What sunglasses are best for flying gliders?

On Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 11:27:58 AM UTC-7, Jonathan Foster wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I purchased a fairly cheap pair of sunglasses. When I put them on in my glider all of my instruments magically went black. Unbeknownst to me, the lenses are polarized.

Are there any sunglasses that seem to work really well for flying?

Mechanical instruments or LCD displays? If all your mechanical instruments went black then they have their glass installed incorrectly or you have the worlds worst pair of polarized glasses with the polarization 90 degrees from where it is supposed to be.

Some glider pilots, including me, prefer to fly with polarized sunglasses because of benefits in seeing cloud wisps and haze domes etc. How well they work usually comes down to LCD display and canopy distortion causing issues (Mecaplex canopies usually seem impressively distortion/stress free)). Lots of space on r.a.s. has been wasted already talking about sunglasses, you can search for those past threads.

On Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 11:45:15 AM UTC-7, Darryl Ramm wrote:
On Thursday, October 26, 2017 at 11:27:58 AM UTC-7, Jonathan Foster wrote:
A couple of weeks ago I purchased a fairly cheap pair of sunglasses. When I put them on in my glider all of my instruments magically went black. Unbeknownst to me, the lenses are polarized.

Are there any sunglasses that seem to work really well for flying?

Mechanical instruments or LCD displays? If all your mechanical instruments went black then they have their glass installed incorrectly or you have the worlds worst pair of polarized glasses with the polarization 90 degrees from where it is supposed to be.

Some glider pilots, including me, prefer to fly with polarized sunglasses because of benefits in seeing cloud wisps and haze domes etc. How well they work usually comes down to LCD display and canopy distortion causing issues (Mecaplex canopies usually seem impressively distortion/stress free)).. Lots of space on r.a.s. has been wasted already talking about sunglasses, you can search for those past threads.

http://sunglasspolarized.net/

Avian 515 Non-Polarized Lens many different styles of frames

Richard
www.craggyaero.com

Zeiss Skylet lenses, nothing else comes close.

I find Zeiss Skyler "Fun" tint (in prescription lenses) excellent for gliding for all light levels from dull UK to strong South African.

BTW Zeiss advise pilots not to use polarised lenses mainly because their primary benefit is to reduce glare from polarised reflected light and that, they say, can make it difficult to see other aircraft that might otherwise have been picked up by the glint from the wings.

I use THESE
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EKERBU4/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1.
They're inexpensive and they work great!Â* Bifocal, too!

On 10/26/2017 3:56 PM, wrote:
I find Zeiss Skyler "Fun" tint (in prescription lenses) excellent for gliding for all light levels from dull UK to strong South African.

BTW Zeiss advise pilots not to use polarised lenses mainly because their primary benefit is to reduce glare from polarised reflected light and that, they say, can make it difficult to see other aircraft that might otherwise have been picked up by the glint from the wings.

--
Dan, 5J

How much $$$ for Zeiss sunglasses?....if it's anything like their binoculars.....zowee!! Expensive.

On Saturday, 28 October 2017 17:03:36 UTC+3, Bojack J4 wrote:
How much $$$ for Zeiss sunglasses?....if it's anything like their binoculars.....zowee!! Expensive.

Zeiss Skylet is lens technology, there is no fixed price as that depend on what frame you put lenses on, do you need prescription, anti-glare surface, hardened surface etc.

I bought mine with prescription, all possible surface treatments, high-end sports frames (they weigh nothing and stay on no matter how sweaty you are), for around 600 eur. Very expensive, but I'm very happy with them. Flew 20 years with clip-ons, never again.