Medical matters...

[nic k]

hi viper
i know how you feel i used to have hay fever that gave me wheze and some people think its asthma but its not.

does anyone know if i could just not mention it at my aircrew medical

thanks

[Cdt Cooper]

while on this subject can colourblind ppl join the RAF as a pilot. it's always been my dream to fly but sometimes it seems out-of-reach due to my disability., does any1 know if i could still fly?

please don't take my wings before i get them.


and for the record my mate gemma, she had epilepsy and had two years on intense medication an sje was cured. there's always hope.
0X [/quote]

[SHIPPI]

I know how you feel, being a pilot's always been my dream too. My sister knows someone in the Navy, and i think they said if you're badly colourblind you can't be a pilot, fullstop, but i don't know. I think you can be if your disability is only slight, but i'm short-sighted too which is a problem.

[tony dean]

Roberto parryeta, the resident Italiano heli pilot is the one to ask

However, I would think that unless your eyes are near enough perfect the chances of sitting behind mutimillion pound flashy things are pretty limited im afraid lads.
The only people who will know for sure are the people at the careers office. Why not give them a ring? they dont bite................much

[SHIPPI]

Yeah, you're right. Another one of my sister's friend is training to be an army helicopter pilot, and she think's i'd be ok, but i doubt it. Darn. I really should ask someone who'll know for sure.

[El Prez]

Sorry, if you are colour blind you aren't going to drive a flying machine. It's necessary to be able to differentiate different lights at night, external and internal etc.

Could this be why Crab pilots screw up Brown jobs when flogging around Armagh?

[Cdt Cooper]

no!
Uve just shattered my dreams. shit!

No need for all the exclamation marks, thankyou.

[SHIPPI]

Well, my sight isn't that bad, i'm able to tell what colour is which, my only problem is when very similar colours are next to each other. Oh well... my parents don't want me in the RAF anyway.

[El Prez]

Nick, don't hide anything, if they ask, you are duty bound to tell the truth. Although I was flying with a gent one day and we had a small electrical problem, with an associated smell of hot electrics. When I asked him why he didn't notice it he explained that he did not have a sense of smell. I queried how he got through his aircrew medical and got the classic reply, "They never asked me."

There's also something else here; if you go for any job interview and fail to complete the medical form completely, ie with all the info, you invalidate the company H&S insurance cover. Equally if you are injured, and they discover from your doctor that you have failed to disclose previous illnesses/medical conditions, you will not receive compensation only a P45. I once had a doc who told me to be economical with the truth when completing one of these forms, he obviously had no regard for the employers position.

[barryc]

Shippi,

Way, way back in the late 1950s I was also dreaming of being a jet jockey and was a member of the ATC (2326 Sqdn). I did the gliding bit and got through an aircrew medical, at Biggin Hill in those days. There was the possibility of a RAF scholarship (only I was far too thick to get the necessary maths and physics). My folks had become accustomed to the idea of their little boy in air force blue (matched my eyes) but went apes**t when my alternative choice for an exciting life became apparent.

Would have still like to have flown those jets but then , I wouldn't have missed the Royal Marines and all it gave me for the World.

Barry

[Viper]

Humm, seems being a pilot is a shattered dream for most people
I think the short sightedness thing is ridiculous, if you can wear glasses, or, worse, contact lenses, whilst being in a sandstorm in Afghanistan, in the RAF Regiment, why on earth can you not wear glasses whilst piloting a plane?
I guess the colour blindness can be justified...
But the epilepsy: if I even had a single seizure when I was like, six years old, I am banned for life from becoming a pilot, or even the guy that sits in the back of a Chinook. Apparently though, I can join the RAF Regiment? (providing I'm seizure free for 4 years) In theory at least. Again, another strange rule.

and nic k: my mums friend got turned down because he used to have a slight wheeze :/

Theres strictness and theres strictness, its too harsh I think, really is.

[Mike]

[quote="Viper"]Humm, seems being a pilot is a shattered dream for most people


Viper.... My problem too,
Ever since being a little boy, my ambition was to fly one of those big shiny BOAC Comets, I did'nt know than that they had a habbit of falling apart at that time..
Any way off I go and Join the Booties. Me Mum thought different and to this day I refuse to have my picture published in the press as she still thinks I'm an Airline Pilot

[feathers]

Young aspiring aviators,

Chin up lads! You are all so blinking young, you have many decisions to make before you can be sure what you will be doing for a career. Don't go away half cocked or disillusioned with information from the web.

Contact your armed forces careers office, and work on facts. Those of you in or approaching your mid teens will probably have a forces career type come to your school soon enough. Don't forget there are many career options available in the RAF, and as has been mentioned many exciting career choices in the forces in general.

Good luck guys.