Sunglasses!!
 

Sat on my good ol "Bolles" the other day, so am up for another expensive purchase.
Anyone know if Polarised or nonpolarised are better lenses for flying?
Unfortunately i cant remember what Polarised means. I thought they were a couple in Seaworld.
Thanks in Advance

Polarized means that the lens only allows light with a certain wave orientation through. They are good for reducing glare from reflection (off water/snow etc).

Cockpit windshields on a lot of aircraft (certainly airliners) are polarized, and if you wear polarized glasses and look through a polarized windshield, you may not be able to see anything outside at all... So, to answer your question, non-polarized are the type to get for flying!

Lancer

Particularly if u are a helicopter pilot, you need to see power lines, and u dont want polarised sunnies restricting your view of them!!


The Australian spelling for polarisation and polarised is like this. Americans spell it with a Z.....AUSTRALIA DONT BECOME AMERICA!

Polaroid’s are for me – by a long shot! I’ve used all sorts of expensive pilot sunglasses and keep coming back polarised lenses. Personally, I prefer the ‘wrap around’ style, which do not allow direct light onto the rear of the lens when flying away from the sun. I go to the Cancer Foundation (in Melbourne) and spend no more than about $30.00 – and can therefore always justify having a spare pair in my bag when the others get damaged or go missing.

[This message has been edited by Pedota (edited 26 May 2001).]

Polarised sunnies and heated windshields don't mix.

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bottums up !

Pedota, sensible thinking. My ex-boss used to get his sunnies from, I think, Worksafe Australia?.. something like that anyway. He never paid more than $20; if your sunnies are a fashion accessory you put on top of your head when cruising the bars in uniform looking for chickies, look elsewhere, but if you want effective and cheap protection that meets all the standards, they are worth a go.

As far as polarisation goes, many moons ago when I was first starting in Brisbane Tower and was suspicious of all sunglasses-wearing controllers as posers, I was having difficulty spotting a lightie on left base for 04; training officer said, "put these on" and gave me a pair of polarised sunnies. There was the Cherokee, like the proverbial dog's gonads against the blue sky; I was immediately converted. But when the polarised sunscreens in the tower are down, forget polarised sunnies! Horses for courses.

Binos

You can't go past Serengetis. Photochromatic, and you can see the instrument panel as well as outside...

About $250, well spent. A word of advice..don't put them on the roof of your car and drive off. I've tried that and could not bear to do anything other than buy another pair.

Be careful with the Polaroids. Seem to remember some info some time back back warning against the use of polaroids for flying due to the fact that they do not stop UV rays. Because of the reduced light to the pupils your pupils will enlarge, allowing even more of the UV in, with possible long term harm.

Also, as someone has suggested, the wraparounds are better. Non wraparounds will cut the forward light to the pupil but the light from the side will still keep the total light at a high level, keeping the pupil small and making it very difficult to see inside the cockpit. The wraparounds cut the total light, allowing the pupils to enlarge and greatly improving the view inside as well as out.

You can try this out simply by placing your hands at the side of your current sunnies.

Ray Ban are my choice. Unfortunately they have a light metal frame, so you'll need to keep them in a glasses case when they're not in use. And why are they better than others? Well one of the over-riding reasons was the same as Pushback's " you can see the instrument panel as well as outside. There are lots of sunnies that are great to wear looking outside, but when you look in at the instruments you can't see a bloodey thing.

A little more expensive, but an investment in your eyesight - something you need to protect, if you're going to rely on aviation for your life's income. Also, a doctor advised me early in my career that pilots are more likely to develop trigians ("spelling police"?) because of our increased exposure to UV rays, and to always wear sunnies when flying.

But perhaps the MOST important reason - sunglasses stop you squinting in glary conditions, and delay the onset of "crow's feet" around your eyes, and we all know the top priority is to stay "lookin' good".

My sunnies tend to get knocked around a bit so I only by specks with glass lenses. They feel tad heavy at first if your used to plastics but you get used to that. Definately go non-polarised, Kingairs, Metros and the like all have polarised windshields. Any cheap plastic safety lenses are also no good for this evironment, they discolour and scratch over a period of time and will make your eyes work harder. A CASA medical eye specialist once told me not to spare the pennies and look for quality, we use our sunglasses for many hours each day and if they are not good quality they WILL damage your eyes over a period of time.
I use rap-around Rays, after my 20% discount from private medical they cost around $165.00 and last me at least two years per set. You can also buy spare lenses and frame parts if they get damaged.

I dont like the Ray Ban Aviators as they are not rap-around style. They were originally designed specifically for the US Air Force to be worn inside a helmet where there is no side glare.


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No more soup for you!

Well Vegie, that might account for the reason I see the occasional "Captain Cool/FIGJAM" who has removed his tie and epaulettes, but "forgot" to take the wings and sunnies off, and sits on a bar stool while everyone else at the table is on a chair - at 10 o'clock at night!

Maybe YOU ought to try drinking with YOUR sunnies on, Captain Vegemite - but if it's too late to stop the crowsfeet (like it is for me) a bit of Selleys Gap Filler does wonders around the eyes!!

Ray Bans with the plastic frames are for me! Relatively scratch proof glass lenses with light, comfortable plastic frames. And not the 'wrap around your earlobe' type as they are bloody uncomfortable when a headset presses your earlobe in. Several hundred dollars per set but last several years and give good vision inside and out.

Chuck.

SERENGETI'S - Bought a pair a couple of years ago and they're still going strong.

Really good for defining different layers of cloud and you can still see your instrument panel. I'll never look at another brand so long as they remain this good.

Serengetis - same now 5 years on and they are the best sunnies i've ever had in the cockpit,cost around $230 then bit worth every cent. Raybans good but not a patch on serengetis,may look smarter but that is here it ends>>

The last sunglasses I bought was a pair of Lacoste. They have a non-polarised glass lens and stronger metal frame than the Ray Bans. I've had these for about 2 years now and are still going well.

Just bought a pair of OAKLEY A-frames, gold with matching lenses, and they fit inside my headsets, (usually not the case) Awesome pair of shades

$285 AUS

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"...It's life Jim but not as we know it....."

have to go with the serengetties. Awsome protection for the eyes, no probs with colour perception or visiual clarity, heated wind shields or colour screens. (well not on the metro anyway) Had a little problem with the arm in my some 18 month old glasses and the sent me new ones free! They are not what you would call scratch proof but scrach mush less easily than my old raybans for instance. but I have given mine a hiding over the years and wont trade them for anything else.

I thought crows feet and peppered hair were the signs of aging gracefully....doh out with the spack filler!!

Sunnies again! :) This has been on a few times over the board in various forums, here is a comment I have posted before, most recently in the "Questions" forum, under Serengeti sunglasses in the UK?

There are several reasons to wear sunglasses. It is generally accepted that glare is harmful to the eye and that protection from glare is therefore therapeutic, even though studies show that only 22% of the population reacts adversely to glare. For these people the pupils are nearly pinpoints under such exposure. Diminished retinal luminescence cause measurable visual decrements and sunglasses will improve this visual acuity problem by counteracting the amount of available light. Conversely another 11% are at the opposite end of the sensitivity spectrum, these people actually have improved acuity under high glare conditions and seem to have no need for sunglasses.

It is not necessary to wear lenses inside the aircraft to protect a pilot from the injurious part of the UV spectrum, because canopy or cockpit windows will also block UV-B. (Acrylics, however, will not block UV effects and Ultra light or open-cockpit flyers will need sunnies.) UV-C is absorbed by the atmospheric ozone and is not supposed to reach the earth. Infrared rays (as in a heated cockpit) are not known to be a eye hazard.

Sunglasses are therefore essential for most pilots in order to cope with glare. The most important consideration for sunglasses is that they reduce glare without affecting vision. Lenses should not be too dark and the standards given for pilots is that they transmit at least 15 per cent of incident light. The tint must be "Neutral density" (ND) which means that it doesn't affect colour perception. The recommended tint for aviation sunglasses is therefore ND15. (This is the US military specification standard for aviators sunglasses and tinted visors, and may have its scientific origins in a 'best guess scenario' more than fifty years ago.) Only sunglasses that conform to the Australian standards should be worn . Those marked "specific purpose sunglasses" are recommended.

Pilots who wear prescription sunglasses may either wear clip-on lenses or they can get their prescription sunglasses made with ND15 lenses. Clip-ons have the advantage of being easy to remove when there is a quick change from light to dark conditions.

If you chose to have your prescription lens made with a tint then it is essential to have another pair of untinted lenses for night and low glare flying. Pilots who wear look-overs are advised to use bifocals instead and then wear clip-ons.

There are two main materials, crown glass and a plastic known as CR39. A very tough poly carbonate lens material is also available. All three lens materials are acceptable. CR39 and polycarbonate have these advantages :

• highly impact resistant;
• light weight; and
• low thermal conductivity and thus less liable to fogging.

CR39 is more vulnerable to surface damage than glass and CR39 lenses must be carefully protected from scratching. CR39 can be obtained with an abrasion-resistant coating to reduce its susceptibility to surface damage.

Polaroid lenses should be left in your boat. (Everybody has one right :)) Their chief attribute is that quality Polaroid lenses will completely eliminate glare coming from a flat surface that is of an angle of approximately 53%. A pilot wearing Polaroid lenses sees the world as constantly changing according to his (or her) angle of bank, as the angle of the glare is altered. Liquid crystal displays work by electrically controlling filtered polarised light, so any LCD will appear blank with polarised lenses on, and looking through a polarised window can result in no view at all!

Lens colors are seen in different ways:

• Green or grey are said to give the least color distortion, and are available in combination.
• Yellow has the capability of filtering reflected short-wave blue which is found in air contaminants such as fog, haze, smoke or smog. In certain conditions therefore yellow "blue blockers" can improve visual acuity, but not because they protect from glare. Yellow lenses that cut out more than 30% of ambient light can affect color perception and military pilots complain that depth perception is altered.
• Brown, if it is not too dark, will enhance contrast as well as doing a modicum of blue-blocking.
• Rose also increases contrast and blue-blocking offering a niche in car use.

In summary, aviators' sunglasses should:

• be glass or polycarbonate;
• transmit not less than 25% of available light;
• not distort colors, distances or shapes;
• nullify the blurring effect of short-wave reflected blue;
• have their adverse effect on visual acuity well understood; and
• not be worn under conditions of diminished light.

As an aside, I bought a pair of glass Serengettis with a brown tint for nearly $AUD300. I didn't like the weight of the glass lens at all, and the brown tint, while it was good for glare, made the green information on EFIS a little hard to see when I transistioned to EFIS. In addition the inside of the lens was highly relfective, so as I was sitting in shadow (in the cockpit) looking out at a bright field (like a cloud deck from above) they gave me a perfect image of my eyes looking back at me (reflected from the inside of the lens). That was difficult to ignore. I now fly with a pair of $AUD15 plastic sunnies I bought from a Chemist and I am much happier with them.

In Australia pilots may claim one pair of sunnies per year at tax time. :)

sources:
-CAA (Australia) Aviation Safety Digest (ASD) 150 (1991)
-ASD 136 (Autumn 1998)
-ASD 133
-CASA's Flight Safety Australia (Sept. 1997)

Copies of all of these articles are available for free if you contact (Australia'a CASA or BASI)

[This message has been edited by Checkboard (edited 31 May 2001).]

Another Pain in the Arse for me is my sunnies squeezing against the side of my head , just above the ears. This also causes a lot of noise leakage through the headset earseals. Any recommendations for narrow armed sunnies.

Thanks for all replies

BBoy

Had a pair of Ray Ban glasses for a while till the flimsy frame gave up, replaced them with Serengetis which have been great with a more robust frame. 8 yrs on they still roll around the bottom of my flying bag (they have a strong case) and get used every day.

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You can't make Honey out of Pherdsheise