Lens Colour ??

[The Flashing Blade]

I was watching some of the coverage of the war in Iraq. It was of USN Hornet pilots doing their stuff. In cockpit shots showed the pilots with yellow tinted visors. From personel experience (while skiing) I know the difference a yellow or pink tinted lensed goggles can make in low/difficult light conditions in comparision with either neutral grey sunglasses or none at all.

I fly single engine helicopters VFR only. Even with a Radar Information Service the best form of collision avoidance system is still looking out of the bubble with the standard issue Eyeball, Mark 1, Vision, for the use of.

If such a simple thing as a pair of yellow tinted glasses can make such a difference in spotting anything else in the same area of sky, why has this little bit of info not been passed along by those in the know? My thinking is it must be effective if the USN are buying lens for all of their pilots. Does anyone know anything about this?

[maninblack]

I don't know about the tints used on goggles but what you may be seeing is a coating on the canopy reflecting on the visor.

When aircraft canopies are manufactured various coatings are applied depending on the requirements of the end user, these can be anti-scratch or various other functionc. Many US manufactured aircraft have a thin gold based coating applied to the canopy which is radar reflective. The smooth canopy surface then becomes the refelctive surface and scatters radar signals far and wide rather than them passing through the normally radio lucent canopy and reflecting off the flat surfaces of the cocpit interior. hence, all part of the stealth improvements to non stealth aircraft by reducing radar cross section.

[Firestorm]

Like you, Blade, I only know from my own experience skiing, and agree with you about those tints in low light situations.

Alot of the chaps that I shoot with use yellow lenses in all light conditions: I myself can't get on with tinted lenses for shooting. I now use a standard Rayban G15 or a Randolph grey lens for flying. I have also used the Randolph brown lens, but as I now fly an EFIS cockpit, I have found it washes the EFIS dispalys out too much: it is very good in slight overcast for seeing out of the windows, and was excellent in the desert. I think you just have to try stuff and see what works for you.