Randolph Aviators!!? There was a time you couldn’t even buy them, not in the PX or anywhere else except for a small fortune. You had to be on flight status and have them issued.
I entered Army flight school in late 1970 and it was a proud moment to finally own my very own `real helicopter pilot’s sunglasses’.
There was a method to this: instructor pilots made us wear sunglasses under our flight helmets instead of lowering the tinted visor - so they could watch the student pilot’s eye movements and insure that a proper crosscheck between instruments and outside the aircraft was maintained.
Nowadays? Heck, the goldframes are $24 in the PX, less for chrome. I had to get reading glasses a couple of years ago. Yep - real helicopter pilot’s flight frames with granny lenses. Ah, farewell to much misspent youth!
;^)
Agreed. Been my signature shades for over 20 years, in Chrome.