Sunglasses

twinpratts · Post by **twinpratts** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:03 pm

Anyone know what the repercussions are of wearing Polarized sunglasses on the flight deck of a modern airliner? All my Flying career I've avoided buying a pair, but now am considering it. Anyone out there use them? Like em or hate em?
What is the general concensus out there?
T.P.

LegoMan · Post by **LegoMan** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:06 pm

Ive been told that you wont be able to view EFIS instruments, or not clearly. Ive never had polarized, so maybe someone whose tried them on an airliner can share their input.

DEFPOTEC · Post by **DEFPOTEC** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:06 pm

your ears will fall off in anything bigger than a king air, don't do it!

Splatm · Post by **Splatm** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:21 pm

Only concern with polarized sunglasses I am aware of is that they make wires nearly invisible from above and can reduce the glint which may allow you to see other traffic.

flyinphil · Post by **flyinphil** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:30 pm

Pending on the windshield structure, once heated the windows have a blotchy hazy look to them and you can't see a damn thing. Depending on the viewing angle, some EFIS screens look completely black and you really have to move your head around to see them. Forget cross cockpit as those panels will be unreadable... Skip the Maui Jims and get a good set of non polarized glasses. Polarized are for the beach.

Yes, this is first hand experience.

wallypilot · Post by **wallypilot** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 4:56 pm

flyinphil wrote:Pending on the windshield structure, once heated the windows have a blotchy hazy look to them and you can't see a damn thing. Depending on the viewing angle, some EFIS screens look completely black and you really have to move your head around to see them. Forget cross cockpit as those panels will be unreadable... Skip the Maui Jims and get a good set of non polarized glasses. Polarized are for the beach.

Yes, this is first hand experience.

I second that...you won't be able to see FMS Screens very well at all....if at all...I find with traditional EFIS screens, they are fine, but the comment about the windscreen is definitely accurate. Glass cockpit, i can't comment on, but i am guessing that since I can't see my FMS screen, those big panel screens will be hard to see as well.

Good luck finding non-polarized glasses, though. they are out there, but you don't get a whole lot of choice. I ended up with Ray Bans. All the Serengeti's that are non-polarized that I could find are also photo-chromic...if you don't mind the tint adjusting on it's own, then those would be fine as well.

Dave T · Post by **Dave T** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 6:46 pm

I've never worn polarized sunglasses in the cockpit for this reason. I actually have a pair that I was driving with for the first time the other day and thought my sirius radio was busted. It took a day of driving around to realize it was the glasses that were bluring the screen. I think they're awesome for driving and the outdoors but deffinately would not wear them flying anything with glass. They'll even blur out just an old school GPS screen.

Personally unless you are bad about breaking and losing them invest in a good pair of comfortable sunglasses. You only get one set of eyes and you want to protect them as much as you can.

lucky37 · Post by **lucky37** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:41 pm

Any LCD screen will be clear, completely black, or somewhere in between with polarized sunglasses. To see the screens you have to tilt your head either one way or the other. For example, the way my GPS is mounted I have no problems until I tilt my head to the left at a 90 degree angle (just before I hear a snap...) so it's perfectly usable and I never have problems. However, my transponder is mounted vertically and I have to tilt my head slightly to see it clearly. Not a big deal, but it would be if it were a critical display.

Also, as mentioned earlier, some heated windshields will have a checkerboard pattern on them (you can see the checkerboard on the rear and side windows of cars as well). I wouldn't see any advantage of wearing polarized in an airliner; more of a disadvantage.

I wear a pair for float flying and can see objects in the water very clearly.. a little too clearly sometimes. That's the only 'benefit' I get from them. Definitely great for fishing!!

Wacko · Post by **Wacko** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 9:06 pm

Go to the store, put on a pair of polarized glasses and look at your cell phone display. Try it out in the sun. It's nearly impossible to see anything... or maybe it's just my cell phone

nimbostratus · Post by **nimbostratus** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:12 pm

I've got a pair of Maui Jims. (all Maui Jims are polarized). The EFIS displays have never been a problem (at least not with the new multi color displays, I think the old monochrome ones were more of an issue). As stated above, depending on the windshield you can have problems there. I fly two different Bombardier products and one of them I can barely see out the windshield. It looks kind of like a lake with gasoline on it. Pretty rainbows and all that. The other one's effect is hardly noticeable and would feel perfectly comfortable wearing the polarized pair.
For non polarized glasses, you can usually find a good selection in the Ray Bans, my latest pair though is Dolce and Gabbana. They work great but the temples are too thick for a David Clark headset. Work great with a light airline style Telex though...

Nimbo

ktcanuck · Post by **ktcanuck** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:08 am

IMHO nothing better than Serengetti Aviator Driver lens non-polarised.

flyinphil · Post by **flyinphil** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 4:14 am

ktcanuck wrote:IMHO nothing better than Serengetti Aviator Driver lens non-polarised.

I have to agree there. Costco puts them on sale every now and then for about 75 bucks as well. Makes them even better.

lyncher · Post by **lyncher** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:40 am

i have a pair of polarized, and i never really have a problem with them. the king air is no worries (all the good ol steams) but the PC12 is EFIS and the only problem that I have is the temperature guage..... until i have any real problem seeing anything, i'll stick with my polarized ray bans.

altiplano · Post by **altiplano** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 11:44 am

twinpratts · Post by **twinpratts** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:23 pm

'Nuff said... thanks guys.

gonefishin' · Post by **gonefishin'** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:36 pm

polarized are for the beach or the ski slopes not in the flight deck.

SuperchargedRS · Post by **SuperchargedRS** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 8:38 pm

Get the randlof engineering, as they have bayonet ends to fint inside a headset, show all colors (the reason they have been standard issue aircrew since korea, I think they are standard issue NASA too...)
I got a pair of the real military (they just have diffrent markings then then the civvy ones) ones on ebay for around 30bucks

Lost in Saigon · Post by **Lost in Saigon** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 7:59 am

This is what a 767 windshield looks like with polarized glasses on:

Stearman · Post by **Stearman** » Thu Oct 11, 2007 1:37 pm

Well I got a pair without thinking it through and I am going to say... Don't do it. I was thinking they would be great for fishing and boating no thought was given to flying.

Had to return mine and replace the lenses with the ole school G15 lense.

The above picture is the same thing that I see in my jet, and the EFIS and all the toys became invisible.

SuperchargedRS · Post by **SuperchargedRS** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 12:18 am

no prob with the Randolf's (they have the neutral grey and glass lenses).

flyinphil · Post by **flyinphil** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 4:23 am

Randolphs are fine but there are many others that as good or better. They were just the lowest bidder that met the military specs. repopularized by Top Gun.

SuperchargedRS · Post by **SuperchargedRS** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 4:51 pm

not to mention in Apocalypse Now

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 5:35 pm

If I say, It's safe to surf this beach, it's safe to surf this beach! I love the smell of napalm in the morning! Charlie don't surf!

SuperchargedRS · Post by **SuperchargedRS** » Fri Oct 12, 2007 10:54 pm

rock on

Krashman · Post by **Krashman** » Sat Oct 13, 2007 1:06 pm

Charlie Don't Surf! is a great little restuarant by the ocean in white rock... check it out...

won't find any napalm but you will find lots of sunglasses