When you think of sunglasses for aviation, are you
possibly thinking of that Gold Pair of RayBan Aviators you saw once in a shop
that look identical to the pair Tom Cruise "Maverick" wears in the
all-time best aviation movie (according to me of course), Top Gun? While picking
the right pair of sunglasses may not seem like a big deal, it's a task every
pilot should pay a considerable amount of energy in. Lets discuss some
important aspects of buying a good durable set of sunglasses. Unlike most
people, pilots are exposed to high quantities of sunlight on most flights that
occur during the day, this directly impacts your eyes, not only does it make it
difficult to see outside, it also harms your eyes in certain cases. Because
pilots are flying at higher altitudes, they have less of the ever so lovely
mass of air surrounding our Earth, otherwise known as the Atmosphere,
protecting them and their eyes and thus, they receive more sun rays than your
ordinary person, and therefore pilots are exposed to more ultraviolet radiation
than most people, and herein lies our problem as this is dangerous to the
pilot's health.
Quality of the Sunglasses
The quality of the sunglasses you decide to purchase is of paramount importance as it helps safeguard a pilot’s vision, one of the more important sensory assets of a pilot. A quality pair of sunglasses is essential in a flying environment due to optimising ones vision while flying in the cockpit and keeping a good look out outside of the cockpit. The harmful rays from the sun can, overtime effect ones vision, having a good pair of sunglasses can prevent this from happening or at least slow down the progression of any visual impairments this would cause.
The quality of the sunglasses you decide to purchase is of paramount importance as it helps safeguard a pilot’s vision, one of the more important sensory assets of a pilot. A quality pair of sunglasses is essential in a flying environment due to optimising ones vision while flying in the cockpit and keeping a good look out outside of the cockpit. The harmful rays from the sun can, overtime effect ones vision, having a good pair of sunglasses can prevent this from happening or at least slow down the progression of any visual impairments this would cause.
The Colour of each Lense
Red, green and brown lenses increase contrast, but distort other colours. These lenses will help with visual flying and not help with instrument flying, provided you are training and are required to wear foggles, however once in an airline you may very well have a flight plan that is filed to be flown under instrument flight rules while most of your flight will be in VMC conditions and in these cases, protective eye-wear as discussed in this post would be of assistance in protecting your eyes. These sunglasses are rather important during the PPL stages of your flying and the visual flying section of your Commericial Pilot Licence course, however should you start your Instrument Rating training these sunglasses will become less relevant as in most cases you will have to wear foggles, as mentioned above in this post. Grey lenses will help keep a large part of the sun's rays out, a primary use of sunglasses. With grey lenses you will still be able to see colors considerably well, however, you may have guessed it, but even grey lenses have a flaw and it is this, the contrast seen through grey lenses is not great. So when you choose the colour of the lenses you would like to purchase, keep these in mind, remember however, in aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800 and the likes, the Primary Flight Display, Navigation Display and Engine Monitor Screens all have certain colours, each colour tells us something about the aircraft, an example of this would be on the Primary Flight Display of the 737-800 we have something known as a "tape" that essentially shows us the limits in terms of speed when it comes to how slow we can fly before we stall or how fast we can fly, this is important and the "tape" is in red, why you ask? Because as we just covered, it's important, we need to know if we are going to fly faster than the aircraft can handle and so mixing colours due to our lenses might not be such a great idea in aircraft with these systems.
Red, green and brown lenses increase contrast, but distort other colours. These lenses will help with visual flying and not help with instrument flying, provided you are training and are required to wear foggles, however once in an airline you may very well have a flight plan that is filed to be flown under instrument flight rules while most of your flight will be in VMC conditions and in these cases, protective eye-wear as discussed in this post would be of assistance in protecting your eyes. These sunglasses are rather important during the PPL stages of your flying and the visual flying section of your Commericial Pilot Licence course, however should you start your Instrument Rating training these sunglasses will become less relevant as in most cases you will have to wear foggles, as mentioned above in this post. Grey lenses will help keep a large part of the sun's rays out, a primary use of sunglasses. With grey lenses you will still be able to see colors considerably well, however, you may have guessed it, but even grey lenses have a flaw and it is this, the contrast seen through grey lenses is not great. So when you choose the colour of the lenses you would like to purchase, keep these in mind, remember however, in aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800 and the likes, the Primary Flight Display, Navigation Display and Engine Monitor Screens all have certain colours, each colour tells us something about the aircraft, an example of this would be on the Primary Flight Display of the 737-800 we have something known as a "tape" that essentially shows us the limits in terms of speed when it comes to how slow we can fly before we stall or how fast we can fly, this is important and the "tape" is in red, why you ask? Because as we just covered, it's important, we need to know if we are going to fly faster than the aircraft can handle and so mixing colours due to our lenses might not be such a great idea in aircraft with these systems.
Polarisation
In short, DO NOT use polarized sunglasses. Polarized lenses are not compatible for a flying environment, due to the fact that the polarising effect interferes with how we see the aircrafts instruments and screens while flying.
In short, DO NOT use polarized sunglasses. Polarized lenses are not compatible for a flying environment, due to the fact that the polarising effect interferes with how we see the aircrafts instruments and screens while flying.
Gradients
The gradient on a pair aviation sunglasses can be externally useful since the
lower section of the lens is lighter than the upper section of the lens. This
would be very helpful with switching from visual flying to instrument flying,
you wouldn’t need to move your head as you can easily just move your eyes and
see everything you need to.
Interesting Facts of Aviation Sunglasses
jAviator sunglasses, or "pilot's glasses", were actually developed in 1936 by Bausch & Lomb for pilots to protect their eyes while flying, hence the name "aviators" was best suited. These sunglasses are credited with being one the first popularized types of sunglasses to be developed. The sunglasses developed were lighter, thinner, and “more elegantly designed”, and therefore overtook the original Flight Goggles.
jThe most used type of pilot sunglasses are the well-known Aviator by Ray-Ban. These are a pair of sunglasses that feel light and comfortable when you are wearing them, something you might want and need while flying. These are the most worn pair of aviation sunglasses for both genders because of the fashionable look as well as having the most desirable visual effect for flying.
jAviator sunglasses, or "pilot's glasses", were actually developed in 1936 by Bausch & Lomb for pilots to protect their eyes while flying, hence the name "aviators" was best suited. These sunglasses are credited with being one the first popularized types of sunglasses to be developed. The sunglasses developed were lighter, thinner, and “more elegantly designed”, and therefore overtook the original Flight Goggles.
jThe most used type of pilot sunglasses are the well-known Aviator by Ray-Ban. These are a pair of sunglasses that feel light and comfortable when you are wearing them, something you might want and need while flying. These are the most worn pair of aviation sunglasses for both genders because of the fashionable look as well as having the most desirable visual effect for flying.
Using a good pair of quality sunglasses decreases eye
fatigue, and protects ocular tissues from exposure to solar radiation. The
sunglasses one chooses will also aid the dark adaptation process, which is
caused by prolonged exposure to bright sunlight, very useful for flight during
the twilight hours.
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