation.

Xirus

LOL. Getting a $3500 surgery to fly my $400 RC plane is the perfect excuse for the wife. I am not ready for this type of surgery yet. need to go inquire and do some tests first.

mesaflyer

My son has one weak eye, wears contacts, and is partly color blind. He had a real hard time with orientation, especially on cloudy days. The mostly white Nexstar would just blend in with the clouds. I re-covered the plane, and he is able to see it ALOT better. Check out this post http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/m_67...tm.htm#6808961
As rceric suggested, if you really want to start flying again, you might want to look up some clubs. The drive just might be worth it. Hope this helps.
And by the way, I am self taught with the Nexstar.

Edit: AND ALOT OF SIM TIME FIRST

tIANci

Those who need a Labrador to move around definately cannot be allowed ... Seriously ...we need to know our own limitations. I got pals who are almost 50 who find it hard to fly smaller planes in low light conditions ... they know when to stop flying. Guess its hard to set rules as to how good your eyesight is ...

hungryandbroke

Get yourself a Control Line airplane and your problem will be solved.

da Rock

I help a couple of old guys fly. They both have vision problems. One is legally blind. How do we do it?

They fly airplanes they can see for one thing. But what the real trick is....... They fly the airplane, it doesn't fly them. And they fly it close enough to themselves that they can see it.

One flying field has a couple of guys going on their 2nd year on buddy box. No matter how often you tell them they are supposed to fly the airplane, not let it fly them, they don't seem to get it. But the old blind bats get it. And do it. You can too.

BTW, when you are learning and just flying by yourself, your Nexstar is most probably going to be flying you for awhile. You really need to find an instructor and learn the hobby with him until you can fly the airplane, not it fly you. I've yet to have a beginner come close to being in control of the model for the first flight. Save yourself some money. If you don't plan to find an instructor, try some other hobby instead.

CGRetired

My Feedback: (1)

Umm.. sorry, I am 61, have 20/22 sight in both eyes (corrected) and had a cataract removed from my left eye. I wear corrective glasses, mostly for far sightedness (I can see far but need corrections to read or see clearly up close). And I fly RC and fly just fine.

The key factor here is if you can see the plane as it is in the sky, as Overbored stated. The only way you are going to know this is by going to a field where RC is active and watch. Stand next to the guy with the controller and, if you can see the plane as it is right side up AND upside down and be able to tell the difference.. and if you can see that it is either coming toward you or going away from you, then you are ok.

If you are serious about trying RC, then you will have to take a day and drive to somewhere that they ARE flying RC and check this out.

But, one major issue here is how long the plane will last after you do decide that you can handle it. We've always suggested instructors and a buddy box to work with to at least get you through the basics of flying RC. Doing it alone is going to be costly.

A sim can help, getting a good sim to practice with on your PC is a good way to start before you actually get your aircraft.

But, if you do decide to go with it, then size matters, and be aware that you have a high probability of a crash without an instructor than you would with one.

CGr.

tIANci

What some of you have just brought up is true. We have one old man who flies at our field, he is in his late 70's and been flying ever since models were available. He even remembers rubber powered servos. His eyesight i ailing and there was a period where he was crashing a lot due to his eyesight. He then finally took to powered gliders and planes like the GWS Beaver, well he did enjoy them. So for us who are still with good eyesight ... let's fly as much as we can ... whilst we can.

pub

You said you flew in high school,RC? that was what 7yrs ago?Go buy the plane and go flying,just do it, I would pick up a trainer and go flying. It would be nice to have a instructor,but if you don't that should not stop you from doing something you want to do. Just be careful and have someone with you. pub

opjose

To the OP:

Your vision is MUCH better than my glasses corrected vision ( without glasses I'm legally blind ).

I've never had problems flying planes at distances.

Don't sweat this.

As suggested take a trip out to your local RC airfield and check out what is happening there.

Xirus

Thanks guys. A lot of good info here. I do have the great planes flight sim version 4.0. I think that it is a bit too easy compared to the real thing. Anyway I will try to make it out to a field one of these days and hopefully I can get started in this hobby again. For now I have an HPI Baja that I play around with in the dirt but I'd like to try flying again.

bigedmustafa

My Feedback: (2)

A surprising number of older pilots I fly with whose eyesight are failing are starting to fly electric helicopters. They keep them in close enough that seeing them is no issue. If you can't fly an E-Flight Blade CX2, it's probably time to start shopping for an HO scale train set.

perttime

Depending on the exact vision problem, a plane that moves fast and changes its distance from you quickly might be tough. In that case a slow plane that can stay in a small area, even a small and slow plane, might work out well. It takes a while to learn to keep any plane in a very small area, though.

My eyesight, with glasses, is OK but I still like to fly sort of up close so that I can see what exactly the plane is doing.

tIANci

Lemme add in something funny about the old guy who flies at our place. He was flying the WM motorised glider and enjoyed it. One morning he was so relaxed that he took his eyes off it to get his cap (he was sitting on a small chair to fly) ... he could not find the glider! We usually hang around him when he flies but that time no one was with him. That's why we should fly as much as we can whilst we are able to.

As for EP helis flying close, just be careful ... one guy here lost an eye. The 450 heli's blade caught both eyes and he lost one. Sucks! This was a flying session near the beach and that may explain why it happened.