Does anyone wear photo grey sunglasses for flying?

[BruceEicher]

I have both photo-sensitive grays and a pair of Maui Jim's in transition bifocals. I find the greys a better all around lens for inside the cockpit, glass screen, iPad and sunlight. The slow reaction time when going from bright to dark is noticeable, but not an issue for flying. Bar hopping in the middle of the day is dangerous though. IMHO.
I could not tell you what degree of tint these are but seem to go fairly dark from full clear.



Cheers!

[Scott Hersha]

My far vision is still 20/20, but I need correction (bifocals) for up close. For several years I've been using bifocal sunglasses that I buy online. I got a prescription last year, but they are really just zero-line bifocals (not sunglasses). They cost me over 400 bucks, and I have vision insurance coverage. My online sunglasses cost about 10 bucks a pair. They are actually safety glasses and supposedly block 100% of UVA/UVB. I usually order 5 pairs at a time and I prefer the wrap around styles because they block out the sun so well. I have a vision limitation on my medical that requires me to have glasses with me while flying, although I don't actually have to wear them, but these glasses fill that requirement. I wear mine all the time and they are quite comfortable. I get them at safetyglassesusa.com.

[Snowflake]

I have transitions (photo-grey) lenses in my everyday glasses, and fly with them regularly. I buy prescription sunglasses for cycling (wraparound lenses for wind deflection) from Zenni Optical as well... $50 a pair delivered to my door, can't be beat.

The transitions I buy from clearlycontacts.ca, a Canadian supplier so possibly not as interesting to you. A little more money but the frame selection is a bit more modern. Tastes vary, so I recommend people look at Zenni first.

[Paul Tuttle]

Originally Posted by Snowflake

The transitions I buy from clearlycontacts.ca, a Canadian supplier so possibly not as interesting to you.

Why not? Did we get kicked out of Canada?

[dmaib]

I tried photograys some years ago and the lack of UV in the bizjet cockpits I was flying, was a problem.

Then, when I needed progressive bifocals as the years piled up, I bought the Scheyden flip-ups and have never looked back. I flew professionally with them for many years and still use them. Scheyden has first class customer support and service. About a year ago, my nearly ten year old flip-ups broke the frame when I dropped them. Scheyden overhauled them to "like new" for no charge! Hard to beat that kind of service.

I have been buying my regular progressive lens glasses and non-flying sunglasses (boating, bicycling, etc) from Zennioptical for a few years after first hearing about them on this forum. Never been disappointed.

[RV6_flyer]

Been wearing Photo-gray Transition lens for as long as I have been flying. (32-years). Been using Photo-gray Transition Progressive lens at least 13-years. I also have a pair of Photo-gray Tri-Focal glasses that are used just for flying. Back when the Tri-Focals were Bi-Focals, they were first Sunglasses. I found the Sunglasses too dark for almost everything. Had the lens changed to Bifocal Photo-gray and I loved them for flying. The Bifocal and Tri-focal both have better peripheral vision than the progressive lens.

[ccsmith51]

I have the photo-grey progressive. They work fine, except as someone else mentioned, they don't get dark enough in the RV-4 cockpit on a very sunny day. For those days I have a bi-focal sunglass that I got from Walmart for about $15. They work great once I got them adjusted on my nose so that the line is at the top of the instrument panel.

[Tom Martin]

For many years I have flown with a pair of cheap readers on my nose, over my sunglasses, not a cool look, or with magnifier stickons on my sunglasses. This worked ok but the optics were not good. I tried a couple of cheap sunglasses with magnifiers built in but what worked in the store did not necessarily work in the airplane. Last year I got prescription sunglasses for the airplane. The top part of the glasses are grey in colour and works perfectly in all types of light. The bottom 1/3 of the lens is clear and set at a magnification of 2.5, which is what I need to read maps and panel information. The "line" in the glasses naturally falls on the glare shield. I would recommend sitting in your cockpit and putting a line on your glasses where the glare shield is. Take these to your eyeglass supplier and get a pair made up with the clear bifocals below the line and your favourite sunglasses tint above.

It has occurred to me that EFFIS programmers should all be over 50 years of age, this would solve the small font used in data displays!

[gmpaul]

I use dark, brown,safety transition glasses and love them. The brown brings out contrast. It take some time getting use to when walking in the sun and stepping inside a building. Takes 20--30 seconds to lighten up to be able to see.
Good luck
G.P.

[GLPalinkas]

Just got a pair of reader sunglasses after seeing an advertisement in one of the aviation magazines (Sport Aviation.... I think). Dual Eyewear. They didn't have the model in the advertisement at the local bicycle shop but I found a different model for the Harley. They work great and I'm anxious to try the AV-1 model made for aviators. Relatively inexpensive reader options. No affiliation, just an effort to help other older RV pilots like myself.

https://www.dualeyewear.com/index.php/dual-av1.html