Hi,

Below is a photo of an interesting canopy tint. It is a F-22 raptor photo
taken at Oshkosh (not by me). The F-22 seems to have an amber (blue
blocker) tinted canopy. It also appears to be mirrored - but that may or may
not be true.
http://www.avweb.com/newspics/airven...-22_raptor.jpg

P.S. - One of the gliders I owned in the past was a lovely red 1-35c with a
dark tinted canopy. It looked very cool with the tinted canopy. I'm always
in favor of anything that makes a slightly old glider look new and cool. My
best guess on the heating in the cockpit is that the more heating will
happen in the canopy itself that with a clear canopy. The heating in the
canopy should be pulled away by the air passing over it in flight. I do
remember feeling that it was a bit dark in the cockpit when flying under
dark overcast areas of cloud cover, but it was not a problem. I didn't fly
with a PDA back then so I don't know how that would be. I imagine that a
PDA with a powerful backlight like an iPAQ hx4700 would appear brighter
inside the darkened cockpit.

Good Soaring,

Paul Remde

"Ed Downham" wrote in message
...
At 14:05 01 August 2008, sisu1a wrote:
On Aug 1, 5:55 am, Ed Downham wrote:
Having flown with a variety of tinted/non-tinted canopies, I would say
that
on an average soaring day they seem to make very little difference to
vision and/or heating. In very low light levels (twilight/dark) I'd
prefer to be under a clear lid but practically it wouldn't make a
huge
difference.

IMHO you're probably better off with a clear canopy + cover + a
decent
pair of sunglasses: at least you can change/remove the sunglasses...

The "Perspex" normally used for glider canopies is transparent from
about 350nm and longer wavelengths, which includes part of the UVA
band.
There is enough energy in the photons there to cause skin/tissue
damage,
so although you might not visibly "burn" as much as in direct
sunlight,
it's not at all good for you. I'm a bit sensitive in this respect so
for
me high-factor sunblock is a must in a glider. You can get "UV 400"
Perspex which only lets in visible light but I've never heard of a
canopy
being made with it (maybe I should ask!)

Well, you didn't really ask, but here is is anyhow...
http://www.thermotecusa.com/
Ray Poquette has been making 98% UV blocker canopies of ALL flavors
for along time. Here is a link to his UV canopy chart:
http://www.thermotecusa.com/ThermoTe...lock%20Canopy%
20Info.htm

-Paul

Thanks Paul,

Interesting. I'm getting a new canopy for next season so will
investigate...

Ed.