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Canopy Tint

mountainride

Well Known Member
I need to give my canopy tint choice to Vans first thing Monday morning to finalize my finish kit order. I am having trouble selecting the correct tint even after combing the archives. I am hoping some folks here can share pictures and experiences.

From what I know the standard Van's canopy is #2515 Light Smoke or Clear. This allows 76% light through which meets Part 23.

Back in the 2000's it appears "Todd's Canopies" was an option many builders were going with. From my understanding he sold tint #2094 (45% light transmittance). Does anyone have any photos of this example?

Right now I am leaning towards canopy tint #2514 Medium Smoke but now that I am looking at all the options am also considering the bronze tint #2539. Did anyone on VAF go with the bronze tint and have any photos?

The last thing is that I will most likely tint the baggage compartment window with #2537 (33%) or #2094 (45%) to keep the airplane cooler in the summer. I was looking at a Cirrus on the ramp last night and it was at least that dark behind the pilot. MY guess is the read windows are somewhere near a 20% tint. Seeing the tint on the Cirrus really made me question how they got it to pass 23.775 on the windshield as it appears at least as dark as #2514 from the photos I have seen online.

75% of my flight will be during the day in Colorado. The other 25% at night. I have always tinted the windows on cars I own right away and feel it improves the comfort of the vehicle dramatically.

I would love to see any pics and description of different canopy tints other than standard if anyone has any to share. I have yet to see a pic of the bronze tint.

-Jason

§ 23.775 Windshields and windows.
(e) The windshield and side windows forward of the pilot's back when the pilot is seated in the normal flight position must have a luminous transmittance value of not less than 70 percent.




Transmittance (all thicknesses)
Color number
Solar energy
Visible light
Colorless
85%
92%
Neutral Gray #2538
27%
16%
Neutral Gray #2537
41%
33%
Gray #2064
36%
27%
Gray #2074
24%
12%
Neutral Gray #2094
55%
45%
Neutral Gray #2514
62%
59%
Neutral Gray #2515
74%
76%
Bronze #2370
20%
10%
Bronze #2412
35%
27%
Bronze #2404
56%
49%
Bronze #2539
62%
61%
Bronze #2540
75%
75%
Haze values for all solar control colors is less than 3%

http://www.eplastics.com/Plastic/plastics_library/Plexiglass-Solar-Visible-Light-Transmit
 
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Jason:

When I built my RV-8 15 years ago there was no option from Vans, only the standard 2515. When I spoke with a Vans rep back then I was told that darker tints were not legal for night flying and consequently were not offered. However, they did give me the company name of the canopy supplier and I called them directly. They said the darker tint 2514 was legal and was standard on many OEM and other EXP aircraft. So I went that route. (The canopy company shipped the darker canopy to Vans for inclusion in my finish kit.)

My rationale was that I fly in Texas under a very hot sun much of the year and the extra tint would help. It does.

Having said that, I seldom fly at night and to Vans point when I have flown at night I have noticed that night visibility is reduced. I haven't done any scientific or empirical measurements but suspect there is some validity to the visibility comment.

So, my 2 cents, if you are going to fly 25% at night, you might want to err to the side of greater visibility and go with the 2515 while adding a Kroger (sp?) shade or similar for daytime flying.

Chris
 
A word of caution!

When I built my Moni Motorglider, I opted for the tinted canopy because I had no intention of flying it at night.
Just for reference, one evening, I flew around the pattern at sundown.
The instant the sun disappeared behind the horizon, the runway lights disappeared also. IOW, no "twilight" with the tinted canopy.
If you intend to fly any significant time at night, I would strongly recommend that you avoid the tint.
 
Most important for me is UV protection so I ordered "SC-15" canopy which blocks about 99% of UV in both bands. It has enough tint to easily notice while looking at it, but meets legal criteria for night flight.
 
Long time now.

We looked at this while doing our 8, years ago now. I was lucky to have been around some Part 23 people with military work as well. We found that there was a mill-spec that was just dark enough in the day and still allowed the pilot to see well enough at night. We did much the same as above. We got the name and number from Van's for their supplier and called them. They made the canopy and sent it to Van's to be put in our kit. I do not recall that spec right now, but if you look at the canopy of an F-16 it is the same tint and color. This is good for day and night safe as well. I think the old NACA reports are a good place to look at this subject, as they address night safety and vision needed for it through a tinted window. It has worked very well, but we do put sun shields over the panel and the canopy cove over it if it is to set in the hot sun for long. Hope this helps, Yours, R.E.A. III # 8-888
 
Sc-15

Most important for me is UV protection so I ordered "SC-15" canopy which blocks about 99% of UV in both bands. It has enough tint to easily notice while looking at it, but meets legal criteria for night flight.

Same here. I ordered one as well.
 
I ordered the uv protection bubble. the only option that was night legal. If I ordered the darker then it was not night legal.
I order gal, did not even give me any another options of any sort, only regular, uv or dark.
 
My rationale was that I fly in Texas under a very hot sun much of the year and the extra tint would help. It does.

I don't think the visible tint has very much effect on cabin temperature--the canopy itself still gets heated at full power and contributes to overall cabin heat by reducing conduction cooling and by radiating back at you. What you'd need to remove significant heat from the cabin is higher albedo, not darker material. Some car windshields have "Low-E" coating that reflects infrared, but the glass looks clear in visible. Tinted windshields aren't necessarily "Low-E". Is there a "Low-E" coating for acrylic?
 
I just ordered the SC-15 UV protected too. I don't want to limit myself from night flying.

Does anyone know how the UV coating is applied? Is there a time life on how long the UV protected coating will last? I assume there would be variables, due to storage. Hangar v. Tied Down and Covered.
 
I just ordered the SC-15 UV protected too. I don't want to limit myself from night flying.

Does anyone know how the UV coating is applied? Is there a time life on how long the UV protected coating will last? I assume there would be variables, due to storage. Hangar v. Tied Down and Covered.

I don't think there is a coating. The UV protection is integral to the material.
 
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