sunglasses

[wannafly]

I fly with a set of Rayban sunglasses.With age comes a need for a set of magnifiers for close in sight.:( I have looked for a combo sunglass/magnifiers. Does anyone know of a brand that has bifocal sunglasses so I don't have to have two pair of glasses in the cockpit?

[BigJohn]

You can find the magnifiers that simply adhere to your regular sunglasses, I have used these for a couple of years now and you can trim them to the shape you want, I have found them at various glass shops but I know that Aircraft Spruce carries them. You will need to specify the Magnification you want 1.25 1.5 1.75 2.0 etc.

[rcnut]

try Zurich , they are at Oshkosh every year and they started making PX sunglasses, if I can find the web site I will post it later
gary

[jtpitkin06]

You can get the stick on lenses at Spruce, Sporty's and several other places.

I think the cheapest source is Amazon.com for $10.

http://www.amazon.com/Stick-on-Reading-Lens-Optx-250/dp/tags-on-product/B0006HUNQI

[DesertFox6]

I picked up another set of those lens stick-ons from a Wal-Mart optics department rack in Cauldwell during the factory fly-in last September. I've been using them for several years now with no problems. If they got 'em there, they've got 'em everywhere! :D

"E.T."

[Dorsal]

I have tried the stick on readers but don't like them, I have also tried the basic bifocal sun readers but I do not like the line.
I now use and like the following
http://www.readingglasses.com/product.php?productid=336&variantid=12409&show_popup=yes
no-line, very thin temple parts for minimal interference with headsets.

[HighWing]

This may sound a little hokey, but I like the flip up clip ons. It allows for the use of my regular prescription glasses, and the added convenience of being able to flip up the lens in the event that the chart is hard to read.

One thought on this, though. I use the progressive lenses with no lines. The problem I have is there is no correction on the peripheral vision sides and height over the runway is sometimes difficult to judge and some landings are not as smooth as I would like. I have plans to go with the typical bifocul with the correction lines going fully across the lens giving peripheral correction and see if that helps.

One other thought, as I understand it, polarized lenses are discouraged in aviation sunglasses.

[Andrew G]

I too have the "lineless" bifocals... and yes, when I first started wearing them, there were definite peripheral vision issues... The up / down (straight out windshield, then scanning the instruments) is no problem.

Re peripheral, I learned that I have to turn my head, like those guys in the gunships who turn their auto-aim helmets to fire whilst piloting the helo...

It also helps that my eyeglass guy has a lot of pilot-clients and he knew what I needed in terms of optimum glasses to purchase based on lots of feedback, etc.

So, get an expert, avoid the LensCrafters places and if you don't mind turning your head actively when looking side to side, the lineless can be managed well...

[SkySteve]

I took my Raybans to the eye doctor. He ground them to my perscription. Problem solved.

[DesertFox6]

GENERAL DISCLAIMER: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES DOES THE THREAD OF THIS DISCUSSION INTIMATE IN ANY WAY, MANNER, SHAPE, OR FORM, THAT THOSE ENGAGED IN SUCH DISCUSSION ARE IN ANY WAY IMPEDED IN THEIR OCULAR ORGANS OR IN NEED OF FURTHER SCRUTINY BY ANY AGENCY OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT (who may be reading)...WE'RE MERELY INTERESTED IN AIR-TO-AIR SAFETY AND GETTING THE FIRST TALLEY ON THE BANDIT...ah, BOGEY...er, TRAFFIC (Yeah, that's the ticket...) SO THERE! :rolleyes:

There're some great tips here and I'm now rethinking my simple "stick-on" philosophy (I'm so frugal that when I let go of a breath of air it's vacuum!) I fly with a nice pair of non-polarized lenses (with stickies) because of the distortion problem alluded to by HighWing. Glass cockpit displays that I fly with during my day job get kinda fuzzy behind the polarized-type glasses and many military flight surgeons I've known, and flown with, over the years have espoused the same disdain for Foster Grant's greatest claims.

My personal experience in a previous life was that I always got the first long-range tallies with non-polarized lenses and first tally meant a grand finale! Conversely "lose sight; lose fight" always implied keeping your lenses clean, but it sounds like SkySteve's Ocu-Doc took care of that problem BIG time! I may have to look into that ASAP!

"E.T."
(NO, I'M NOT SQUINTING!)