Wear your sunglasses chaps

[effortless]

Having my cataracts done. Eye doctor said that flying without sunglasses was a cause in pilots. Infra red apparently not UV.

[Capt Kremmen]

If you're blue eyed even more necessary.

[mothminor]

Interesting.
If you don`t mind me asking effortless, what type of lenses are you going for?

[The Ancient Geek]

Sunglasses can be a seriously bad idea when flying, especially the polarised and tinted
varieties.
They can compromise the ability to see conflicting traffic and other hazards.

Rather go for good quality neutral coloured photochromics which will automatically adjust to the ambient light levels.

[S-Works]

Sunglasses can be a seriously bad idea when flying, especially the polarised and tinted
varieties.

Blimey, nearly 10,000hrs on my polarised Maiu Jims so far. I had no idea I have been doing it wrong for so long.... ;)

[effortless]

Bog standard distance. Assessed yesterday, being done next Wednesday. NHS, I have to be grateful. Annoying thing is my really expensive distance glasses will be useless now.

[mothminor]

Thanks effortless,
I`ve a cataract in my left eye which is not yet bad enough for nhs treatment.
I either wait or spend lots of dosh.
My optition also mentioned high numbers of pilots with cataracts.
Hope all goes well with your op. (very routine, so I`m told).

[RatherBeFlying]

There's UV protection in plastic lenses; so eyeglass wearers get a good deal of protection.

Don't know of any studies on prevalence of cataracts in various populations.

Age and diabetes seem to be major factors.

My ophthalmologist tells me mine are not yet worth operating on.

[effortless]

My mate is better than me but they are doing his because it affects his work. He fnds reading in lowish light very difficult. It is worth stressing things like this.

[nkt2000]

Afaik CAA discourage the use of both polarised and photochromic lenses by pilots. There is a CAA paper on it.

[27/09]

bose-x: Blimey, nearly 10,000hrs on my polarised Maiu Jims so far. I had no idea I have been doing it wrong for so long....

Polarised lenses can be an issue with some windscreens as some screens, due to their construction, (usually on commercial aircraft) have a polarising effect and the other issue is some cockpit displays also polarise the light that is transmitted. Couple these with a polarised lense and then you have a potential problem.

No doubt you've seen the effect of placing one polarised lense over another and rotating them.

Photochromic lenses need direct sunlight to darken. They are not very effective when sitting out of direct sunlight (like you normally are in a cockpit) looking out into bright sunny skies.

[effortless]

To be clear, I asked about sunglasses and the specialist said that cataracts more prevalent in people who didn't wear them when needed. Also, I asked about UV as I had prolonged exposure. He said that it was infra red that caused cataracts. So, this should be remembered when choosing.

If you are considering whether to go private. You can choose a varifocal private and you can get them done when the symptoms aren't so florid. These appear to be the only advantages. At the moment, the NHS is very quick when they agree you need them. The quality of the work is excellent and you have all the resources of the NHS if it all goes tits up.

[Camargue]

im 47. always worn sunglasses flying, driving, just when out and about and the best one I could get my hands on at that. Been told by optician I have very mild cataracts in each eye. Don't do enough flying for that to be the cause, guess its just one of those things. its a bugger. not so long ago I was 4 in each eye, now I am 6 and can really tell the difference!! :(

[alland2012]

Most of my flying is in Florida, I couldn't face flying without wearing sunglasses, never had any bad experiences regarding spotting other traffic.

[horizon flyer]

There are three types of lens replacement for cataracts, the NHS only fit the cheapest and under NHS rules you can not make a cash contribution to any NHS treatment by law. Therefore if you want the best new lenses, work like natural lenses for focusing you have to pay for the complete operation which will be over £2000 each eye.

I believe on sunglasses for flying a brown/gold tint is the best as we are more sensitive to black/yellow contrasts than black white that is why wasp/bees and other nasty things are these colours see and avoid rule.

[riverrock83]

With many plexiglass cockpits, polarised glasses cause you to see a rainbow like effect, which makes it harder to see outside, as well as the problems with a fair number of digital instruments (polarised light is used in LCD technology) where tilting your head could stop you reading a screen (even if you can read it when your head is straight).
Also as someone else above says, photochromic doesn't get dark enough as the plexiglass blocks most of the particular frequency that causes the colour change.
Coloured lenses block out certain colours, so can reduce the chances of your eye picking out something in that colour, so neutral grey has been shown to allow the best lookout.

Beyond that, optical quality of the lens will also make a big difference.

I find graduated lenses work well for me - darker at the top, as it lets me have good brightess reduction while still being able to clearly read instruments.

[Basil]

I have a pair of Varilux type prescription specs which I had made with a graduated neutral tint of 75% reduction (#2) from about the top third rapidly graduating to fully clear on the med/short range portion and they work very well. The tint seems at first not to block much light but for traffic detection it should not be any denser. I've checked them and a pair of company issue RayBans with my camera exposure meter and they both give a 2 stop reduction; I think that's 75%.


The following is an interesting article which I have in a flight safety magazine but cannot find on the web:

Pilots' sunglasses: mystique or mandate? By: Dully FE, Jr.
Formerly Field Associate Professor of Aviation Safety, Institute of Safety & Systems management, University of Southern California.

The salient points are as follows:

1. Use glass or polycarbonate; not soft plastic which does not block UV.
2. For traffic/target detection: no darker than number 2 which blocks 70% of light; i.e. transmits 30%.
3. Wearing Brown #2 a 20/20 (UK 6/6) remains almost 20/20. Looking for traffic, the pilot should remove them. A US Naval report found that tinted visor wearers were at a 1.8nm disadvantage in target acquisition! :eek:
4. Green or grey are said to give the least colour distortion.
Brown will enhance contrast and block some blue.
Yellow #1 (i.e. colour filters, not sunglasses) can enhance visibility in low level poor vis caused by smog.
5. As soon a light levels/glare, drops remove sunglasses.
6. Photochromatic (most Serengeti?) lenses are not suitable for aviation use nor are polarisers.

[GipsyMagpie]

Sunglasses can be a seriously bad idea when flying

I'll remember that next time I fly and try to look into sun for traffic.

[A le Ron]

To be clear, I asked about sunglasses and the specialist said that cataracts more prevalent in people who didn't wear them when needed. Also, I asked about UV as I had prolonged exposure. He said that it was infra red that caused cataracts. So, this should be remembered when choosing.

If you are considering whether to go private. You can choose a varifocal private and you can get them done when the symptoms aren't so florid. These appear to be the only advantages. At the moment, the NHS is very quick when they agree you need them. The quality of the work is excellent and you have all the resources of the NHS if it all goes tits up.

Pay special attention to the CAA medical regulations on acceptable lens implants. Multi focal lenses may not be acceptable for EASA medical certification. See the regulations here and discuss with your AME!
http://www.caa.co.uk/Aeromedical-Examiners/Medical-standards/Pilots-(EASA)/Conditions/Visual/Guidance-following-eye-surgery/

[effortless]

Thanks Ron but I lost my medical quite a while ago so not a problem for me.

[Flying Binghi]

via Camargue:
im 47. always worn sunglasses flying, driving, just when out and about and the best one I could get my hands on at that. Been told by optician I have very mild cataracts in each eye. Don't do enough flying for that to be the cause, guess its just one of those things. its a bugger. not so long ago I was 4 in each eye, now I am 6 and can really tell the difference!!

I'm told that if the sunglasses you wear dont have full sun blocking top and side coverage around the lenses that wearing a cap or hat is recomended.