Distance from eyes to RV-12 instrument panel?

[John-G]

Would somebody who has an RV-12 be so kind the next time you visit the hangar as to measure the approximate distance from your eyes to the instrument panel when you are firmly ensconced in the pilot seat of your RV-12?

Been away from flying for a while and during that time, my eyes have changed ? like most senile delinquents my age and older, I need readers. The last few times I?ve been flying, I've discovered reading small print on the instrument panel and especially the GPS was not possible without wearing my readers in front of my sunglasses. Which makes for quite a fashion statement, NOT, plus difficulty wearing headsets over the whole mess.

This is not a priority item ? just need the measurement to have a custom pair of sunglasses made in the near future with built-in readers optimized for the distance to the instrument panel. So when the time comes for spending quality time in the cockpit looking at the Skyview, I should be good to go.

Thanks,

 

[12vaitor]

I measured 28"-29" to the center of the Skyview display. I use the forward seat attach point for the backrest and 5'8" in height for a reference point.

John Salak
RV-12 #120116

 

[Bill_H]

I am 6ft 0in, seat back in aftmost hinge and leaned to aftmost position. Distance 27 inches in normal posture.

 

[John-G]

Thanks

Thanks guys ... appreciate you taking the time. I'm also in the 6' plus range so it looks like 27" is the number I should work with.

 

[BobTurner]

For what it's worth...
I wear progressive lenses, and also am short so I'm close to the panel (RV10).
I found it useful to sit in the unfinished plane and move the proposed EFIS location up and down, until it was in best focus for me, with my head held level (so I could look outside/inside with eye movement only, no head movement).

 

[ShaneSchmidt]

You know, if you can't move the seat everywhere you want it, then you should be able to slide the panel towards/away from you.

Give me a couple of trunk struts and a sawzall, and I'll fix you right up.

 

[diamond]

So for those who plan to use reading glasses over contact lenses, a 27 inch distance equates to about a +1.50 reading glass Rx. Or for the original poster, that would be +1.50 readers over your sunglasses. Please post a photo of you wearing this eyewear mod.

 

[John-G]

Yep 1.5 readers

I've been brushing up on my rusty skills with my friends Cherokee 6 and found I had to wear my 1.5 readers over my sunglasses to read his new Garmin GPS. The readers were 1.5 and worked perfectly for me ... but garnered no points for fashion. No photos were taken to protect the guilty.

Actually, I was shocked to read the RV-12's panel was approximately 27" from the eyes ... I would have guessed it to be much less. This afternoon I sat in the Cherokee 6 again with a measuring tape and found I was about 28" from the panel.

Next I will try to see if I can find a pair of sunglasses with the 1.5 reader bifocal placed a little higher than usual for a good view of the panel. To my way of thinking, that should work out perfectly for a dedicated pair of sunglasses to be used only for flying.

 

[Rick_A]

Custom Sunglasses/readers

Next I will try to see if I can find a pair of sunglasses with the 1.5 reader bifocal placed a little higher than usual for a good view of the panel. To my way of thinking, that should work out perfectly for a dedicated pair of sunglasses to be used only for flying.

I wear multi-focal contacts all the time EXCEPT when flying. I used some mail order aviation sunglass readers for a while and they were pretty good. However, getting custom sunglass reader just for flying is the way to go. This past year, I went to Visionworks and they worked with me to get the bifocal split at the right height. For the RV, I like the readers cut a little lower then standard. They re-made the first pair to get the split where I liked it. The frames are not the highest quality but they are good enough for the amount of time that I wear them.

Also, very important, get gradient shading. Little to no shading in the reader portion and normal shading in the distance portion.

 

[John-G]

Rick ? good points about the gradient shading and bifocal height. Having gradient shading is certainly the way to go.

After reading your comments and looking closely at photos of pilots sitting in their RV-12 ? their heads are way above the instrument panel. The Cherokee 6 panel is almost like a wall in front of you, so moving the bifocal height up based on the 6 panel would definitely be a bad strategy for the RV-12 (great for the Cherokee 6 though) ? thanks for pointing that out.

My RV-12 should be ready to sit in a couple of weeks (about ready to attach the upper firewall now) so I will be able to make a better evaluation at that time as to the correct positioning of the bifocal line.

Thanks,