Reviewing sunglasses is like reviewing clothing: Its grossly subjective and one size never fits all. But there are some important qualities to look for when choosing sunglasses for the cockpit. Special-purpose sunglasses arent cheap but the price tag isn’t a reliable predictor for performance. While sunglasses are an important part of pilot ego, we think theyre also a critical tool. In addition to protection from both visibly blinding and damaging UV sunlight, they should reduce eye fatigue, aid the eyes in transitioning from daylight to darkness and add clarity for effectively spotting traffic. They must also be comfortable under headsets for hours at a time and work we’ll with modern cockpit glass displays. And they have to look good. Here are our finds on what retailers know are top sellers and some of the up-and-coming brands trying to find a niche in the market. Obviously, we couldnt cover every model, so if a certain pair works we’ll for you in the cockpit, let us know.
Youre So Vain
Call us narcissists (after all, we are pilots just like you) but style was high on our list of criteria and its where the testing got difficult. Style is subjective and one personality might like an athletic wrap-style frame while another might dig a square frame.
A smaller face is going to look like a beetle while wearing a huge pair of classic Ray Ban aviators. And, the temple frame design on some models isn’t going to fit every nose comfortably. Ray Ban, Oakley and Randolph Engineering offer their models in different sizes, just like shoes. Most of the so-called off-brands are one-size fits all.
As the comparison chart shows, comfort is a major category in which we judged, which includes wearing headsets and ball caps. The ability to easily remove and reinstall the glasses from the clamping of headphone ear cups is important. As a rule, glasses with grippy rubber earpieces will be a challenge. We also have yet to find a pair thats terrific while flying up in the teens with an oxygen cannula piped into our honker.
Names You Know
The brands most familiar in our test samples were Oakley, Ray Ban and Serengeti. Despite a table stacked with more sunglasses than we knew what to do with, we were drawn to familiar name brands first.
Originally founded by Bausch and Lomb, Ray Ban is the most recognizable name in glasses with an earned reputation for quality. The signature Ray Ban look is the green or brown G-15 series lenses in the familiar black wire frame. Polarized lenses are a poor choice for aircraft, but the model 3393s with non-polarized brown lenses performed we’ll in the glass-endowed, four-screen cockpit of a new Pilatus. The color did a good job of enhancing cloud definition while still reducing overall light and glare. The Pilatus driver told us they arent too dark as to make the transition back to all those cockpit screens and map/menu viewing any problem at all.