A visit to my optometrist! I HAVE A PLAN!

[Rooster]

Since I turned 46, my need for readers has come into play!
It's like being wounded and not knowing where the shot came from!!!!

I'm 52 now, and decided to visit the optometrist to get some flying glasses built.

A kitfox is nice, in that the downward view is great and normal bifocals mess up my long view (sill good), so I chatted with him and asked him to build the glasses with bifocal readers in the TOP.
of the lens.
I levelled the FOX, put some specs on that he gave me to take home and drew a koki line on them where the best place was to put the bifocal reading lens.

This way, I drop my head slightly to view the instruments, and when I look out the doors or windscreen, my long view is superb!!!!!

He's keen for he challenge to build them, ad I'm sure it will make flying the Kitfox much more pleasurable!

I'll Keep you all posted.

Reid

[efwd]

That is a sweet idea. I was taxiing back to my hangar the other evening and realized my bifocals were a problem. Naturally you need to tilt your head back to try to see over the engine cowl and therefore I become blind trying to look through the bifocal as its location is bad for this view. Keep us informed, I may ask for the same type of thing.
I use "hydro Tac" lenses stuck into my sunglasses. I may just try to place them up top to give this a try without spending a fortune.

[DesertFox4]

I have a pair of glasses with bi-focal on top and the normal bi-focal area on the bottom with my center area set up for seeing signs and aircraft further out while driving or flying.
The top bi-focal section was added strictly for building my Kitfox. Great for working under the panel where I always had to tip my head back so far to get the magnification needed to work up close. Worked great for this and while flying I could much easier just normally look down at the panel and it would be in focus quicker.
I did get tired of the two bi-focal lines after finishing most of my build. My optometrist said they couldn’t make progressive lenses with the second reader magnification section at the top of the lenses. Now I have a normal pair with progressive lens. No bi-focal lines. I keep that special pair close by if doing any overhead close up work.
Hope they work for you too.

[Agfoxflyer]

During construction of my 5 I had glasses with bifocal top and bottom. Saved a lot of stain on my neck. Saved having to tilt my head way up.

[rv9ralph]

Many years ago, when at the Medical Examiner for my Medical, we were discussing the need for readers/glasses in the cockpit and the bifocal discussion came up. He shared with me that many airline pilots had bifocal on top to see the overhead instrument/control panel.

Ralph

[jiott]

I have another solution which has worked extremely well for me for about 35 years-I wear contacts but my right contact is focused for distance and the left one for about 2.5-3' (the distance my panel is from my eyes, and also my music stand when I am playing my oboe in an orchestra). It could also be done with glasses. It sounds like a headache producing nightmare, but not so. In a very few weeks my brain learned to pay more attention to my right eye when looking at far distance, and switch to more attention to the left eye when looking close in at my panel. It is instantaneous and un-noticeable. I only need to put reading glasses on when I am reading a book at very close distance. The difference between the two focal lengths of my contacts is not as much as you would think, so even with my distance eye closed I can still see long distances with only a slight amount of blurriness. It may not work for all people, but it certainly is worth considering.