Canopy... Clear Green or Blue ?

There are two reasons for a tinted canopy:
- against snow and clouds a tinted canopied glider can be seen better
- a tinted canopy creates less reflections inside (cloth, shoes, maps..
my friends with DG's prefer the tinted ones)
Chris


"Steve B" wrote in message
om...
I need to make a decision on a new glider... I have never flown with a
tinted canopy. Any thoughts on the subject would be welcome.

Thanks
Steve

"CH" wrote:

There are two reasons for a tinted canopy:
- against snow and clouds a tinted canopied glider can be seen better
- a tinted canopy creates less reflections inside (cloth, shoes, maps..
my friends with DG's prefer the tinted ones)

I am not going to comment on the first reason, the second one makes no
sense to me. There are "less reflections" because there is less light
inside cocpit. There is less light because of the tint, which makes
your pupils open more to compensate. The ratio between the reflected
light intensity and the intensity of image yoy want to see remains the
same, however your visual accuity is compromised by lower illumination
level (wider pupils).

I would think the only advantage of a tinted canopy would be that it
probably is not as hot inside due to direct sun heating (I am only
guessing)

Henryk Birecki

I have owned gliders with both tinted and non-tinted canopies. The tint on
the typical glider canopy is so light that I don't think it makes any
difference. Save the money you would spend on the tint, and spend it on an
swivelling eyeball vent in the panel -- that will have a lot more effect on
comfort in the cockpit.


"Henryk Birecki" wrote in message
...
"CH" wrote:

There are two reasons for a tinted canopy:
- against snow and clouds a tinted canopied glider can be seen better
- a tinted canopy creates less reflections inside (cloth, shoes, maps..
my friends with DG's prefer the tinted ones)

I am not going to comment on the first reason, the second one makes no
sense to me. There are "less reflections" because there is less light
inside cocpit. There is less light because of the tint, which makes
your pupils open more to compensate. The ratio between the reflected
light intensity and the intensity of image yoy want to see remains the
same, however your visual accuity is compromised by lower illumination
level (wider pupils).

I would think the only advantage of a tinted canopy would be that it
probably is not as hot inside due to direct sun heating (I am only
guessing)

Henryk Birecki

In article ,
says...
Mecaplex recommends using a tinted canopy which
greatly reduces the reflections. Wilhelm Dirks, our
chief designer, has a tinted canopy on his glider. He
reports no disturbing reflections, and no problem
landing even when it is nearly dark. The loss of trans-
mitted light due to tinting during cloudy weather or
in the evening is not a factor. Generally the problem
in aircraft is too much light.

"Too much light" hasn't been a problem for this glider pilot,
especially as he gets older. It's getting harder to read instruments,
especially PDA's, and maps, so I would recommend a colorless canopy
unless Steve B is a young man (I know he's not thinking of getting a
DG!).

--
!Replace DECIMAL.POINT in my e-mail address with just a . to reply
directly

Eric Greenwell
Richland, WA (USA)

:-) I know this problem Eric,
and I have to admit, that I came into the age as well.
First you just think it is too dark to read the figures,
because you recognise them easily in broad light.
But then you try with your friends reading glasses
and find out - heck I need them to see sharp. the
reduced light just has an additional effect, because
the pupils open wider and that influences the sharp
vision range.
I hate reading glasses in the cockpit - I would prefer
one big glas screen, showing the figures BIG ;-)
Chris


"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
"Too much light" hasn't been a problem for this glider pilot,
especially as he gets older. It's getting harder to read instruments,
especially PDA's, and maps, so I would recommend a colorless canopy
unless Steve B is a young man (I know he's not thinking of getting a
DG!).
Eric Greenwell
Richland, WA (USA)

I love the dark blue tint on my canopy (SGS 1-35c). Go for it! Cooler is
better. Overheating and dehydration is dangerous.

Photo taken through the blue canopy, I'm in the Owl:
http://www.soarmn.com/paul_remde/pho..._in_flight.jpg

View of the 1-35c:
http://www.soarmn.com/paul_remde/photos/135cwt1.JPG

Regards,

S. Steve Adkins
http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com

In reply to: "Steve B"

In article ,
says...
"Eric Greenwell" wrote in message
"Too much light" hasn't been a problem for this glider pilot,
especially as he gets older. It's getting harder to read instruments,
especially PDA's, and maps, so I would recommend a colorless canopy
unless Steve B is a young man (I know he's not thinking of getting a

:-) I know this problem Eric,
and I have to admit, that I came into the age as well.
First you just think it is too dark to read the figures,
because you recognise them easily in broad light.
But then you try with your friends reading glasses
and find out - heck I need them to see sharp. the
reduced light just has an additional effect, because
the pupils open wider and that influences the sharp
vision range.
I hate reading glasses in the cockpit - I would prefer
one big glas screen, showing the figures BIG ;-)
Chris

I've been using the stick-on bifocals, which work well, except that
you still have to look through the sunglass tint. I've been
considering trying a pair of Sunreaders, which get around this
problem. Their Pilot models look like they have the bifocal part lower
on the lens than normal, and no tint there. Here are a couple of
companies offering them:

https://www.readysecure1.com/users/m...der_online.htm
http://readyreadingglasses.com/sunreaders2.htm

--
!Replace DECIMAL.POINT in my e-mail address with just a . to reply
directly

Eric Greenwell
Richland, WA (USA)

Very Cool!...

Great Pictures



"S Steve Adkins" wrote in message ...
I love the dark blue tint on my canopy (SGS 1-35c). Go for it! Cooler is
better. Overheating and dehydration is dangerous.

Photo taken through the blue canopy, I'm in the Owl:
http://www.soarmn.com/paul_remde/pho..._in_flight.jpg

View of the 1-35c:
http://www.soarmn.com/paul_remde/photos/135cwt1.JPG

Regards,

S. Steve Adkins
http://www.sailplanehomebuilders.com

In reply to: "Steve B"

I have blue tinted canopy on my HP16T. After flying my freinds LS-1
for a week the number 1 thing I missed about my HP was the Tinted
canopy. The Tinting makes it cooler and I think visiblity is not
reduced very little if anything noticable. Some of the difference in
opinion on tinting may be due to were you fly. It may not be as much
of an issue on the east cost as it is in the Western US were we fly in
typically warmer temperatures and Higher Altitudes.

In summary I would never by an untinted canopy, as I love my blue
tinted caopy.

you can look at mine at http://www.soaridaho.com/Schreder/

Thanks

Brian
CFIIG/ASEL




(Steve B) wrote in message . com...
I need to make a decision on a new glider... I have never flown with a
tinted canopy. Any thoughts on the subject would be welcome.

Thanks
Steve