sun-glasses and PFD & ND
 

For pilots flying NG planes ... I mean screens not analog instrument....::

What sun-glasses do you wear just to see what is going on on the screen and dont let the sun bother you?

I wear Serengetis, works ok with Airbus crts.

Loc

You will have problems with polarised sunglasses as the polarising feature is incompatable with the LCD screens. Unless of course you don't mind tilting your head to the side 90 degrees:8

But the windscreens will give peculiar patterns through polarised lenses, won't they? Or is that just cars. I have spent umpteen years avoiding polarised lenses for this reason.

which model of serengueti??

PFD and ND!
 

Bring it back to the PFD/ND not the "windscreen" that's what was asked...Lots of stuff out there on the polarized glasses thing... I have tried various shades of Ray Ban and Serengettis and agree that the Airbus and Serengetti combo works well, but can't find a Boeing and Ray Ban mix that is perfect. Any ideas? Thanks...

This question is somewhat wrong. You don't need sunglasses for screens, you need it against the sun!!

Surprising, isn't it? :rolleyes:

So, if you look at screens only, take the sunglasses off! If you have sunlight, try to find the protection you prefer most.

If you have to look at screens and in the sun then you have to find a compromise between best protection and least obstruction. I might have to come back to my other post where I favorize Oakley. They tell you for every lens type how much light they filter out. I might be a fearful guy so I always use black iridium (non polarized of course), which gives you roughly 95% protection from the sun. I still can see the screens, although I have to put the screens on max brightness sometimes - but hey, that's what this handy dial is there for! Other Oakleys claim to filter out between 13 to 90% of the visible light.

There are ongoing disputes about colour changing efffects. I have never seen that problem, but it might happen to colourful glasses.

hth
Dani

For what it's worth, I wear Oakley polarized amber lensed glasses from sun-up to sun-down (eyes overly sensitive to UV). The TV screens on the 737NG don't go blank, but the LCD readout on the radios and clock will at certain angles. The Amber color has never made it too dark in the cockpit.

Cheers

Buter

Left Coaster- I know what was asked, but there is no point in having the perfect sunnies for the PFD/ND if the windscreen gives peculiar effects! So....can someone answer whether polarising lenses give funny effects on the windscreen?

I would tend to fully agree with and endorse what Dani just said.Sunny skies always!!Cheers.:ok:

Hey there Rainboe...
I have to say that a thread like this can really head off somewhere fast, it looked like it was going to early with the windscreen v PFD/ND chat. It looks like the Serengetti's win here...(Rats, I just bought new Raybans)Cheers

Forgot to say - yes, polarized lenses can make pretty designs on the laminated windscreens. Each windscreen is different so the level of interference ranges from none at all to 'damn, that's annoying'. I suppose it depends on how well the windscreens were layed up at the factory.

Hope this is of some use to someone.

Cheers

Buter

Polarized glasses on A320 are no hassle wrt to ND/PFD LCD's. Radio tuning panel blanks out though. I just look below the lense when tuning.

I posted the following some time ago - reposted for your interest:

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 just 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: (Mr Dully's views, not mine)

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!
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 lenses are not suitable for aviation use nor are polarisers.

Thank you, clear now. If there are any windscreen effects at all, polarisers should not be used. If you can see the ND, but can't see the radio tuning panel and need to remove the glasses to see other aeroplanes clearly, they are not for you in the air! Keep them for the poolside!

I made the mistake of buying some polarized sunglasses for cockpit use and found quickly that the multi-coloured patterns on the windscreen drove me batty. No probs with screens though. (This was in a 744)

Maui Jim's are the best polarised sunglasses in the world. Light weight, fabulous lenses and good looking. My favourite for flying though are REVOs that are slightly yellowy brown. Perfect in every respect. Both are expensive but are far better than RB. REVO made the visors for the EVA suits worn by NASA. :ouch:

Go for Silhouette's. Incredibly lightweight in addition to great comfort in combination of any headset...f.ex. the Sennheiser 45-KA ANR. A perfect combo! And of course, the optics are 100% in every respect...

I use Serengeti glasses with the "Driver gradient" lens (there are many models with these lenses). They are not cheap but personally I recon that they are the dogs bollocks. But I have also heard that Revo's are pretty nifty as well, but I have had no experience of them.

PM.

I cant give an opinion based on use in the cockpit, however there from transair pilot shop so they must be pritty good (should be for the price!!!!)

there Revo sunglasses, I think the model is "Leader", there quite light on your face and there really comfortable :ok:

My fiance gave me a pair of

http://coloreyes.com/customer/index.php

as a present.

They're expensive and perfect.

He uses them. He's a GLEX FO.

sun glasses again...
 

After reading this thread and went down to my local store to look for a pair of Serengeti's (read about them on the net and about there "special" linces. I came home an hour later totally confused, because I need strenght in them and they said it could be done, but she then showed me another solution, to put Zeiss linces in.
The reason was that the UV light, that the PHOTOCHROMIC system uses, is blocked by the windshield. I am flying at the moment in a Socata TB-9 Tampico and I do not know of what material the windshield is made of, but I presume plastic so the question is: how much UV light does a normal windshield block.
A normal pair of glasses block about 20%

Martin

Try the arnette brand with light brown lense. Sunlight and LCD screens no problem.

I prefer this brand as I have found they are more "optically neutral" (no magnification/ distortion) than other brands mentioned in this thread. :ok:

I wore Raybans for 15+ years (before Top Gun), but was given the chance to try a pair of Serengettis on a try b4 buy basis. After the first sector I wondered why I hadn't used them before, and am now a complete convert. The model I have is the Velocity witrh a titanium frame, very light and very strong. The photochromatic lenses are brilliant for 'in and out of cloud layers', although the amber lens takes a while to get used too. But brilliant in the NG and the 777. I have just got a new model - the corsa, with neutral lens but heavier (standard metal) frame. I am very happy with them too, if you really don't like the amber.:)

I have been using Serengeti's for the past 4 years in a full glass cockpit. I prefer the Drivers lens. I have tried the Drivers Gradient, which washes out the darkness from top to bottom, but find that they don't take away enough glare.

The only possible problem with Serengeti's, is that the back of the lens is coated in a material that reflects your eyes if the sun shines directly on you. It is not a big problem though.

Really excellent glasses. Much better than the Raybans I used before.

I had a pair of very expensive REVOs... great for driving and bad for flying. Not only could I not see the PFD or PND... the outside world was distorted looking through the windscreens tool.

If any of you wear prescription glasses, inform your doctor about the dispays that are preent in the NG type aircraft. They can special order lenses that will not effect your vision either inside or outside the cockpit.

I do wear prescription sunglasses.

What is ?

Sorry fmgc. Forgot the s in present... I guess I should wear my precriptions when typing.

Thanks,

Makes sense now.