Here is a pair of the dark gray canopies made by Ray Poquette of
Thermotec. He made them for one of my Grob 103s about a month ago.
http://www.crosscountrysoaring.com/gpage1.html (scroll to the bottom
of the page where I misspelled his name - dang.)
They were installed beautifully by Fidel at Applebay Aviation in
Moriarty, NM. You can see the before/after effect on the appearance
since it is sitting next to the other Grob with the clear canopies.
There is no question that the tinted canopies are FAR cooler. The tint
seems to be very similar to Serengeti Driver sunglasses. If fact, I
have been taking my Serengetis off when I close the canopy and notice
that my eyes hardly adjust at all. I love them. On the other hand,
when it starts getting cold, as it sometimes does in Minnesota, those
clear canopies are going to start getting more and more air time. :-)
The first day we had over 90 degrees the front canopy did get tight
after sitting in the sun. It was easy to see where the gap had closed
though (front-center and back-center, the longest stretch). Some light
sanding took care of it. I have no problems seeing instruments/LCDs.
And even when I fly right up to sundown, I think the cloud-contrast is
still sharper with the tint - it just looks later than it is, which is
the only downside I have found so far. The tint isn't so dark that
wingrunners can't see your signals either. My 2 cents......