Pilot Training Film playlist:
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“To See or Not to See” Overview of factors that affect pilots’ eyesight, from the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute Physiology of Flight film series.
Reupload of a previously uploaded film with improved video & sound.
Public domain film from the US National Archives, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.
The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).
The visual system is the part of the central nervous system which gives organisms the ability to process visual detail, as well as enabling the formation of several non-image photo response functions. It detects and interprets information from visible light to build a representation of the surrounding environment. The visual system carries out a number of complex tasks, including the reception of light and the formation of monocular representations; the buildup of a nuclear binocular perception from a pair of two dimensional projections; the identification and categorization of visual objects; assessing distances to and between objects; and guiding body movements in relation to visual objects. The psychological process of visual information is known as visual perception, a lack of which is called blindness. Non-image forming visual functions, independent of visual perception, include the pupillary light reflex (PLR) and circadian photoentrainment…
Light entering the eye is refracted as it passes through the cornea. It then passes through the pupil (controlled by the iris) and is further refracted by the lens. The cornea and lens act together as a compound lens to project an inverted image onto the retina…
The retina consists of a large number of photoreceptor cells which contain particular protein molecules called opsins. In humans, two types of opsins are involved in conscious vision: rod opsins and cone opsins. (A third type, melanopsin in some of the retinal ganglion cells (RGC), part of the body clock mechanism, is probably not involved in conscious vision, as these RGC do not project to the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) but to the pretectal olivary nucleus (PON).) An opsin absorbs a photon (a particle of light) and transmits a signal to the cell through a signal transduction pathway, resulting in hyper-polarization of the photoreceptor. (For more information, see Photoreceptor cell).
Rods and cones differ in function. Rods are found primarily in the periphery of the retina and are used to see at low levels of light. Cones are found primarily in the center (or fovea) of the retina. There are three types of cones that differ in the wavelengths of light they absorb; they are usually called short or blue, middle or green, and long or red. Cones are used primarily to distinguish color and other features of the visual world at normal levels of light…
Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI) is the medical certification, education, research, and occupational medicine wing of the Office of Aerospace Medicine (AAM) under the auspices of the Federal Aviation Administration Office of Aviation Safety. The Institute’s primary goal is to enhance aviation safety. CAMI is located at the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center (MMAC) in Oklahoma City…
America’s first successful flight was in 1903, but amazingly, five years would pass before the first fatal aviation accident. Since then, safety has been an important concern. In 1926, the Civil Aeronautics Act marshaled the talents of the medical profession to certify that all aviators are physically fit to fly. In August 1958, the Federal Aviation Act, which created an independent federal agency, was passed. As part of the organizational changes that followed the FAA Act of 1958, an Office of the Civil Air Surgeon was established. On 31 October 1959 plans were announced to create the Civil Aeromedical Research Institute (CARI) which was established in 1961…
In 1965 the Institute’s organizational scope and structure were enlarged and CARI was renamed the Civil Aeromedical Institute (CAMI)… The Institute’s people— scientists, engineers, physicians, medical specialists, educators, pilots, technicians, communicators, and others — all merged as a team. In 2001, CAMI was expanded to incorporate commercial space transportation, and its name was changed to the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute…
 ~ 1995 FAA Federal Aviation Administration){kind=link}