The blinking sun!
Thread Starter
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: London Under EGLL(LHR) 27R ILS
Age: 31
Posts: 500
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The blinking sun!
Hello All,
Just wondering is there a good quality company/website or anywhere in London that I can buy some Sunglasses to suit my prescription for flying.
I have a high prescription, but I am wondering what specifications are recommended? The flip ons I have at the moment are polarised and I have flown in the best of the CAVOK days we have had with no issues.
Kind Regards,
Just wondering is there a good quality company/website or anywhere in London that I can buy some Sunglasses to suit my prescription for flying.
I have a high prescription, but I am wondering what specifications are recommended? The flip ons I have at the moment are polarised and I have flown in the best of the CAVOK days we have had with no issues.
Kind Regards,
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Middle England
Posts: 145
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
CAA advice on sunglasses including prescription lenses here
Guidance on using sunglasses | Medical | Safety Regulation
Interesting points in here are that you can have a pair of prescriptions sunglasses as your second pair. Also that they don't like you putting non-prescription sunglasses over your normal glasses. Not sure if this applies to clip-ons.
With the CAA advice in mind, I think the best answer is to use an optician with a 2 for 1 deal and get a set of normal specs and sunglasses made up to the same prescription. I had a simple grey tint put on mine and they work just fine, especially in those low sun landings in winter. The only downside with a high prescription is that my optician couldn't supply sunglasses lenses a with high refractive index, so they ended up being quite thick.
Guidance on using sunglasses | Medical | Safety Regulation
Interesting points in here are that you can have a pair of prescriptions sunglasses as your second pair. Also that they don't like you putting non-prescription sunglasses over your normal glasses. Not sure if this applies to clip-ons.
With the CAA advice in mind, I think the best answer is to use an optician with a 2 for 1 deal and get a set of normal specs and sunglasses made up to the same prescription. I had a simple grey tint put on mine and they work just fine, especially in those low sun landings in winter. The only downside with a high prescription is that my optician couldn't supply sunglasses lenses a with high refractive index, so they ended up being quite thick.
Last edited by 2high2fastagain; 10th Oct 2010 at 20:30. Reason: garbled sentence corrected
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Massachusetts Bay Colony
Age: 57
Posts: 476
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Oakley
Research I was reading at the time I bought mine (about 4 years ago) had Oakley sunglasses as best in breed for clarity, color, and resolution. I've got a set of polarized and very curved (not quite wrap-arounds, though) and they are the DBs. Not cheap, mind, but worth every dime in my opinion. Local optician in Farnham was able to get them made with my prescription, though it was a special order from Oakley to his specs (get it?).
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,929
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I certainly wouldn't fly with polarized glasses, as they can - and do - make panel instruments and GPS units unreadable, never mind the fancy colours you can get looking through the perspex. In addition, AFAIK (don't have reference for it , though), they are not even legal in FAA land.
Agree with the 2-4-1 deals at the high street chains. Work a treat.
It gets a bit trickier if you need bifocals. If you have these made, the opticians are too used to ordering them for drivers (of cars, that is), with a near-vision inset that's loo low and not wide enough. I've got a pair and it took 3 or 4 attempts to get them right. Make sure you explain clearly what they are for and where (i.e. how high) exactly you want the near-vision insert to sit.
Agree with the 2-4-1 deals at the high street chains. Work a treat.
It gets a bit trickier if you need bifocals. If you have these made, the opticians are too used to ordering them for drivers (of cars, that is), with a near-vision inset that's loo low and not wide enough. I've got a pair and it took 3 or 4 attempts to get them right. Make sure you explain clearly what they are for and where (i.e. how high) exactly you want the near-vision insert to sit.
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Yorks UK
Posts: 59
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
As a former optical technician now in the airlines, but not fully conversent on the CAA rules) If you have a high prescription then you could get prescriptions on an refractive index of 1.74 for plastic and 1.9 for glass.
If your shortsighted and want photochromaticsn that are an even colour across the lens then you need to ask about Carl Zeiss equitint. If you want a solid tint then try essilor and their products.
Sorry if thwe info above is out of date but it is five years since I left to play with the big stuff.
Talk to your optician, both opthalmic and dispencing. to assure correct fitting of bif's or vari's take him to the plane and both sit in it whilst he measures you up. NO snide remarks please
have fun and have a bigger wallet
Plastic
If your shortsighted and want photochromaticsn that are an even colour across the lens then you need to ask about Carl Zeiss equitint. If you want a solid tint then try essilor and their products.
Sorry if thwe info above is out of date but it is five years since I left to play with the big stuff.
Talk to your optician, both opthalmic and dispencing. to assure correct fitting of bif's or vari's take him to the plane and both sit in it whilst he measures you up. NO snide remarks please
have fun and have a bigger wallet
Plastic
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Massachusetts Bay Colony
Age: 57
Posts: 476
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Polarized lenses
I can't comment on their approval by the FAA, but after several hundred hours behind a pair, I can confirm that there is no problem reading digital displays, except at the odd gas pump. When that happens, I just tilt my head about 30 degrees and the readout becomes as clear as a bell. Never had a problem with a GPS or anything else, though I'm sure manufacturers could provide genuine data on their displays if that's a concern for you. As for rainbow perspex, you do get a bit of that (stress lines in the material) but not a great deal and it's certainly not a significant distraction.
The benefits of lower glare, lower eye strain, and easier spotting of other aircraft far outweigh any deficiencies, real or perceived, in my mind. I'll never fly with anything else again.
The benefits of lower glare, lower eye strain, and easier spotting of other aircraft far outweigh any deficiencies, real or perceived, in my mind. I'll never fly with anything else again.
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: SoCal
Posts: 1,929
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: In my own little world
Posts: 776
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I've got these :-
Mile High - ONLINE STORE - Rapid Eyewear - Pilot & Aviator Sunglasses, High Quality, Versatile Aviation Sunglasses
Excellent for a "cheap" pair of sunnies. Comes with several interchangeable lenses for different conditions, which you don't even get with the much more expensive brands. Came in really handy having several lenses when I was flying VFR on top yesterday in the bright sunshine, then when we came back down through the cloud, switched to the cat 0 lenses to brighten it up a bit.
Also if they break, it's not such a huge dent in the wallet either as it would be with some of the more well known "brands".
Mile High - ONLINE STORE - Rapid Eyewear - Pilot & Aviator Sunglasses, High Quality, Versatile Aviation Sunglasses
Excellent for a "cheap" pair of sunnies. Comes with several interchangeable lenses for different conditions, which you don't even get with the much more expensive brands. Came in really handy having several lenses when I was flying VFR on top yesterday in the bright sunshine, then when we came back down through the cloud, switched to the cat 0 lenses to brighten it up a bit.
Also if they break, it's not such a huge dent in the wallet either as it would be with some of the more well known "brands".
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Betwixt and between
Posts: 666
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
On the type I fly, polarised Serengeti sunglasses render the windows almost opaque and multi-coloured and the EFIS instruments thoroughly unreadable! Therefore, going by Pitts2112 statement. I think it depends and that one should check aircraft/sunglass combination before buying.
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Massachusetts Bay Colony
Age: 57
Posts: 476
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
iphone
Maybe different makers of polarized lenses make them at different angles, then. I just tried my Oakleys with my iPhone and I can read it just fine at all but 45 degrees to the right (which struck me as odd because usually it's at 90 degrees).
