PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - Sunglasses
Thread: Sunglasses
View Single Post
Old 30th November 2002 | 23:01
  #17 (permalink)  
GLSNightPilot
 
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 512
Likes: 0
From: Texas
A few things I've discovered over the years:

1. UV protection isn't that big a deal for flying. The windows filter out most of it anyway. However, almost all sunglasses block UV adequately these days, even for outside use.

2. Photochromatic lenses don't work well in the cockpit. They require UV radiation to darken, & there isn't enough UV making it through the windshield to darken them. I've never seen them get anywhere near dark enough in the cockpit.

3. Polarized lenses work OK in older cockpits in light ships. They do block the LED displays. We had a couple of 407 gauges changed because the pilot wrote them up as inop, then discovered that they worked fine when he took off his polarized sunglasses. They can also be a problem with heated windshields, because of the interference caused by the fine closely spaced wires in the windshield. You can't see through the windshield with polarized glasses.

4. Brown lenses work better for me, because they increase the contrast. Yellow (shooting) lenses work great for low-light conditions, like fog & haze on a very cloudy day.

5. If you're in the US, & willing to order through the mail, Hidalgo Supply Co in Wimberly, TX is the best place to get glasses, either plain sunglasses or prescription lenses. Great prices, great service. No website, but they do have an email address, I just can't remember it right now. [email protected] comes to mind, but that's just a guess.
GLSNightPilot is offline