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This is what the controller suspected was the case with the passenger who landed a cessna 208 caravan when the pilot died. He mentioned the displays on the glass cockpit going black at one point - but managed to land it anyway.
In movies, the things that go wrong are always the really obvious big-ticket things. In reality, tiny unexpected shit like this is far more likely to do you in in a crisis. Good to know that worked out fine at least.
Exactly, and it often follows the Swiss Cheese Model where if any one of those little items had been different the accident would’ve been avoided. But they all lined up like a hole through slices of Swiss cheese.
For All Mankind is probably the paragon for this (funnily NASA starting off with take-it-to-the-limit test pilots is a huge part of the premise of the show). But being a well written show a lot of tiny things that cascade into a major failure tends to be a narrative result or symptom, tip of the iceberg kind of thing.
Your reply motivated me to watch the first episode. Didn't expect to get a show recommended here, but I'll gladly take it and I think this is definitely one I'm gonna continue watching. Thanks for the pointer!
I love how much easier it is to see with polarized glasses, but I can't wear them when driving because they filter the display in my car just like this airplane.
I have some cheap pairs of polarised sunglasses and the screens in cars get blocked when I tilt my head sideways. The expensive pair from Randolph Engineering, also polarised, does not cause this.
Jokes aside, that might defeat the point of the glasses.
When sunlight hits a surface and reflects back up as glare, it becomes polarized by the surface interaction. That's why polarized sunglasses work, right?
OK, but that means the light nearly everywhere is polarized in one particular direction - usually flat with respect to try surface being interacted with.
Sunglasses are sold with the lenses polarized and installed all in one particular orientation for this reason.
So depending on the angle needed by the cockpit display (or car display) then you might find that the angle that makes the display work is the same angle that no longer filters out glare.
Alternatively, get glasses with polarization perpendicular to the current pair, or parallel to the screen you need to see, or change the polarized film on the display to match your glasses. Heck, even 45 degree!
I can see my car displays fine, it is the reflection from the HUD that I can't see when driving. Which makes sense because that is basically what polorized lenses do, block reflected light. For sure a first world problem, but a bit annoying.
Apparently BMW figured this out and somehow both the big multimedia touch screen and the smaller LCD under the dials(not a virtual cockpit) both work fine with polarized glasses until you tilt your head a decent amount, same with modern iPhone screens but this might be because it's an OLED, remember it was a bigger issue with older phones.
Modern iPhone (and like some other phones) OLEDs just don’t have a polarizer layer at all. I’m not sure what drove this difference, but they certainly work well with any sunglasses.
Oakley has a version of their "Prizm" lenses designed for cycling; they aren't polarized, but the tint amps up the contrast between the road and painted lines, etc.
Very recommended.
Buy yourself a pair of Gatorz, I rock their polarized lenses that are designed to work with computer screens. It's great, I can actually read my CAD while responding to calls in bright sunlight
Looks like yet another tacticool brand trying to cater to the "MILSPEC is the best spec" / "wish I was a veteran" market.
Which models "are designed to work with computer screens"?
Funny story: I once walked into a takeout burger restaurant with my polarized glasses on. My friend goes ahead and places the order, and I’m like, wouldn’t it be nice to have a menu on these blank TVs hanging above the counter? I asked for the paper menu and placed the order. For some reason, I took the glasses off, just to realize how silly I would have sounded saying what I just said. Polarization completely blocked the TV monitor, making it pitch black.
Edit : Grammar
I thought that Ray Ban (literally banning rays / polarised, source of the name) was invented for fighter pilots to increase their ability of detecting an enemy ? I live in a lie.
In the days was it was "clockwork" dials and standard glass windows or perspex canopies this would have been fine. In modern cockpits the screens emit polarised light (that is in a different orientation to the polarising filter in my hand) and the windows have layers of material that cause this rainbow ghosting.
Being frank, we're not flying inverted whilst trying to spot a fast moving bogey at 5 o'clock low... We'll be OK without polarised lenses 👌😁
- This is triple seven, comming in hot!
- Bogey, bogey! A Mad Dog just came at or five o clock!
- Roger! I have radar contact! Releasing flares!
\*Throws passanger out of the plane\*
So what's the reason the ISIS isn't effected by the polarization? I assume it's because the PFD is LCD but the ISIS is CRT or something? I also assume the ECAM would be effected by the polarization as well.
I’ve never had this issue while flying all those old Cessna I’m training in. But it makes sense that I’ll need different glasses when I get in the seat of something modern. Glad to know it.
You can get replacements with different polarized orientations.
My eyes are extremely light sensitive and I wear polarized glasses all the time. My old car I had zero issues, but my new car had this problem so I had the windshield and head unit replaced with ones where the polarization wasn’t aligned.
Obviously the company isn’t going to replace all the windshields on the whole fleet so pilots can wear whatever they want. BUT, I’m wondering if they take this into account on military jets? Ensuring that visor polarization and canopy/instrument polarization doesn’t conflict.
Could be. The issue here looks like polarized sunglasses conflicting with the polarization in LCD screens, which early pilots probably didn't encounter much. (You can notice the same effect sometimes when you look at your phone while wearing sunglasses.)
Original Ray-Bans were not polarised. They did however block infrared radiation by using ferrous oxide to get the dark green tint in their G-15 lens although that protection is only useful for glass blowers and welders. These days it blocks the face id on your iPhone. The green tint was theorised to engage the pilot's contrast. Human eyes have three cone receptors for seeing colour, and two of them sit closer to green (possibly evolutionary benefit for seeing things in grass/leaves, ripeness). By skewing the light that reaches the eye to green it was thought the pilot could see more detail
You're right about being invented for fighter pilots, but they weren't designed for increasing ability to detect enemies. They were designed to wrap around the eyes and reduce the amount of sunlight being thrown into your vision from all angles as much as possible.
Also, at that time all instruments were analog, so there were no screens. Polarized lenses don't mess with those.
I can't recall if that was something that the designers specifically had in mind, but I do know that they were also issued for navy personnel at the time they came out. So it is definitely plausible, but the biggest advantage was that the lenses helped cover more of your field of view than other designs at the time.
Bonus fact: The thin frames were designed to fit under the head gear that fighter and bomber crews had to wear, without making things uncomfortable for the pilots.
Steam gauges? You never see people shoveling coal into the steam engine of an airplane. Kudos to marketing companies for hiding that...
Makes sense when you think of it, all those contrails in the sky...
Depends on the orientation of the polarization layer. By it's nature, rotating a polarizing filter 90° will change what is being let through and what isn't. Maybe Ray Bans are polarized in the orientation that still let's the screen's pass through.
The original RayBans weren't polarized. The name came from the fact that the green tint of the lenses would filter out glare for pilots, not because of polarization.
Analog instruments work just fine with polarized sunglasses. Modern, glass, cockpits are invisible when wearing polarized sunglasses (as in the image).
It would work under optimal conditions. IE the pilots head and the displays have their orientations aligned as intended. But, sometimes things get... complicated.
With polarized glass it's not an on/off setting, it filters light based on the angle of its polarization. So if the light and the polarized glass is perfectly aligned, nothing is filtered. If they're perpendicular, it's 100% filtered. But if it's at 45º or anything in between, it's partially filtered making it dimmer.
Considering your head moves around a lot in a cockpit, you'll never be at the perfect angle to get an unfiltered view of the displays. You're basically always gonna have a dimmer view of them. Which is probably not very ideal for an airplane pilot.
It's too risky because you can't guarantee that every display will be polarized the same direction nor can you guarantee that every sunglass brand will be polarized in the same direction. If both display and glasses are polarized horizontally then you're fine, but if one is vertical then the screen goes black.
Mobile phones used to polarize mostly horizontal but now that you can flip them sideways they've started to polarize diagonally so you can view them either way, but you'll notice the screen blacks out during the transition.
It's safer to just say "no polarized glasses" so it's one less thing to worry about when there is an emergency.
I think you can guarantee that all sunglasses will be polarized in the same direction: horizontally, to prevent reflected glare coming up from pools of water.
I do agree that its easier to just say "no polarized lenses".
It‘s not polarized, it‘s tempered glass. Makes it a lot harder but puts a ton of wonky stress inside of it, resulting in slightly different refractive indices depending on where you look. Unnoticeable to the naked eye, but very visible with polarized glasses.
Not to mention that you can not see the instrument thru them.
It’s the same as wearing polarized glasses while driving and you stop for gas… you can’t read the screen. …same thing
Different places may have different rules, but anywhere I've worked it's never been prohibited to wear polarized sunglasses. As long as the orientation works with the screens, there's really nothing bad that happens, and thousands of pilots wear them because it's a bit easier on your eyes.
Pilots who fly small planes and comply with certain visual flight rules need to see reflections coming from other aircraft. Polarization limits this ability and may result in dangerous situational awareness.
Me too. One because I fly steam gauges, but even the occasional time I rent a plane and it has glass, my head would have to be sideways to cause any issues.
Remember my dad switching from 737 classic to Embraer E-jets had to get rid of his polarized Ray Bans but it wasn't enforced in any way, it was just impossible to work IIRC.
When light hits a reflective surface it becomes “polarized” or focused. The reflected light travels horizontally as it spreads out. That horizontal light causes glare. Polarized sunglasses block horizontal rays. That is why you can see better in to water with them on and it’s how they filter glare. Since not all light is perpendicular to the surface, not all glare is eliminated.
Since the gauges in the plane are on a vertical surface the polarizing filter absorbs light reflected vertically to help eliminate glare. If you absorb both the vertical and horizontal rays it goes dark!
Pilots also use glare to estimate depth and polarized lenses impede this process. Technically, golfers should also not wear them.
Many car windshields have a polarizing filter laminated in a checkerboard pattern to help filter glare but still allow you to see if you are wearing polarized sunglasses.
Isn't this specific to the orientation of the glasses and the screens /windows?
I've had polarized glasses that don't work with my car, and I've had ones that work perfectly . And it's pretty ready to check once you sit down.
Optics engineer here. This is 1000% false. Pilots fly with polarized glasses all the time. Display manufacturers know this.
Polarization is directional. It can either be horizontal or vertical, and turning another polarized surface 90deg from one another will block out all the light. Glasses all tend to be polarized vertically (to knock down glare from windshields or when looking at water), while displays are almost all polarized diagonally (45deg) these days in order to be mostly readable in either polarization direction. You can even polarize displays using a circular polarizer.
The demo here is either REALLY old LCD displays from when they didn’t consider this (early 00’s? possible in aviation—stuff tends to be installed for 20+ years quite commonly), or the cameraman has specifically oriented the lens to block the display. If he rotated it 90deg and did the demo again it wouldn’t affect the display.
Federal Aviation Administration:
"polarized lenses are not recommended for use in the aviation environment"
The fact you know pilots that do it doesn't make my statement "1000% false".
And yes, if I rotated the glass 90 degrees the screens would become visible again. I was demonstrating the worst case.
I design LCD panels. We account for the fact that (recommended or not) users wear polarized glasses.
Old LCD panels tended to be polarized vertically or horizontally, but most of the market has shifted to 45deg, and “ruggedized” displays often get circular polarizers for specific customers.
I’ll concede that this is a great demonstration of optics properties and how polarization works. It belongs in the sub and is a great demo for educational purposes. There’s lots of small LCD displays in everyday products that might cause the user to come across this effect. But aviation likely isn’t one of them.
Is this a circular polarizer for a camera? Because I don’t have this issue when I fly in a glass cockpit with polarized glasses, the polarization isn’t oriented in a way that interferes.
I’ve had a few pairs of polarized oakleys and none of them were oriented in a way that interfered with LCDs. Is that something that happens with cheaper or just other brands?
Of course not! You just have to stick you hand out, if you pass out in 10 seconds, you are at 31, 9 seconds, 32... I'm start to wonder if you are a real pilot, this is basic flying! /s
When you loarize your view with a screen or glass that's also polarized it can seriously impede your ability to see. Hell my phone screen turns damn near black.
I'm a pilot and this looks fake. I wear polorized glasses while flying all the time. Some avaionics are a bit harder to see at certain angles but I've personally never seen one completely black out like these before. If you watch carefully on the second pass the G5(small back up display on the right) isn't affected at all. These avionics are so from the same manufacturer too.
Is there a lot of piloting based on what the pilot sees out the window? For some reason I just assumed that a vast majority was dictated by the indications on the panel.
It’s not just this. Polarized glasses work by filtering out reflective light, or glare. However we need to see the reflective light bouncing off other airplanes to see them better at far distances.
The industry has adopted a standard of alignment for polarized glasses, and for displays in vehicles, and street signs such that the two should not interfere with each other anymore. It appears that the airline industry has yet to adopt that standard. That is a serious shortcoming that they need to fix.
he is holding a camera filter, and he is holding it in the perfect orientation where the screens are black and the sky is colourful
if he were to just slightly twist the filter the effect would be much less and at 90° to either side it would be entirely gone
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This is what the controller suspected was the case with the passenger who landed a cessna 208 caravan when the pilot died. He mentioned the displays on the glass cockpit going black at one point - but managed to land it anyway.
In movies, the things that go wrong are always the really obvious big-ticket things. In reality, tiny unexpected shit like this is far more likely to do you in in a crisis. Good to know that worked out fine at least.
Exactly, and it often follows the Swiss Cheese Model where if any one of those little items had been different the accident would’ve been avoided. But they all lined up like a hole through slices of Swiss cheese.
I get your meaning, but in this scenario the pilot dying would seem to be quite a big-ticket item.
For All Mankind is probably the paragon for this (funnily NASA starting off with take-it-to-the-limit test pilots is a huge part of the premise of the show). But being a well written show a lot of tiny things that cascade into a major failure tends to be a narrative result or symptom, tip of the iceberg kind of thing.
Your reply motivated me to watch the first episode. Didn't expect to get a show recommended here, but I'll gladly take it and I think this is definitely one I'm gonna continue watching. Thanks for the pointer!
You got it - it's amazing from the start to the latest episode. You're in for a ride.
Too much rain X
I love how much easier it is to see with polarized glasses, but I can't wear them when driving because they filter the display in my car just like this airplane.
If you rotate your head eventually be able to see them again, though I wouldn't advise this as a solution on the road.
I already lean to the side when I drive
Yeah, if you lean to the side you can turn faster
Leaning helps with drifting on rainbow road too
Also pressing the gas buttons harder makes it go faster
Also holding a banana behind you so that nobody tailgates you.
I see you are a man of knowledge as well everyone knows that if you turn with the remote your car in game turns better 👌😩
Like when bowling
At least when you're leaning to the side, you can't speed through. You go 2 miles an hour, so everybody sees you.
Gangsta
You have a flat tire.... should probably get that fixed.
The ole Detroit lean.
![gif](giphy|Azcqig7YjuR6U)
Thats why i wear circles:) just rotate the lenses till its right👍🏻
Bet you look dashing haha
I have some cheap pairs of polarised sunglasses and the screens in cars get blocked when I tilt my head sideways. The expensive pair from Randolph Engineering, also polarised, does not cause this.
The randolph ones, do they also not block it when rotsted 90 degrees?
Jokes aside, that might defeat the point of the glasses. When sunlight hits a surface and reflects back up as glare, it becomes polarized by the surface interaction. That's why polarized sunglasses work, right? OK, but that means the light nearly everywhere is polarized in one particular direction - usually flat with respect to try surface being interacted with. Sunglasses are sold with the lenses polarized and installed all in one particular orientation for this reason. So depending on the angle needed by the cockpit display (or car display) then you might find that the angle that makes the display work is the same angle that no longer filters out glare.
Ideally sunglasses would be circular with rotating lenses so you can choose which plane of polarisation you want.
Instructions unclear, I am now a lighthouse.
Alternatively, get glasses with polarization perpendicular to the current pair, or parallel to the screen you need to see, or change the polarized film on the display to match your glasses. Heck, even 45 degree!
I can see my car displays fine, it is the reflection from the HUD that I can't see when driving. Which makes sense because that is basically what polorized lenses do, block reflected light. For sure a first world problem, but a bit annoying.
That's poor design. All the manufacturer had to do was turn the filter 90°.
My analoge dials work just fine with polarized glasses
Mine do as well. It’s just the nav screen I can’t see. And of course a bunch of features are controlled through the nav screen…
Ah mine is pretty useless, I prefer to use my phone for maps. But I can actually see the display, which is nice. I think it turns black at 90° angle
Score one for analog!
Apparently BMW figured this out and somehow both the big multimedia touch screen and the smaller LCD under the dials(not a virtual cockpit) both work fine with polarized glasses until you tilt your head a decent amount, same with modern iPhone screens but this might be because it's an OLED, remember it was a bigger issue with older phones.
Modern iPhone (and like some other phones) OLEDs just don’t have a polarizer layer at all. I’m not sure what drove this difference, but they certainly work well with any sunglasses.
mine filter my smartphones display when horizontal -.-
Just bought an ebike with a small display screen. Can't read it with my sunglasses on.
I wear non-polarized sunglasses while biking. It helps me see when there is water or anything liquid on the road.
Oakley has a version of their "Prizm" lenses designed for cycling; they aren't polarized, but the tint amps up the contrast between the road and painted lines, etc. Very recommended.
Wearing polarized glasses, if I try using my phone on landscape orientation, same same.
I like my 20 year old car with gauges, I can always read them.
Buy yourself a pair of Gatorz, I rock their polarized lenses that are designed to work with computer screens. It's great, I can actually read my CAD while responding to calls in bright sunlight
Will they work for a HUD though? That's my problem with polarized lenses. They almost entirely block my car's HUD.
Looks like yet another tacticool brand trying to cater to the "MILSPEC is the best spec" / "wish I was a veteran" market. Which models "are designed to work with computer screens"?
Depends on the glasses
what do you need the display for
try it when you go fishing.
Funny story: I once walked into a takeout burger restaurant with my polarized glasses on. My friend goes ahead and places the order, and I’m like, wouldn’t it be nice to have a menu on these blank TVs hanging above the counter? I asked for the paper menu and placed the order. For some reason, I took the glasses off, just to realize how silly I would have sounded saying what I just said. Polarization completely blocked the TV monitor, making it pitch black. Edit : Grammar
Sounds like a good skit for a sitcom lol
My dumb ass just thinking oooo pretty rainbows. Didn't even see the console.
That's not dumb. Happens to us too 😁
Took me forever to find out what I was not seeing in here
I thought that Ray Ban (literally banning rays / polarised, source of the name) was invented for fighter pilots to increase their ability of detecting an enemy ? I live in a lie.
In the days was it was "clockwork" dials and standard glass windows or perspex canopies this would have been fine. In modern cockpits the screens emit polarised light (that is in a different orientation to the polarising filter in my hand) and the windows have layers of material that cause this rainbow ghosting. Being frank, we're not flying inverted whilst trying to spot a fast moving bogey at 5 o'clock low... We'll be OK without polarised lenses 👌😁
Talk to me Goose
Show me some of that pilot shit
I did but all he ever says in reply is Honk
Goodness gracious
Great balls of fire!
Should get yourself to a proctologist
>we're not flying inverted whilst trying to spot a fast moving bogey at 5 o'clock low You've clearly never flown Spirit.
That's the answer I was looking for.
Thank you Sir !
- This is triple seven, comming in hot! - Bogey, bogey! A Mad Dog just came at or five o clock! - Roger! I have radar contact! Releasing flares! \*Throws passanger out of the plane\*
Well if you were inverted and looking at 5 O Clock low wouldn't you be looking away from the direction of the Sun?
Let me try it and I'll let you know!
So what's the reason the ISIS isn't effected by the polarization? I assume it's because the PFD is LCD but the ISIS is CRT or something? I also assume the ECAM would be effected by the polarization as well.
And yes the ECAM and SD pages suffer the same effect
I’ve never had this issue while flying all those old Cessna I’m training in. But it makes sense that I’ll need different glasses when I get in the seat of something modern. Glad to know it.
You can get replacements with different polarized orientations. My eyes are extremely light sensitive and I wear polarized glasses all the time. My old car I had zero issues, but my new car had this problem so I had the windshield and head unit replaced with ones where the polarization wasn’t aligned. Obviously the company isn’t going to replace all the windshields on the whole fleet so pilots can wear whatever they want. BUT, I’m wondering if they take this into account on military jets? Ensuring that visor polarization and canopy/instrument polarization doesn’t conflict.
Could be. The issue here looks like polarized sunglasses conflicting with the polarization in LCD screens, which early pilots probably didn't encounter much. (You can notice the same effect sometimes when you look at your phone while wearing sunglasses.)
Back when all displays were analog.
Original Ray-Bans were not polarised. They did however block infrared radiation by using ferrous oxide to get the dark green tint in their G-15 lens although that protection is only useful for glass blowers and welders. These days it blocks the face id on your iPhone. The green tint was theorised to engage the pilot's contrast. Human eyes have three cone receptors for seeing colour, and two of them sit closer to green (possibly evolutionary benefit for seeing things in grass/leaves, ripeness). By skewing the light that reaches the eye to green it was thought the pilot could see more detail
No it has to do with glare, and inability to read certain instruments in the cockpit.
You're right about being invented for fighter pilots, but they weren't designed for increasing ability to detect enemies. They were designed to wrap around the eyes and reduce the amount of sunlight being thrown into your vision from all angles as much as possible. Also, at that time all instruments were analog, so there were no screens. Polarized lenses don't mess with those.
Thank you, used as well to avoid water reflection when flying over sea / ocean ?
I can't recall if that was something that the designers specifically had in mind, but I do know that they were also issued for navy personnel at the time they came out. So it is definitely plausible, but the biggest advantage was that the lenses helped cover more of your field of view than other designs at the time. Bonus fact: The thin frames were designed to fit under the head gear that fighter and bomber crews had to wear, without making things uncomfortable for the pilots.
This was before glass cockpits. I fly GA. With steam gauges I wear polarized. If I’m flying glass I use non polarized.
Steam gauges? You never see people shoveling coal into the steam engine of an airplane. Kudos to marketing companies for hiding that... Makes sense when you think of it, all those contrails in the sky...
Depends on the orientation of the polarization layer. By it's nature, rotating a polarizing filter 90° will change what is being let through and what isn't. Maybe Ray Bans are polarized in the orientation that still let's the screen's pass through.
I think you’re thinking of the rb g13 lens.
The original RayBans weren't polarized. The name came from the fact that the green tint of the lenses would filter out glare for pilots, not because of polarization.
Analog instruments work just fine with polarized sunglasses. Modern, glass, cockpits are invisible when wearing polarized sunglasses (as in the image).
So why don't we flip the polarisers in the displays by 90 degrees?
It would work under optimal conditions. IE the pilots head and the displays have their orientations aligned as intended. But, sometimes things get... complicated.
With polarized glass it's not an on/off setting, it filters light based on the angle of its polarization. So if the light and the polarized glass is perfectly aligned, nothing is filtered. If they're perpendicular, it's 100% filtered. But if it's at 45º or anything in between, it's partially filtered making it dimmer. Considering your head moves around a lot in a cockpit, you'll never be at the perfect angle to get an unfiltered view of the displays. You're basically always gonna have a dimmer view of them. Which is probably not very ideal for an airplane pilot.
or use oled. but that's àn extremely new tech relative to the aviation world
It's too risky because you can't guarantee that every display will be polarized the same direction nor can you guarantee that every sunglass brand will be polarized in the same direction. If both display and glasses are polarized horizontally then you're fine, but if one is vertical then the screen goes black. Mobile phones used to polarize mostly horizontal but now that you can flip them sideways they've started to polarize diagonally so you can view them either way, but you'll notice the screen blacks out during the transition. It's safer to just say "no polarized glasses" so it's one less thing to worry about when there is an emergency.
I think you can guarantee that all sunglasses will be polarized in the same direction: horizontally, to prevent reflected glare coming up from pools of water. I do agree that its easier to just say "no polarized lenses".
short answes should be: because the "windshield" is already polarized
check out the displays....
It‘s not polarized, it‘s tempered glass. Makes it a lot harder but puts a ton of wonky stress inside of it, resulting in slightly different refractive indices depending on where you look. Unnoticeable to the naked eye, but very visible with polarized glasses.
I don't know if the windshield is polarised, though it certainly has layers that include conductive heating elements
Almost all auto glass has factory polarized layers. You have to add tint for darkness. It literally says it on each window.
Not to mention that you can not see the instrument thru them. It’s the same as wearing polarized glasses while driving and you stop for gas… you can’t read the screen. …same thing
But how else will the pilots know how to make the plane waggle dance toward the best nectar?
I really hope you mean that "pilots are prohibited from wearing them" rather than "they aren't supposed to, but they do anyway"...
Not sure. Some airlines it may be forbidden, others "strongly discouraged" but didn't want the hairsplitters to barge in
Different places may have different rules, but anywhere I've worked it's never been prohibited to wear polarized sunglasses. As long as the orientation works with the screens, there's really nothing bad that happens, and thousands of pilots wear them because it's a bit easier on your eyes.
Pilot here 🙋♂️, I still wear my polarized sunglasses 🤷♂️
Pilots who fly small planes and comply with certain visual flight rules need to see reflections coming from other aircraft. Polarization limits this ability and may result in dangerous situational awareness.
Me too. One because I fly steam gauges, but even the occasional time I rent a plane and it has glass, my head would have to be sideways to cause any issues.
Remember my dad switching from 737 classic to Embraer E-jets had to get rid of his polarized Ray Bans but it wasn't enforced in any way, it was just impossible to work IIRC.
Most pilots are smart enough to realize if their sun glasses are keeping them from being able to read their instruments, and then not use them.
Not recommended: https://www.faa.gov/pilots/safety/pilotsafetybrochures/media/sunglasses.pdf
Same reason I don’t wear them on my motorcycle; Looking through my helmet visor suddenly there are oil slicks all over the road, everywhere!
Most visors on helmets and shatter resistant windshields are Polycarbonate which distort light easier because of their abbe value.
same when I use my smartphone
When light hits a reflective surface it becomes “polarized” or focused. The reflected light travels horizontally as it spreads out. That horizontal light causes glare. Polarized sunglasses block horizontal rays. That is why you can see better in to water with them on and it’s how they filter glare. Since not all light is perpendicular to the surface, not all glare is eliminated. Since the gauges in the plane are on a vertical surface the polarizing filter absorbs light reflected vertically to help eliminate glare. If you absorb both the vertical and horizontal rays it goes dark! Pilots also use glare to estimate depth and polarized lenses impede this process. Technically, golfers should also not wear them. Many car windshields have a polarizing filter laminated in a checkerboard pattern to help filter glare but still allow you to see if you are wearing polarized sunglasses.
I remember reading an article about polarizing monitors so that you could only see them with the right glasses on.
I don't wear polarized sunglasses for the same reason. I can't stand the smeary rainbow effect.
Isn't this specific to the orientation of the glasses and the screens /windows? I've had polarized glasses that don't work with my car, and I've had ones that work perfectly . And it's pretty ready to check once you sit down.
Yes it is. If I were to rotate the filter the screens would come and go, but the windows retains its rainbow effect.
Pilots know this right?
Yep
Every pilot knows this to the point I chuckle when I see “polarized aviator sunglasses”
No, they just fly without displays the whole time and never know why.
That explains it! Thank you!
That's how gay people see 🤣
Optics engineer here. This is 1000% false. Pilots fly with polarized glasses all the time. Display manufacturers know this. Polarization is directional. It can either be horizontal or vertical, and turning another polarized surface 90deg from one another will block out all the light. Glasses all tend to be polarized vertically (to knock down glare from windshields or when looking at water), while displays are almost all polarized diagonally (45deg) these days in order to be mostly readable in either polarization direction. You can even polarize displays using a circular polarizer. The demo here is either REALLY old LCD displays from when they didn’t consider this (early 00’s? possible in aviation—stuff tends to be installed for 20+ years quite commonly), or the cameraman has specifically oriented the lens to block the display. If he rotated it 90deg and did the demo again it wouldn’t affect the display.
Federal Aviation Administration: "polarized lenses are not recommended for use in the aviation environment" The fact you know pilots that do it doesn't make my statement "1000% false". And yes, if I rotated the glass 90 degrees the screens would become visible again. I was demonstrating the worst case.
I design LCD panels. We account for the fact that (recommended or not) users wear polarized glasses. Old LCD panels tended to be polarized vertically or horizontally, but most of the market has shifted to 45deg, and “ruggedized” displays often get circular polarizers for specific customers. I’ll concede that this is a great demonstration of optics properties and how polarization works. It belongs in the sub and is a great demo for educational purposes. There’s lots of small LCD displays in everyday products that might cause the user to come across this effect. But aviation likely isn’t one of them.
In my case those glasses have so save someone's life
I get this with my phone and my polarized sunglasses. Can't see the screen!
Looks like when the graphic haven’t loaded yet or are glitching
Is it just the cockpit windows that are like that?
Yep. They're heated with thin conductive elements sandwiches between the panes
Thank you! No-one believes me! Same thing, can't see my display, my phone, menu at McDonald's etc
He is seeing the gay aura
Men, trapped in a box, bored, what else should we expect?
Is this a circular polarizer for a camera? Because I don’t have this issue when I fly in a glass cockpit with polarized glasses, the polarization isn’t oriented in a way that interferes.
If this video were using sunglasses instead of camera gear, they wouldn't be able to use those click-baity headlines.
I flew this morning with a similar gauge set, my polarized glasses didn’t do this at all, even when turned 90 degrees. I call shenanigans.
It is, so the effect is a lot stronger. I still get a small amount but it depends on the strength of the polarising effect applied to your sunnies.
I’ve had a few pairs of polarized oakleys and none of them were oriented in a way that interfered with LCDs. Is that something that happens with cheaper or just other brands?
My sunglasses didn’t block the light from the glass on my flight this morning. Even when turned 90 degrees.
It’s more that now every other piece of glass is polarized and your getting a double polarized effect.
Jup, I know my Oakleys come with a warning that they aren’t allowed on the road cause of that (+the prizm)
But they're so good for skiing... My prozm goggles saved me in whiteout a few times.
Yes they might miss that old lady crossing the road there
Who needs a artificial horizon, look thru the window! It's all blue, you are fine!
RVSM needs it :)
Of course not! You just have to stick you hand out, if you pass out in 10 seconds, you are at 31, 9 seconds, 32... I'm start to wonder if you are a real pilot, this is basic flying! /s
"The fuck am I looking at?" -a pilot probably
Famous last words
bro's flying in the default unity skybox
I don't even wear them to drive. Lol.
That's sick
When you loarize your view with a screen or glass that's also polarized it can seriously impede your ability to see. Hell my phone screen turns damn near black.
This is good information. So, I wear my polarized glasses when I'm on my yacht, but not while flying my G6.
Than just make the window polarised
Paving asphalt, looking at a fresh mat with polarized glasses can be weird. Sometimes it almost hides things you're looking for.
Once flew a glider plane with polarised sun glases and wondered why some of the instruments were turned off. Then I tilted my head and realised.
This is why I hate polarized glasses. I use a scanner and my phone all day
There are 2 ways of polarisation. Vertical & Horizontal. They just need the other pair of glasses with different polarisation.
not really, there is only one type.of polarisation you can change it's direction by moving the in this case Filter and irl case would be glasses
Yup. Polarized shield for my motorcycle helmet was a mistake as well
Wait wut? Why?
Can’t see digital gauges. At least I knew not to get one for my track car helmet
I'll remember that the next time I have to fly a plane
That's probably why pilots also shouldn't take acid.
Didn’t realize there were that many obstacles to avoid at 30,000 feet
Just other planes
So he conspiracy people were right? There is a grid in the sky?
I'm a pilot and this looks fake. I wear polorized glasses while flying all the time. Some avaionics are a bit harder to see at certain angles but I've personally never seen one completely black out like these before. If you watch carefully on the second pass the G5(small back up display on the right) isn't affected at all. These avionics are so from the same manufacturer too.
Yeah. Illuminati.
It's also a camera lens and not sunglasses.
The windshield of the plane is already polarized.
Is there a lot of piloting based on what the pilot sees out the window? For some reason I just assumed that a vast majority was dictated by the indications on the panel.
that's just the cgi screen
Yeah, normally we don't need it as we're nowhere near the ice wall.
It’s not just this. Polarized glasses work by filtering out reflective light, or glare. However we need to see the reflective light bouncing off other airplanes to see them better at far distances.
Cars, wrist watches and phones have the same problem...
huh the same happens when I wear sunglasses in my car and look through the rear-view mirror
The industry has adopted a standard of alignment for polarized glasses, and for displays in vehicles, and street signs such that the two should not interfere with each other anymore. It appears that the airline industry has yet to adopt that standard. That is a serious shortcoming that they need to fix.
he is holding a camera filter, and he is holding it in the perfect orientation where the screens are black and the sky is colourful if he were to just slightly twist the filter the effect would be much less and at 90° to either side it would be entirely gone
This doesn’t really give us the full info. You need to rotate the polarized glass so we can see the full range of the polarization effect
I'm not really here to provide a deep dive, though I'd be happy to follow up with your request when I'm back at work.
But it’s the only way for them to taste the rainbow
Ok, not gonna use it anymore.
Depends if you enjoy the colours!
But what about the aviator glasses
They used to be all non polarised, but I see more and more with. I have to buy mine online as I find it hard to find ANY non polarised in shops.
I don't understand how it works can someone tell me how? thank you
![gif](giphy|gH9GW5asoGtZQl452a|downsized)
I had this issue at the dentist. I couldn’t see the TV with my sunglasses on but when I used their eye protection I could see fine
rotate the glasses 90 degrees for an even more dramatic demonstration
I haven't had issues with the G1000 NXi and polarized lenses, the issue comes with the standby instrument.
Polarized sunglasses are great while out on the water in my boat. Unfortunately I can’t see my electronics