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All things LASIK surgery (aircrew/other -- merged)

Sorry if there is already something about this on this web site, I could not find it.

I had laser surgery done on my eyes 6 years ago.  The surgery went well and I have had great eye sight ever since.  The clinic that performed the surgery went out of business a few years after my surgery and the eye surgeon went back to the town that he has his original practice from, as an Ophthalmologist and eye surgeon, not performing laser surgery any more.

Before I even thought of applying to the airforce, I started working on my Private Pilot Licence (PPL).  I had to get medical clearance as part of my physical as far as the laser surgery.  This proved to be very difficult as the clinic was no longer in operation to get the paper work.  They kept 80% or so of the past years paper work in a basement and could not find mine.  So to make a long story short, since I wanted to fly so bad, I paid another eye surgeon to test out my eyes and put his name on the paper work saying that he performed testing on my eyes and that they are fine to fly.  Which they are.

The people at Transport Canada said that was good and off I went flying.

So now comes the problem.  I have read on here that pilot's in the airforce can not have had laser eye surgery done.  What would happen if I do not say anything and just say that I have not had it done???  I know that is lying but I have had one very respectable eye surgeon check my eyes and said that they were fine to fly (as far as a PPL goes).

Is there any part of the physical that can undercover the fact that I have had laser eye surgery?

Also I dislocated my shoulder in a skiing accident years ago and opted not to have the surgery to have the collar bone put back exactly where it came from.  This creates absolutely no problems for me in any way.  I just don;t want them saying that I can not fly due to these two things. 

Do the pilots that get accepted have perfect everything?

Thanks for your help !
 
You would undergo a number of tests as part of the medical portion Aircrew Selection at DRDC Toronto. One of the tests is a topography of your cornea which will reveal the fact that you've had the surgery. 
 
Ok thanks !  So If I tell them no I did not have laser eye surgery and then they find out that I did, then what?  Do they stop tetsing and kick me out or do they make me pick a MOC that I would qualify for?
 
Lieing/withholding info during the recruiting process is stupid. If/when they find out you've lied, you not be able to ever apply for the CF again, or any government job.
 
I understand that............ about lying

So as soon as I tell them about my eye surgery I am no longer able to be a pilot, correct?
 
2006AF said:
I understand that............ about lying

So as soon as I tell them about my eye surgery I am no longer able to be a pilot, correct?

That would be correct, as stated If youve had lasik, you cant be a pilot. Also, if you lie it says alot about you, honesty is the best way to go about things especially when applying for the CF.
 
With laser eye surgery you CANNOT be a pilot in the miliatary. You have to pick another MOC or just fly for the civvies.

and yes...we have to have perfect everything ::)
 
That is why I am on this web site trying to find out some answers.  I would not have lied it is not my charachter. I simply wanted to know how they would find out itf I had it or not.

I have found a few threads that says it is still possible to fly.........

"Not entirely correct people...
To enter the CF as a pilot:
yes, you need 20/20 uncorrected, but the CF has leaned towards trained pilots getting laser eye surgery to maintain the "perfect vision".
But for Air crew (navigators, loadmasters, etc) You may get laser eye surgery to have what is called V1 or vision catagory 1 which is no less then 25/20 as you all would call it." posted by Armymedic April 25, 2004

and..............

"Join the infantry. You can fly helicoters and CF18s after you join. Its like a QL5 course or something."

"Thanks for that link... I failed my Aircrew medical (AirNav) due to laser eye surgery in 1999. Seems they revoked the restriction shortly after!" posted Jan 24th 2005

and ...........

"You can in practice become a pilot after joining, but you have to become an officer, and still undergo all the normal flight training that you would if you walked in off civvie street. There are more than a few programs that allow for this, but it won't happen until you've been in for at least your first Basic Engagement (3 years), and then it's based on competition. posted the same day in the same thread."

All of these posts give me a shimer of hope, that I can still fly.  Maybe I can not join directly as a pilot but is there still a way I can fly in the CF?
My first choice was Pilot which seems to bee a No Go, my second was Air Nav, am I out of that one too?
Thanks I won't give up on this until I hear NO to every possibility.



 
Next time to add validity to your references post the links too as it is very easy to cut and paste just what you want to and you have already revealed your level of trustworthiness thorough this thread.  You can try for any occupation but pilot and that is it, end of story.
 
I'd take some of those posts you found with a grain of salt, most of them are from people that are neither pilots nor medical pers.

Simply put, at this point in time, laser surgery is not permitted for pilots in the CF, either before you join or at any point in your career for that matter. Once you get your wings, you are permitted to wear glasses though. As for remustering to pilot later on, I know of a Sea King AVN tech that tried to remuster to pilot and was told he couldn't because he wears glasses.

So, you must have 20/20 uncorrected vision in order to apply for the Pilot MOC, uncorrected includes surgical correction.
 
I don't imagine you would be out of the running too quickly.

If I'm not mistaken - the CF is currently looking for pilots due to a shortage, are they not?

Also - if your ALREADY a pilot, and you ALREADY have all of your flight school/pilot training done, that would give you a serious advantage over people just walking in off the street.  (I have a student pilot permit, so I'm not completely ignorant of this).  However, I'm no Air Force expert...I would imagine you'd be pretty qualified for a pilot MOC, no?
 
CBH99 said:
I don't imagine you would be out of the running too quickly.

If I'm not mistaken - the CF is currently looking for pilots due to a shortage, are they not?

Also - if your ALREADY a pilot, and you ALREADY have all of your flight school/pilot training done, that would give you a serious advantage over people just walking in off the street.  (I have a student pilot permit, so I'm not completely ignorant of this).  However, I'm no Air Force expert...I would imagine you'd be pretty qualified for a pilot MOC, no?

You are wrong. The entry standards are not lowered because he has a couple of qualifications.
 
Okay...   <deep breathe>

LASIK eye surgery or any other brand name of Laser Eye surgery is not currently acceptable for any CF pilot - that is any CF pilot (clear?).

The basic medical requirements for Pilot is the same for average-joe Civilian as it is for Mr. Crunchy the Infanteer (not you Infanteer!) - the only time that the V1 uncorrected category can slip is for trained CF Pilots - they must be correctable without Laser eye surgery.

The restriction on LASIK may be lifted in the future - maybe next year, maybe 30 years from now.   Do not base your career choice on a maybe...

We do not only expect supermen (or women) to apply - we are not genetically superior beings, we just meet the basic aircrew requirements (of which one of them is the V1 category).   I am a CF pilot and I progressed through my aircrew selection with a myriad of small cardiac related issues - each of which were examined fully by the medical board and deemed not to be a factor.

There are lots of good exciting trades in the CF - join as an ANAV and then you will be in the perfect position to effect a   transfer to pilot if and when they drop the LASIK restriction - which I must reiterate could be in 30 years, could be tomorrow.








Mod edit.
Someones first name in open forum

Slim
STAFF
 
CBH99 said:
I don't imagine you would be out of the running too quickly.

If I'm not mistaken - the CF is currently looking for pilots due to a shortage, are they not?

Also - if your ALREADY a pilot, and you ALREADY have all of your flight school/pilot training done, that would give you a serious advantage over people just walking in off the street.  (I have a student pilot permit, so I'm not completely ignorant of this).  However, I'm no Air Force expert...I would imagine you'd be pretty qualified for a pilot MOC, no?

No, I had a Commercial Multi IFR licence when I joined, I skipped PFT due to my College Aviation Diploma, but other than that, I did every single bit of training that everyone else did. As far as advantages go, I wouldn't say it's a huge advantage. I know of civvie pilots with over 1000hrs of flight time that failed out of the CF.

As a winged pilot I will say this, the day they start lowering standards just to fill gaps is the day I put some serious thought into prolonging my career knowing that the guy sitting next to me may not be as capable as someone else.
 
Thanks Zoomie !! I was waiting for a CF pilot to get into this.  I appreciate your cup is half full attitude rather than everyone else's cup is half empty attitude.

OK so for now I am out of the Pilot MOC but you are saying I am fine for AirNav MOC?  That was my second choice.

 
[size=10pt]Hey kincanucks [/size]

I have tried to copy the link that I got most of those posts from just so you don't think I made them up, like I care what you think anyway.

Re: Laser eye surgery
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2004, 09:03:00 »

Army.ca Forums  |  The Field  |  Combat Service Support and Branches  |  Canadian Forces Medical Group (Moderator: old medic)  |  Topic: Laser eye surgery


If you do a search for that, you should be able to find it.  Also take a look at his profile, unless you are scepticle that he may be lying too?
 
scepticle?  Is that some sort of disease or something?  Kincanucks, not only does your 'own-time' gratuitous, appreciated-by-many professional support count for nothing, it appears that you have a very serious malady.  Sometimes the straight goods are not as appreciated as baseless advice.  If the person who started this thread prefers the advice of non-recruiters with questionable sources for their advice, perhaps the thread initiator should suffer the consequences and thus learn a valuable lesson.  Based on this person's attitude, this could only be good for the forces.
 
[size=10pt]acclenticularis [/size]

Thanks for pointing out my spelling mistakje I forgot to spell check that one for you.

I did not come on this site to talk to people like you, so if you don;t have anything good to say don't type.

I do appreciate everyone's advice on the original post.

Maybe you can answer a few other questions without the sarcasm ???? 

Since I have had the eye surgery am I still ok for Air Nav?
 
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