I'm currently in ROTC in my AS200 year, and i just got back my DoDMERB. Everything was good except turns out i busted the 1000HZ on just my right ear by one notch higher than the limit for the pilot/nav H-1 hearing profile. I am very discouraged, but I've heard stuff floating around in the past about auto-waivers if everything else is good to go...? not sure.. but am I ok, or am I screwed? Any input at all would be appreciated greatly, thanks.
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Question about Hearing, help!
- Thread starter Erk183
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I'd see what your options are as far as retaking the test. If they say you can...
... then, as stupid as it sounds, I'd study for it. Believe it or not, it is possible to do better on the hearing tests when you know what to expect & what to listen for. Sit perfectly still, close your eyes, focus on what you're hearing, and as SOON as you hear the beep-beep (even if it's as much a faint click-click as a beep-beep), hit the button (if that's the setup they're using). Don't wait until you hear it "loud & clear" -- if you hear it, you hear it and that's enough. Ideally, find an AME or a hearing specialist in your area who uses the same sort of setup, and see if you can get a hearing test from him. If his setup confirms the same loss (preferably ask him to run at least your right ear twice), then you have the waiver route. But, if getting used to the test & what you're supposed to hear will help you get a little less loss, then it's definitely be worth your time to get retested.
Do some research at the ROTC unit, and find out if there will be another physical that definitively determines your pilot/nav qualification, or if that was the one. Then ask about retests, waivers, etc.
Hopefully somebody here closer to the ROTC process can give you some good words of advice, but at the end of the day, you're the one who's going to have to make it happen.
Best wishes!
Snoopy
... then, as stupid as it sounds, I'd study for it. Believe it or not, it is possible to do better on the hearing tests when you know what to expect & what to listen for. Sit perfectly still, close your eyes, focus on what you're hearing, and as SOON as you hear the beep-beep (even if it's as much a faint click-click as a beep-beep), hit the button (if that's the setup they're using). Don't wait until you hear it "loud & clear" -- if you hear it, you hear it and that's enough. Ideally, find an AME or a hearing specialist in your area who uses the same sort of setup, and see if you can get a hearing test from him. If his setup confirms the same loss (preferably ask him to run at least your right ear twice), then you have the waiver route. But, if getting used to the test & what you're supposed to hear will help you get a little less loss, then it's definitely be worth your time to get retested.
Do some research at the ROTC unit, and find out if there will be another physical that definitively determines your pilot/nav qualification, or if that was the one. Then ask about retests, waivers, etc.
Hopefully somebody here closer to the ROTC process can give you some good words of advice, but at the end of the day, you're the one who's going to have to make it happen.
Best wishes!
Snoopy
YeOldeProp
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- Feb 12, 2002
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To tag onto the good words from Snoopy58, there are a few extra things you can do to prep for a hearing test. Avoid loud radio/noise/places for the day prior to the test. Some folks have even worn earplugs to bed to help "re-sensitize" the ears. When enroute to the test, avoid all extra noise as well. When in the box, open your mouth a bit to relax the jawbone pressure on the hearing canal and any sounds that may follow along that route. Also, breathe through your mouth to avoid the noise that gets created in the nasal passage and then transferred to the hearing canal.
Worse comes to worse, see if you can schedule the hearing test at another place. The machines (hearing and eye exam types) get out of calibration or even dirty and cause problems. Had a good friend whose eyes went to 20/50 one year on the eye machine. Next item on the physical was blood pressure...which went out of limits because of the eyesight news. He requested to go to the eye doc for a second opinion. Eye doc checked him out at bewtter than 20/20 and called down to the physical exams place to see if they had cleaned the machine like he told them to...they hadn't. Then they wanted to DNIF him for blood pressure. He calmed down a few hours later and the flight doc did the BP check and passed him.
Medical folks are trying to do a good job, but follow a different set of rules. Which is why you'll avoid any unscheduled visits to the flight doc for years and years after you get your wings. Get the test again...and good luck.
Worse comes to worse, see if you can schedule the hearing test at another place. The machines (hearing and eye exam types) get out of calibration or even dirty and cause problems. Had a good friend whose eyes went to 20/50 one year on the eye machine. Next item on the physical was blood pressure...which went out of limits because of the eyesight news. He requested to go to the eye doc for a second opinion. Eye doc checked him out at bewtter than 20/20 and called down to the physical exams place to see if they had cleaned the machine like he told them to...they hadn't. Then they wanted to DNIF him for blood pressure. He calmed down a few hours later and the flight doc did the BP check and passed him.
Medical folks are trying to do a good job, but follow a different set of rules. Which is why you'll avoid any unscheduled visits to the flight doc for years and years after you get your wings. Get the test again...and good luck.
Erk183,
Sorry I can't tell you whether or not you're screwed, but I would expect you could retake it, especially if you keep bugging them enough. Once you're in, the hearing test is an annual part of the physical health assessment. If you don't pass there, they have you retest automatically.
A LOT of people stress over the hearing test. Those who really struggle with it are very cautious about their exposure to loud and/or repetitive noises, but especially right before their test. Some will wear earplugs to bed the night before and not remove them until they are in the testing booth just before they are going to take the test. I know enough people who do this I wouldn't doubt that it works. Most of them claim that if they don't, they end up failing and having to retest.
Now for the good news--once you're in, the official flight physical test establishes your hearing baseline. As long as your hearing doesn't deteriorate substantially from the baseline, the docs are happy. If they notice a large or rapid decrease in hearing, then they start investigating to see if there is a cause or disease.
Hope this helps, and I would insist on a retest if I were you.
Sorry I can't tell you whether or not you're screwed, but I would expect you could retake it, especially if you keep bugging them enough. Once you're in, the hearing test is an annual part of the physical health assessment. If you don't pass there, they have you retest automatically.
A LOT of people stress over the hearing test. Those who really struggle with it are very cautious about their exposure to loud and/or repetitive noises, but especially right before their test. Some will wear earplugs to bed the night before and not remove them until they are in the testing booth just before they are going to take the test. I know enough people who do this I wouldn't doubt that it works. Most of them claim that if they don't, they end up failing and having to retest.
Now for the good news--once you're in, the official flight physical test establishes your hearing baseline. As long as your hearing doesn't deteriorate substantially from the baseline, the docs are happy. If they notice a large or rapid decrease in hearing, then they start investigating to see if there is a cause or disease.
Hope this helps, and I would insist on a retest if I were you.
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