Sunglasses: To Polarize or Not to Polarize

[lowoleo22]

I'm having an issue with my old sunglasses on a heated glareshield in the flight deck, in that I sometimes get these "streaks" of colour that form across the windshield and are very distracting. I'm in the market for new sunglasses and I'm just curious if anyone knows whether the issue is caused by polarization and that my next pair should not be polarized?

[nohojob]

No polarized. It's terrible with screens. (pfd, nd...)

[digits_]

Sounds like a polarization issue.

I always try to find unpolarized sunglasses for flying. On the rare occasions that I fly with polarized glasses, you do see the difference. Avionics screens have improved a lot in that regard, but some (heated?) windshields do distort the view a bit.

[youhavecontrol]

I never use polarized, for the reasons others have stated. The sunglasses I have right now have a gradient tint, where the top is darker than the bottom. It works perfect in the cockpit.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

Never polarized for me as well. When I last bought some sunglasses at Sunglass Hut, the salesperson even asked if I was a pilot and cautioned me against polarized.

When wearing polarized while driving, I can see the "streaks" of light in other cars' heated rear windows as well as mine.

My flying sunglasses are non-polarized Ray Bans and they work great.

[propfeather]

I've never had a problem with polarized in glass cockpits (G1000 and Honeywell Apex) fwiw

[all_ramped_up]

Was always told to avoid polarized glasses for flying.

As an AME and using polarized glasses, it all depends on the angle you look at the surface. Heated windscreens, different displays can vary between brands of sunglasses.

Whether they use linear or circular polarization and the angle will determine what blanks out on you when looking off axis at it.

[lowoleo22]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, looks like the consensus is no polarization. Cheers!

[enbt]

I never understood the hate for polarized glasses. It's all I use and I love them. Colours are richer and more saturated with increased contrast, meaning everything looks better. There aren't too many screens in the planes I fly but I can see them all clearly. And if you are flying floats it helps you see rocks that are lurking below the surface.

[Chaxterium]

I never understood the hate for polarized glasses. It's all I use and I love them. Colours are richer and more saturated with increased contrast, meaning everything looks better. There aren't too many screens in the planes I fly but I can see them all clearly. And if you are flying floats it helps you see rocks that are lurking below the surface.

I never had an issue with polarized sunglasses until I got on the 757. The flat panel displays were completely blacked out. I'm on the E2 now and it's not an issue at all. The only screen that's affected is the FMS but it's not much at all.

[pelmet]

It seems that some screens are affected while others are not for polarized. With polarized shades with problematic screens, I noticed that tilting my head(or the glasses) can improve things but why put up with that.

[PostmasterGeneral]

Makes the windshield look all blotchy. Can’t stand polarized glasses for flying. Driving though, they’re a must.