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Anyone else fail the colorblind test?


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53 minutes ago, Dan at FUL said:

Having a backup radio on board does not remove the restriction, so any night flight means you are flying unlicensed.  Insurance will not cover any event that occurs.  Liability will be on you if someone gets hurt, or a plane is damaged, even if not night related.  

I'm not implying that I plan to break the law.

Fail at the AME= restricted for all color control and night flying. 

Fail daytime SODA= restricted for daytime color control forever and still can have night lifted

Pass nighttime SODA= Night restriction lifted, night color control lifted, day color control still restricted. 

Fail nighttime SODA= I'm stuck right here where I started this journey. No night flying or any color control. 

Edited by Capitalist
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I just had an interesting conversation with someone at my local FSDO about the test.

They said I have to contact FAA in OKC and have them send a letter and initiate the ability to take the test. From there I meet them at a local controlled airport and do the test. Basically, he said if I can destinguish stoplights I can pass the test. 

Interestingly enough... He also said he has never seen anyone fail it. 

Im going to go for the daytime one it is a good trade of risk and reward (and that is what us capitalists are about) basically I pass and ALL restrictions go away forever. In the off chance I fail... I lose my ability to fly color control during the day forever. No biggie, I'll worry about lifting night restriction again if it gets that far.  

More FAA information on this can be found in FSIMS 8900 Point 1 Volume 5 Chapter 8 Section 1 it's public information. 

 

Edited by Capitalist
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Before going to the FSDO for the SODA I went to the local tower and asked them to give me some light gun tests. It was helpful to get comfortable with what I would be seeing.

At the FSDO they first sent all three colors saying, "this is red", "this is green", etc.  (hint: the white color is brighter than the green.) After the sample they gave me the real test and I got'em all.

Lee

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I have the same restriction and know that I have trouble distinguishing between red-green-white lights unless there is high contrast.  I chuckle when my wife asks if it's ok if the PAPI lights are red!  To me they look like bright (white) lights and darker (red) ones, but I can't tell if they are bright or dark until one of them changes. 

In the 10 yrs I have had my PPSEL I have never really wanted to fly at night anyway.  My fear has always been if I got the waiver and truly got in a situation where the colors mattered, would I be risking the lives of my passengers?

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On 8/13/2017 at 9:05 PM, Wildhorsesracing said:

I have the same restriction and know that I have trouble distinguishing between red-green-white lights unless there is high contrast.  I chuckle when my wife asks if it's ok if the PAPI lights are red!  To me they look like bright (white) lights and darker (red) ones, but I can't tell if they are bright or dark until one of them changes. 

In the 10 yrs I have had my PPSEL I have never really wanted to fly at night anyway.  My fear has always been if I got the waiver and truly got in a situation where the colors mattered, would I be risking the lives of my passengers?

Fair enough. That makes a lot of sense. I guess the point of me wanting mine lifted with the waiver is that I truly believe I can distinguish  them easily in a controlled environment or in an actual flight situation. 

Ive never had an issue with colors until the dot test. 

Anyways, my permission for the waiver is on the way to the FSDO. If I don't pass it, I won't fly at night. If I do, I won't ever concern myself with it again. 

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On 8/11/2017 at 11:53 AM, Dan at FUL said:

As a practical issue, color control probably never happens in real life.  I have asked people for years, and never heard of real case in the last 20 years. But the regulation still stands.  This is not the painful part of the restriction, the lack of night flight is.  

I've only been flying for ten years, but had actual light color control three years ago. It was time for a Flight Review, and I had moved the previous year and called an FBO at a nearby controlled field to set it up. These nice folks conveniently had a 182, so I arranged to combine the FR with a High Performance endorsement. The Cessna, despite the additional 55 hp, was far less "high performance" in the air than  my C . . .

Anyway, I fly to the airport after work one fine spring evening, and the nice CFI says they've been troubleshooting electrical problems with the plane, but it's ready to go. "Into the air, junior birdmen!" "Up! Up! And away!" We fly around some, do a low approach at a military field right at dusk, and as we are heading back I noticed the panel lights are getting dim. Mr. CFI talks to Tower, tells them what's happening and I lower 10° flaps. We are cleared to land. By the time we get there, nothing electrical is working, but the green light from the tower confirming we are cleared to land is bright and very visible. So I land and as I'm turning off the runway to taxi to the ramp, there's the blinking green light from the tower. 

Two thoughts were uppermost in my mind at the time:  taxiing at an unfamiliar field in the dark with no lights is difficult, and "Hey, this light gun stuff really works!" Rattling around somewhere in my head was the thought that this is my first flight in the left seat of a 182, and I just landed it at night, with no lights or radios, and only 10° of flaps . . . .

I then flew myself home to my uncontrolled field, and enjoyed having a functional (LED) landing light. Never heard what was wrong with the Cessna, but I'm thinking bad alternator.

So yes, light control does sometimes happen even now. But still, that's once in my ten years' experience . . . .

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14 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Got to add that junior birdman song to the Mooney airplane iTunes list...

Best regards,

-a-

Didn't realize the theme song from U.S. Naval Flight School Pensacola was on iTunes . . .

"Into the air, junior birdmen!

Into the air, upsiiiiide down . . . "

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