jet shades

Moderators: Kai, Rick, Lance Murray, Mr. Gadget

User avatar
dmloftus
4 Diamonds Member
4 Diamonds Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Thu May 07, 2020 3:38 pm
First Name: David
Aircraft Type: DA40
Aircraft Registration: N868US
Airports: KLZU
Has thanked: 211 times
Been thanked: 238 times

Re: jet shades

Post by dmloftus »

Chris wrote: Wed Sep 21, 2022 11:06 pm Edit: I'm also hoping that David will provide an update about how his new UltraThin JetShades are working.
Hi Chris,
Still waiting on the Ultra Thins. Will definitely update when I receive them. Supposed to ship this week (but that's also what they told me last week ;-)
User avatar
curts63
3 Diamonds Member
3 Diamonds Member
Posts: 140
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2011 9:49 pm
First Name: Curt
Aircraft Type: OTHER
Aircraft Registration: N215CS
Airports: 22N
Has thanked: 12 times
Been thanked: 57 times

Re: jet shades

Post by curts63 »

As far as getting my airplane tinted? I flew to Easton, MD. where he installed the tinting on four of my windows. It took him about an hour and a half to install. After flying for with it, I should have kept it back slightly from my peripheral vision area. Otherwise, the heat reduction is great. He did an excellent job in prep and application.

OR, you can get a precut film and apply it your self. They also sell random material for the do-it-yourselfers.

Curt
User avatar
Mjwatlanta
3 Diamonds Member
3 Diamonds Member
Posts: 151
Joined: Sat May 14, 2022 9:35 pm
First Name: Michael
Aircraft Type: DA40NG
Aircraft Registration: N161DA
Airports: Kfty
Has thanked: 148 times
Been thanked: 90 times

Re: jet shades

Post by Mjwatlanta »

Chris, Are two of the wing view shades working? They are on sale for 69.99 each. Several might work while we wait for Ultra Thins.
User avatar
dmloftus
4 Diamonds Member
4 Diamonds Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Thu May 07, 2020 3:38 pm
First Name: David
Aircraft Type: DA40
Aircraft Registration: N868US
Airports: KLZU
Has thanked: 211 times
Been thanked: 238 times

Re: jet shades

Post by dmloftus »

dmloftus wrote: Mon Aug 29, 2022 9:24 pm I talked with the owner of Jet Shades today. He is working on an Ultra Thins version for DA40/42 that he says never needs removing. The issues with the original (standard and premium versions) are the thickness of the base material and the two-layer bonding process with the reflective coating. He said the thicker shades start to warp and bubble when the cabin interior reaches 150F, which can happen on a hot sunny day with no ventilation. That is why they recommend removal on the ramp.
He says the new thinner material is not bonded and has been tested to over 200F. They block out the same amount of UV, but are significantly thinner and lighter. The only downside is the rear cabin shades are not simply press-fit like the originals, they require small Velcro fasteners. I currently have a set of the original premiums installed, I may be the first test case for the Diamond version of the Ultra Thins. Has anyone flown another aircraft with the Ultra Thins, like Bonanza, Cessna, Cirrus, or Piper?
Should receive next week - Will advise when I've tried them out.
I finally received the Ultra Thins on Friday (about 6 weeks delivery) and tried installing them over the weekend. As expected, they are MUCH thinner and lighter than my original Premium Cockpit + Cabin Total Solution. The initial challenge was removing the 3M Dual Lock fasteners from the canopy employed by the original retaining clips. Jet Shades told me to leave the plane in the sun to get them to warm up a bit and they should peel right off. Any residue was supposed to be easily cleaned up with isopropyl alcohol. Not so easy. It actually took an hour of carefully prying the edges away and peeling back the Dual Lock fasteners, which left a significant amount of black gummy adhesive on the roof of the canopy. I also tried carefully heating the fasteners with my heat gun on low, but that did not improve the process. It was far too thick to just rub with alcohol, but I found that repeatedly rubbing my thumb firmly along the gummy surface (almost feels like a more resilient rubber cement) that I could eventually rub most of it off, coming back with a paper towel soaked in alcohol to clean the residue. After removing several fasteners in this fashion, I noticed I had also removed most of the skin from the pad of my right thumb, OUCH!
Aligning the newer pilot & copilot shades and reinstalling new 3M velcro strips (I suppose the lighter shades can be held with simpler velcro vs the Dual Lock) was straight forward. I actually like the optical quality of the thinner front shades better than the originals.
The back cabin shades were another effort. First, they are cut far too large for my back windows. The originals were able to be press-fit into the window frame and stayed firmly without any clips or velcro, with very small gaps where light could get through. The Ultra Thins are much thinner and flimsier, and come with a lot of clips to hold them in place. I suppose I could have tried to use the included adhesive strips to hold the clips all around the windows with the shade extending beyond the edges of the frame but I thought that would look very bad aesthetically. I also felt the clips would be coming loose frequently as the attachment points (and adhesive strips) are fairly small. The good/bad news depending on how you look at it, the thinner shades can actually be cut with very sharp scissors. So I set about trying to incrementally trim down the shade, bit by bit, to fit into the window frame, hoping that I could get the flimsier shade to still hold in place like the original without a gazillion ugly clips surrounding the window frame. I was not happy to have to start cutting on $1000 shades, especially since the originals fit much closer without modification. The shade is surrounded by a soft rubber edging that can be removed for trimming the actual shade. I probably repeated the process 25 times of removing the edging, trimming the shade a bit (mm at a time), reinstalling the edging, then pushing the shade into the window frame to check the fit. Finally I got the fit almost right after about an hour. I wanted to leave it slightly larger than the window frame so that it would bow out against the curved glass of the window, thereby exerting pressure against the frame to keep it in place. While it now stays in place, the thinner shade tends to bow slightly differently from front to back, so you get a small amount of optical distortion. Not a big deal for me flying as I'm not looking out the back windows. But passengers may not love it if their view of the world outside is constantly distorted.
By that time, I had run out of time, so I haven't gotten to the right side rear shade yet. Looking forward to more fun in my back seat!
Close to final assessment: I like the thinness and the claim that they can be left in the plane even in the hot sun. We'll see how that claim holds up. They definitely improve the cabin temperature. The other nice thing about the thinner shades is the reduced weight on the canopy. With the originals, they added so much weight to the raised canopy that you have to be careful it doesn't slam down on your head. The two original side shades plus the front shade are enough to overcome the resistance of the gas strut holding up the canopy, especially if there is any kind of breeze on the ramp. But the fit of the rear shades needs to be improved because it's just a major pain in the ass to try to repeatedly trim them to shape, and one wrong cut costs you about $500. I can't believe different DA40 back windows vary the amount that the shades I received were oversized. A few pics below
1.jpg
Front shades are great. The center shade is the original Premium
2.jpg
You can see the back window shade is a bit warped. Maybe I can get it a bit more uniform with more work
3.jpg
4.jpg
Underside view of the canopy
User avatar
hifiaudio2
3 Diamonds Member
3 Diamonds Member
Posts: 54
Joined: Fri Apr 15, 2022 2:29 pm
First Name: John
Aircraft Type: DA40NG
Aircraft Registration: N845PA
Airports: KFFC
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 16 times

Re: jet shades

Post by hifiaudio2 »

curts63 wrote: Tue Sep 13, 2022 10:33 am I can understand having the ability to remove the shade when you want to. Sometimes the shade reduces your view at night. The tinting that was used in my airplane is designed for use on aircraft polycarbonates and acrylics. It doesn't transfer the heat to the plastics. It's also available in a lighter or darker shade. The same people that make the tint, also offer "slap shades", and do installations.

I'm not affiliated with them or get any kick backs. I just like the product.

https://wingviewtint.com/collections/ai ... amond-da40

Curt
Lol - 476DS (from the link above) is at the flight school where I have my NG.
User avatar
dmloftus
4 Diamonds Member
4 Diamonds Member
Posts: 459
Joined: Thu May 07, 2020 3:38 pm
First Name: David
Aircraft Type: DA40
Aircraft Registration: N868US
Airports: KLZU
Has thanked: 211 times
Been thanked: 238 times

Re: jet shades

Post by dmloftus »

Has anyone else purchased the Ultra Thins? While it's nice that they are lighter, thinner, and handle greater temperatures than previous versions without warping, my front shades seem to pass more heat energy into the cabin than the previous premium shades I started with. I have yet to measure in flight with my contactless thermometer, but I can feel the heat radiating from them inside the cabin on sunny days. The front shades also feel much warmer than the rear shades, probably by at least 10 degrees F.
User avatar
Boatguy
5 Diamonds Member
5 Diamonds Member
Posts: 1827
Joined: Mon Jan 22, 2018 4:48 am
First Name: Russ
Aircraft Type: DA62
Aircraft Registration: N962M
Airports: KSTS
Has thanked: 1328 times
Been thanked: 1163 times

Re: jet shades

Post by Boatguy »

Nobody? No PIREPS on the Ultra Thins?
Post Reply