Flight Physical

Coota0 · 02-08-2005, 08:20 AM

Going to take my Flight Physical Monday at Hood, any advice or suprises I should be ready for?

**Brad** · 02-08-2005, 12:25 PM

Just relax and don't fret. The depth perception test is one that many seem to have a problem with (I failed it) - even if you have normal depth perception. Just relax - everything in the flight physical is out of your hands - you'll either qualify or not. And really, if you're in decent health and good physical shape, you should be fine. When it comes to the battery of vision tests, though, don't get flustered and remember that there is no time limit.

Best of luck.

Coota0 · 02-08-2005, 03:16 PM

I took one for the USAF a couple of years ago and did fine. The depth perception test gave me fits, that floating circle thing is pretty outdated. But as i learned Friday my vision isn't 20/15 anymore (20/20 left eye, 20/40 right eye, correctible to 20/20) so I'm a bit worried about the vision test (also could've have been that I'm not used to taking vision tests after getting up at 0400

)

**Brad** · 02-08-2005, 03:27 PM

As long as it's correctable you're good. Mine's a similar ratio - 20/15 in the left and 20/30 or so in the right, but my right will not come to a perfect 20/20, even with correction - because of that I couldn't get the circles to come together in the test. Lost of rest the night before is real good idea

**Scary** · 02-08-2005, 04:00 PM

Heh have fun when they dialate your eyes. The cadets that have to take it at Ft. Lewis usually don't see correctly for 3 days... but that's because they go crazy with the dialating drops...

E.S.

Coota0 · 02-08-2005, 05:34 PM

The really craxy part about my eyes is that together they test 20/25, I don't if the left eye just picks up the slack or what.

Having you eyes dialted blows, but the worst part about the USAF flight physical is that you can't eat for like 12 hours before the physical. I was ok, I turned ghost white when they drew the blood but other than that I was cool, some of the guys who went with me were dropping like flies. They pulled out 4-6 viles of blood and we hadn't eaten, so there were cadets falling into walls and just passing out after having blood taken.

Coota0 · 02-13-2005, 11:04 AM

Leaving for Hood for the physical in a 1/2 hour, we'll know tomarrow afternoon if I'm flight qualified or not.

**Brad** · 02-13-2005, 06:44 PM

good luck!

Coota0 · 02-15-2005, 03:10 PM

I got disqualed beuase of high Cholesteral.

The Flight Doc was real cool though and said that if I wanted to go home, eat right exercise get a cholesterol test here in a while and send him the results he would count all the stuff I did yetserday and just include the new cholesteral test.

There are some weird things about all this however:
1) I passed a USAF flight physical with flying colors a little over 2 years ago.
2) I'm fairly young (25) I'm by no means overwieght (6'1'' , 170lbs) usually cholesteral isn't a problem for people like that.
3) I eat pretty healthy (not as healthy as I will for the next couple of months but pretty healthy) and run everyday and hit the weightroom 3 times a week, again unusaul for me to have this problem.
4) When we got to the airfield yesterday to see the Doc, we were told that they had not taken enough blood at the lab and that I would have to fast for 12 hours again so that they could take blood for today. When we got back over to the building with the lab, I went and saw the optomistrist (the flight doc had some questions and I was getting the answers) while I was doing that my recruiter went to see the lab to make sure I could get in first thing this morning to have the blood retaken, he said that they had found another blood sample of mine by then, but the results for the cholesteral and lipids test wouldn't be in until 5, so we would be stuck at Hood overnight again. Well we go in this morining the Doc has the results says "Sorry, but if you want to try eating better and exercising more, I'll rerun the test in a couple of months, in fact looking at these results if you were one of my pilots I'd send you in for a stress test on your heart."

5 hours later my recruiter and I are almost home, he says "Yeah, I went over to the lab and they said that if they were told to take 3 viles of blood they took 3, and then they found your sample, I looked at it and it had your name on it." I then said "They only took 2 viles of blood, not 3. I remember, it hurt like hell both times they jammed the vile into the needle and there were only two viles in the holder next to the chair when they were putting on the bandage."

Does this sound a bit strange to anyone else? This was my ONLY disqualifier, and the comment about sending me for a stress test really bothered me, becuase it made me sound really bad. I'm thinking there was either a mistake in the lab or I've got bigger problems than busting a physical.

Whoever said something about the eye dialtion was right, I'm still felling the effect and they did the dialation over 24 hours ago.

**Brad** · 02-15-2005, 03:19 PM

First thing I'd do is go to your regular doc and get a cholesterol test. If it comes back fine, head straight back to your recruiter with the results. If it doesn't, then you'll know for sure.

Coota0 · 02-15-2005, 03:20 PM

That's what I was thinking too, Brad.

Av8tor152d · 02-15-2005, 10:13 PM

Knowing the military it more than likely was not your test results that showed the high Cholesterol. But if it is yours its something you can fix. Be glad it wasn't something that you couldn't fix IE being color blind. Just a speed bump my friend keep your head up. AIR CAV

Coota0 · 02-19-2005, 11:34 AM

Got my cholesterol checked at a health screening about an hour ago, and my cholesteral was 186, the nurse said anything below 200 is great.
My recuriter was, to say the least, irritated about the foul up when I called him.

02-19-2005, 11:58 AM	#14 (permalink)
Brad