Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2020 April 10
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April 10
[edit]Can you fly a plane with only one eye?
[edit]I just realised. In the Tintin album Flight 714, Estonian former fighter aircraft pilot Piotr Skut is shown flying the Carreidas 160 executive aircraft as the main pilot, with a co-pilot beside him. But Piotr Skut wears an eyepatch, presumably he's blind in one eye.
In real life, is this actually possible? Can one of the pilots be blind in one eye, or do they both need perfect eyesight? JIP | Talk 23:40, 10 April 2020 (UTC)
- Can't speak for anywhere else, but in Canada my reading of https://www.tc.gc.ca/media/documents/ca-opssvs/tp13312e.pdf indicates that only ultralight, glider, and recreational pilots can get away with only one eye. Meters (talk) 00:05, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- How many eyes does your average plane have? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 00:11, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- @Meters: Yes, it is acceptable in the US, if the person can demonstrate that they can perform their duties without compromising safety. Here are some links I found on that, you might be able to find more: [1], [2], [3]. RudolfRed (talk) 00:26, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- @JIP: I replied to wrong user. fixing ping. RudolfRed (talk) 01:49, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- The captain of TACA Flight 110, where a Boeing 737 had to make an amazing emergency landing in New Orleans, had only one eye. The airline was based in El Salvador, so I assume their regulations applied. --76.71.6.31 (talk) 02:17, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- Wiley Post, "a famed American aviator... on October 1, 1926, an oil field accident cost him his left eye, but he used the settlement money to buy his first aircraft". See Wiley Post- The one-eyed pilot was the first to fly solo around the world and developed the first pressure suits.
- Some have claimed that First World War fighter ace Mick Mannock had little vision in his left eye, but this is disputed. [4]. Alansplodge (talk) 16:52, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- The captain of TACA Flight 110, where a Boeing 737 had to make an amazing emergency landing in New Orleans, had only one eye. The airline was based in El Salvador, so I assume their regulations applied. --76.71.6.31 (talk) 02:17, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- @JIP: I replied to wrong user. fixing ping. RudolfRed (talk) 01:49, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- Tangential to the thrust of the OP's question, but referring to the inspiration for it: it's likely that "the personal pilot for [an] aircraft industrialist and eccentric millionaire" in the mid-1960's could probably have got away with skirting regulations more easily than a more conventionally employed pilot, particularly if his boss was prepared to pay bribes and/or buy well-forged documentation. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.203.117.240 (talk) 21:16, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- The cover of The Red Sea Sharks, where Piotr Skut first appeared, shows he was already wearing an eyepatch when he was still piloting a fighter aircraft. However at that time he was working as a mercenary instead of being enlisted in an actual air force. Could he have got away with skirting regulations at that time too? JIP | Talk 22:20, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- Mercenaries tend to make their own rules, and if you're going to employ mercenaries, you're probably not too worried about conforming to 'regulations.' Even regular forces may be flexible in certain circumstances – one might not have thought that the RAF would countenance a fighter pilot with no legs, for example. {The poster formerly known as 87,81,230.195} 90.203.117.240 (talk) 08:25, 12 April 2020 (UTC)
- British V bomber pilots and co-pilots were instructed to wear an eye-patch on missions, so that if they were blinded by the flash from a nuclear explosion, they would still be able to fly using the other eye. US pilots were given hi-tech goggles that went opaque, but a pirate eye-patch is a lot cheaper. [5] Alansplodge (talk) 11:42, 12 April 2020 (UTC)
- Mercenaries tend to make their own rules, and if you're going to employ mercenaries, you're probably not too worried about conforming to 'regulations.' Even regular forces may be flexible in certain circumstances – one might not have thought that the RAF would countenance a fighter pilot with no legs, for example. {The poster formerly known as 87,81,230.195} 90.203.117.240 (talk) 08:25, 12 April 2020 (UTC)
- The cover of The Red Sea Sharks, where Piotr Skut first appeared, shows he was already wearing an eyepatch when he was still piloting a fighter aircraft. However at that time he was working as a mercenary instead of being enlisted in an actual air force. Could he have got away with skirting regulations at that time too? JIP | Talk 22:20, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- Tangential to the thrust of the OP's question, but referring to the inspiration for it: it's likely that "the personal pilot for [an] aircraft industrialist and eccentric millionaire" in the mid-1960's could probably have got away with skirting regulations more easily than a more conventionally employed pilot, particularly if his boss was prepared to pay bribes and/or buy well-forged documentation. {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.203.117.240 (talk) 21:16, 11 April 2020 (UTC)
- According to the FAA, a "special issuance" can be granted for pilot applicants with "Monocular Vision" : [6] —107.15.157.44 (talk) 05:22, 13 April 2020 (UTC) ... (as already linked by RudolfRed above).