Best sunglasses for flying?

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 22:45:00 GMT, Jon Kraus
wrote:

Get whatever you want but make sure that you get Non-polorized lenses.
It makes seeing your instruments easier.

Why is this? I know that polarized lenses cause weird problems with
LCD panels, but how do polarized lenses make the aircraft instruments
harder to see?

-- Bryan

I don't know the technical reasons for this. I just remember reading it
somewhere. I think that most of the "pilot" sunglases you will see are
Non-polorized.

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
Student Mooney purchaser

Bryan Mason bmason wrote:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 22:45:00 GMT, Jon Kraus
wrote:


Get whatever you want but make sure that you get Non-polorized lenses.
It makes seeing your instruments easier.


Why is this? I know that polarized lenses cause weird problems with
LCD panels, but how do polarized lenses make the aircraft instruments
harder to see?

-- Bryan

I don't know the technical reasons for this. I just remember reading it
somewhere. I think that most of the "pilot" sunglasses you will see are
Non-polarized.

Jon Kraus
PP-ASEL-IA
Student Mooney purchaser

Bryan Mason bmason wrote:

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 22:45:00 GMT, Jon Kraus
wrote:


Get whatever you want but make sure that you get Non-polorized lenses.
It makes seeing your instruments easier.


Why is this? I know that polarized lenses cause weird problems with
LCD panels, but how do polarized lenses make the aircraft instruments
harder to see?

-- Bryan

"xyzzy" wrote in message
...
I will probably spend it on prescription sunglasses. What are the best
sunglasses for flying if money is no object (I REALLY miscalculated)?

Serengeti graduated drivers.

http://www.serengeti-eyewear.com/dri...s_features.htm

As for haze, I've been driving along with mine wondering why
everyone else is driving so slow. Took them off only to be able
to see very little at all (and no, my prescription isn't very large!).

Paul

Why is this? I know that polarized lenses cause weird problems with
LCD panels, but how do polarized lenses make the aircraft instruments
harder to see?

Some of the instruments have polarised glass themselves. Some glass will
reflect polarised light at certain angles. Some angles of flight will cause
the windows of the aircraft to admit polarised light into the aircraft. If
the two lens are lined up in front of each other, the result is the same as
when you hold up two pairs of polarised sunglasses and look through both.
Rotate one of the pairs through 360 degrees and watch what you see. At
certain angles they will almost totally block the view. This causes the
affected instrument face to go black.

When you are trying to read your instruments with the sun at the same angle
as your instruments, you don't want to loose your view of the air speed
indicator!

Hope this helps,
Peter

"Paul Sengupta" wrote in message
...
"xyzzy" wrote in message
...
I will probably spend it on prescription sunglasses. What are the best
sunglasses for flying if money is no object (I REALLY miscalculated)?

Serengeti graduated drivers.

http://www.serengeti-eyewear.com/dri...s_features.htm

For the graduated lenses:
http://www.serengeti-eyewear.com/dri...gradient_1.htm

I've been flying for 20 years. I have a strong preference for brown glass
lenses. The brown tint lets me see the boundries of clouds much better on
hazy days as well as knocking down the haze in general. Glass (but not
coated glass!) is much more scratch resistant than plastic. I've never used
wrap-around glasses. I've always been satisfied with the usual pilot style
and Wayfarer style frames.

Best regards,

Steve Robertson
N4732J 1967 Beechcraft A23-24 Musketeer

xyzzy wrote:

I miscalculated my health benefits. I expected to have to pay cash for
my medical and for some diagnostic tests that I needed to have to get
the medical, but my HMO ended up picking up all of it. So I have a
signficant surplus in my healthcare flexible spending account that I
must spend by the end of the year or forfeit to the IRS.

I will probably spend it on prescription sunglasses. What are the best
sunglasses for flying if money is no object (I REALLY miscalculated)? I
already have a pair of prescription ray-bans which are pretty good but
not so great in hazy, glary conditions.

I'd like to hear any opinions on this, like are mirrored shades better
at reflecting bright light? ARe wraparounds really better at protecting
your eyes from all angles? Etc.

Bryan Mason bmasonatbmasondotcom wrote in message . ..
On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 22:45:00 GMT, Jon Kraus
wrote:

Get whatever you want but make sure that you get Non-polorized lenses.
It makes seeing your instruments easier.

Why is this? I know that polarized lenses cause weird problems with
LCD panels, but how do polarized lenses make the aircraft instruments
harder to see?

The glass or plastic covering the instrument dials often has a
polarizing coating to reduce glare. Just as you can use two
polarized pieces of glass together to block light, the two polariazed
glass in your sunglasses and the instrument dials can block your view
of the needles behind the dial's glass.

It depends on the polarization direction of your sunglasses and of the
dial's glass. If the same direction then no blockage. If the
directions are 90 degrees apart, you see black instead of the
instrument's display behind the glass. Take two old lenses from a
pair of polarized sunglasses and put one in front of the other. Look
through them and rotate one lens.

I accidentally tried this experiment as a student pilot once. In my
case if I held my head verticle with respect to the panel, I could see
all the gauges well except for one. I had to lay my head on my
shoulder to see that one, but then all the other gauges were black.
Awkward.

Some materials, like plastics, have a natural innate polarization.
Various coatings for anti-glare and such also have a polarization too.
Because of their general construction methods of layers of glass,
plastic and different coatings LCD panels are often polarized.

-Malcolm Teas
JYO

: Some of the instruments have polarised glass themselves. Some glass will
snip
In addition the lexan/polycarbonate windows of aircraft have a polarizing
effect of they are under any amount of strain.
--
Aaron C.

Case in point: JPI Engine monitors. I thought it was inop in a friend's
plane until I took off my polarized sunglasses.

Marco

"Aaron Coolidge" wrote in message
...
: Some of the instruments have polarised glass themselves. Some glass will
snip
In addition the lexan/polycarbonate windows of aircraft have a polarizing
effect of they are under any amount of strain.
--
Aaron C.