Hi Alan, Thanks for your thoughts. I have only just found out my little boy is slightly colour blind. As with you he has trouble distinguishing red/green.
Interesting there is no family history on either side. Certainly I am not colour blind, neither was my father or his father. I was very disappointed, naturally. I had hoped he might take his old man for a flight in a F18 one day. However I gained comfort from your comments. regards luke dodd ----- Original Message ----- From: "Allan Armistead" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia." <[email protected]> Sent: Sunday, November 27, 2005 5:12 PM Subject: [Aus-soaring] Coping strategies for colour blindness > Stuart (and others who might be interested). > > I guess the "coping strategies" used by we "colour blind" people use depend > on the degree of colour blindness. I can only speak from my own experiences. > > I don't recall the exact name of my "affliction", but mine is realtively > mild. Red and green are the usual problem colours. I have problems generally > with the finer shades of red and green. I actually had no idea I had a > problem until about 2nd of 3rd year high school when a guy came around doing > vocational guidance testing and I had all sorts of problems with the > "Ishahara (?)Test" - the book where the pages have numbers made up of > coloured dots. It was then I realised why I sometimes said something was > light green when it was light grey, or dark brown instead of dark red. I do, > though, still see most variations of red and green as somthing that I > identify as red and green, but clearly I don't see it the same as you > "normal" people do, either as colour or as intensity. > > If you are wearing a red or green shirt I know you are. And I love red cars. > I see red or green traffic signals - if you turned the lamp set upside down > I would know it so I don't go by the "top" and "bottom" light to decide if I > go through the intersection! > > In the garden I'll see a red rose but I have to look for it - it doesn't > jump out at me the way a yellow or white one does. > > In terms of coping strategies, the conscious ones at least are pretty > simple. If I play golf I will never use a red tee because it will be a > "single use" job! I'll never find it again - so I use yellow or white. > > If I'm choosing clothes or anything to do with colours (and I hate shopping > with a passion) I seek the advice of my very colour wise wife. > > The biggest major coping strategy though was to have to forget my lifelong > ambition to be an airline pilot. The first strategy then was a change of > career and I became a civil engineer. When my first posting with the (then) > DMR in NSW took me to Wentworth, and the resident works engineer turned out > to the president of the Sunraysia Gliding Club, the second major strategy > was to take him up on his invitation to go gliding, so flying became my > recreation. And, in one of those life-numbers that you don't want to work on > too often, I see from my logbook that on 18th December it will be 40 years > since that day that changed my life for the better! > > Other than that, it's not something I really think about, nor am overtly > conscious of most of the time. As I sit here looking out my window across > the lovely green garden into the clear blue sky it all looks great - > whatever colour it really is! > > Allan Armistead > ph (02) 6249 6470, fax (02) 6249 6555, mobile 0413 013 911 > PO Box 908, Dickson ACT 2602, Australia > > "When once you have tasted flight, you will always walk with your eyes > turned skyward, for there you have been and there you always will be." > Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519 > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Stuart & > Kerri FERGUSON > Sent: Sunday, 27 November 2005 9:43 > To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.' > Subject: [Aus-soaring] Colour and other vision issues. > > > Mark King wrote > > And lastly its such a pity so many pilots my age were stopped from pursing > an aviation career in the seventies and earlier because of the misguided > actions of CASA in the past. > > ============================================================================ > > Mark, > Back in the 60's and 70's you could get a CPL while colour blind, you > just could not hold any form of instrument rating including the Class 4, now > known as the NVFR rating. Then some time in the 70's or early 80's they made > it a requirement of a CPL to hold a Class 4 instrument rating. However you > could not hold a CPL or higher if you had any form of vision correction > until 1977 or 1978. > > Not being colour blind I do not understand the coping strategies colour > blind people must be using every day - however back in the late 70's I was > doing a night arrival into Perth and I had a friend with me board who was > one of these colour blind CPL holders - there were some red displaced > threshold warning lights (in those days both ends of the runways were lit > green) and this did cause him some problems understanding what he was > seeing. One example I know, and not scientifically based, but I felt worth > sharing. > > As far as FLARM is concerned (I have not used one yet) aren't the green > displays the outer circle and the red the inner circle? That alone would > resolve the colour issue, along with variable tones. > > SDF > > PS - have you ever considered how hard it would be for the audio impaired to > become involved in gliding? > > > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of mark king > Sent: Saturday, 26 November 2005 5:17 PM > To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. > Subject: RE: [Aus-soaring] FLARM @ KEEPIT > > I feel I have to add my views on the comments > flying around about colour vision and flying. > > I am a glider pilot and a light aircraft pilot > and I also fail miserably any colour vision > perception test (and I was a guinea pig for the > University of NSW over this enduring many of > their weird tests in the name of science) and yes > its a red/green issue however I have never ever > had a problem with colour perception whilst > flying over many years. Nor has any instructor > ever commented that I had a problem. In practice > none of the "experts" in this area have ever been > able to show that a pilot with a colour > perception issue was somehow unsafe or incapable > of flying an aircraft in day or night conditions > to the same level of safety as colour "normal" pilots. > > CASA as it now is, years ago lost the fight to > stop pilots with so called colour perception > issues from flying at night thanks to the court > action taken by Dr Pape. See www.aopa.com.au for > his excellent paper on the history of the so > called colour vision standard and his fight for > fair play by CASA. The view of CASA up till then > was that somehow it was unsafe for pilots who > failed the colour perception test to fly at night > but safe for them to fly around during the day or > in thick cloud. You could be flying through the > thickest cloud imaginable during day time but as > soon as last light hit it was unsafe somehow? > bizarre to say the least and with no scientific > evidence to support their case which is why CASA > lost. Dr Pape in his extensive research could > find no evidence anywhere of any > accident/incident being attributed to colour > perception issues and this was not refuted by CASA. > > The only restriction imposed by CASA now is you > cannot gain an APTL (airline licence) and this is > more to do with international bodies not agreeing > on the standard that should apply then any > problem with flying for the airlines. Pilots with > colour perception issues can fly around at night, > in the thickest cloud etc all in a standard > aircraft without CASA or anyone else imposing any > restrictions or requiring "modified" instruments. > > Ironically now of course modern light aircraft > are making ever increasing use of colour > instrumentation, GPS etc and complete glass > instrumentation is becoming more common. No > manufacturer that I know of feels they have to > make special versions available for pilots who > fail standard colour vision tests or issue > warnings or limit some pilots from flying these > aircraft. You can get a Cessna 172 now with full > glass instrumentation just like the airlines fly! > I fly a GPS equipped C182 and its colourful > screen is a joy to use not a problem for me. > > To the point finally for those who have read > through this, if there any problems with the > readability of the displays on the FLARM it will > apply to all pilots not just the ones with a colour perception issue. > > And lastly its such a pity so many pilots my age > were stopped from pursing an aviation career in > the seventies and earlier because of the misguided actions of CASA in the > past. > > Mark > > At 18:17 25/11/2005, you wrote: > >Derek, Nigel and Dad > > > >Eventually I'm sure that someone will come up > >with a system that mounts right on your glasses > >and gives a warning signal straight to your > >eyes, or generates some sort of virtual heads-up > >display overlayed on your view of the world. > > > >In the meantime, LEDs are now available in > >white, blue, red, green and orange. So perhaps > >a non-standard colour set is suitable for those > >who are colourblind red and green ? I only > >observed the FLARM units briefly, and maybe if > >multi-colour LEDs are used this is still a > >problem if you needed to mount 2 or more LEDs > >where only one multicolour one is used in a "normal" FLARM display. > > > >As for my $0.02 worth, although I spent 5 hours > >wishing I could die instead of puking over and > >over again while riding in the back of the > >DG-1000 (not sure if it was dehydration, > >something that I ate, or perhaps not being used > >to continued 2G turns in gaggles while > >swivelling my head to watch all the other > >traffic ?), I think that a FLARM repeater > >display in the back of a two seater would be > >useful so that the workload could be shared amongst both pilots. > > > >Jason > > > >At 03:45 PM 25/11/2005, you wrote: > >>Content-class: urn:content-classes:message > >>Content-Type: multipart/alternative; > >> boundary="----_=_NextPart_001_01C5F17B.0685231D" > >> > >>2 days: By the end of the flight the next day > >>the power led was flashing , but the unit still registered other gliders. > >> > >>Nigel, I think the unit would be improved > >>immensely by the addition of a LCD display > >>instead of the LED's (and a glareshield.), plus > >>a voice option instead of the alarm ("traffic 12 high.") > >>Derek > >>-----Original Message----- > >>From: > >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>On Behalf Of RF Developments Pty Ltd > >>Sent: Friday, 25 November 2005 3:04 PM > >>To: 'Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia.' > >>Subject: RE: [Aus-soaring] FLARM @ KEEPIT > >> > >>Derek, > >> > >>How long did those AA batteries last? > >> > >>Nigel > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >> > >>Nigel Andrews > >>-----Original Message----- > >>From: > >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Derek > Ruddock > >>Sent: Friday, November 25, 2005 12:41 PM > >>To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. > >>Subject: RE: [Aus-soaring] FLARM @ KEEPIT > >>The general impression I got was that they worked very well. > >>In no way can they be regarded as a substitute > >>for a good lookout, and this point was made very clear at the briefings. > >>I personally never had an alarm whilst > >>thermalling, although I understand some pilots did. > >> > >>I had 2 alarms during the course of the > >>contest: in both cases I had not seen the approaching glider first: > >>our paths were not collision courses and > >>avoiding action was not required. I was, > >>however, pleased that the presence of the other > >>glider was drawn to my attention before I had > >>noticed it. This alone convinced me of the value of the FLARM. > >> > >>Quite frankly I rarely looked at it, so I found > >>it definitely NOT to be a distraction in the cockpit. > >> > >>There are some minor issues regarding the > >>design: the unit needs a glare shield, and > >>perhaps a different display, as the threats are > >>displayed on red or green LED's, and thus > >>present problems to colour blind pilots. I > >>believe there are also some minor problems to be sorted out with the > software > >> > >>All in all, I believe that the trial was very successful > >> > >>-----Original Message----- > >>From: > >>[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >>[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Geoff > Kidd > >>Sent: Friday, 25 November 2005 1:17 PM > >>To: Discussion of issues relating to Soaring in Australia. > >>Subject: [Aus-soaring] FLARM @ KEEPIT > >> > >>1 Would anyone care to offer any feedback on > >>how the Flarm trial went at Keepit? > >> > >> Did anyone find them useful? > >> > >>2 Gee it's been comparatively quiet on this > >>forum lately. Doesn't anyone have anything controversial to say? > >> > >>_______________________________________________ > >>Aus-soaring mailing list > >>[email protected] > >>To check or change subscription details, visit: > >>http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > > > > > > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Aus-soaring mailing list > >[email protected] > >To check or change subscription details, visit: > >http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [email protected] > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [email protected] > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > > _______________________________________________ > Aus-soaring mailing list > [email protected] > To check or change subscription details, visit: > http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring > _______________________________________________ Aus-soaring mailing list [email protected] To check or change subscription details, visit: http://lists.internode.on.net/mailman/listinfo/aus-soaring
