The surgeon will aim to achieve something like -0.5 diopters i.e. slightly short-sighted. The idea is that you can walk without glasses, which is by far the most useful thing. It doesn’t always work out exactly… but the eye adjusts within 0.5 no problem.
The aviation medical requirements are curious but one cannot fight them. It would be very useful to have one eye for distance and the other eye for the instrument panel. That’s a difference of about 0.5-1.0 only. It works very well – here and here but (a) such glasses are illegal to fly with and (b) you will need an optician from India or Pakistan to make them for you 
Ultranomad wrote:
20/35 binocula
This performance does not enthrill much the ophthalmologists,especialy for driving or flying.A 40% is allready lost.Additionaly,cataracts in this early age,when first appearing they usualy progress quite fast.This is is why they grounded you because they predict that on your next medical the situation should be bad and they dont like risking.
Dont hesitate,take the operation,todays methods and materials are very eye friendly and recovery fast.
Antonio wrote:
Does it cause you any practical short term concern not being able to fly for the next four months? ( ie you need to fly for business or something) Or is it more of a personal inconvenience and the sobering realization of age?
Fortunately, it’s just the latter, plus the feeling of “losing my innocence” as no surgical instrument has touched my body until now 
. Plus being unable to work on the ground (especially at the computer) for a couple of weeks. Though maybe it’s the nature’s way of telling me I finally need a vacation after three years .
MedFlyer wrote:
This performance does not enthrill much the ophthalmologists,especialy for driving or flying.A 40% is allready lost.Additionaly,cataracts in this early age,when first appearing they usualy progress quite fast.This is is why they grounded you because they predict that on your next medical the situation should be bad and they dont like risking.
I’m not worried about the very fact of operation, I just want it done well. I’ve been offered an operation fully covered by the national medical insurance, and I’m curious whether I can improve the outcome by paying extra. On the other hand, my vision hasn’t been uniformly bad, in fact it fluctuates a lot. On a good day, I might have 1.0 corrected acuity, and sometimes I might see an object better just by playing with my eye muscles for a few seconds. However, on the exam day I was in bad shape. Furthermore, I’ve been battling with a periodic eye irritation that the doctors had been shrugging off as a mild dry eye condition and just recommended artificial tears. It wasn’t until the previous eye exam that they looked into it more thoroughly on my insistence and found clogged meibomian glands. It still persists, but at least now I know I can temporarily mitigate it by steaming my face.
Peter wrote:
It would be very useful to have one eye for distance and the other eye for the instrument panel. That’s a difference of about 0.5-1.0 only. It works very well
My eyes are about 1 diopter different naturally, roughly 0.5 and 1.5 away from perfect distance vision. Therefore when uncorrected one eye is pretty good up close, the other OK at a distance. I could fly uncorrected with the method you mention, e.g. could land a nose wheel plane without issue, but it wouldn’t be my choice. I instead use a contact lens in one eye (my normal setup) plus cheap short framed reading glasses with the same strength for both eyes.
My medical cert says I need corrective lenses for near vision and far vision with no further details, so my solution is compliant.
Having the difference between eyes is useful around the house, as I can see near and far with sufficient uncorrected acuity for that environment.
Antonio wrote:
Why would multifocals disqualify? Distant will mean a perennial need for near glasses.
No idea why, but that’s the rule. When I got my EASA medical they asked me this directly, and fortunately I had the right answer! I do wear near glasses, but only for IMC when my eyes are inside the whole time. Otherwise my near vision is good enough and I just keep the glasses at hand.
Ultranomad wrote:
Does anyone have any secret knowledge on that?
Stay away from multifocals.
Antonio wrote:
Why would multifocals disqualify?
Because of halo effect in the night which occurs in (IIRC) 30% of people after the surgery. In Croatia it’s forbidden even for professional bus and truck drivers.
Hi @Ultranomad Did things go on as you expected?
Three more weeks till the operation, plus two more doctor visits before it. These military doctors at the Institute of Aviation Medicine are very serious about their job, and this is why I trust them!
Good!
