Polycarbonate vs. Acrylic?

[mikeno]

I'm a long way from buying material for my skylight and wind screen but having replaced the windscreen and doors on my existing plane with polycarbonate and being very unhappy with how easily it scratches I'm curious as to what the BH gang is using or considering. There's a Makralon AR which is a polycarbonate product with a proprietary coating that purports to be very scratch resistant but I'm not aware of any real world aviation uses. Mike BearHawk #1250 KLXT

[Battson]

I used acrylic and it's proven to be very tough so far. We did get some damage from a scraper, and some cut-n-polish quickly took the scratch out good as new. And of course the fuel doesn't bother it, which is good as the wing tank drains do leak sometimes when the windows are open.

[Mark Goldberg]

Acrylic is really the best for the side windows except the aft ones like on our kits because it has a bend in it. Lexan handles the bend much better over time and is less likely to crack than acrylic. Bob Barrows recommends Lexan for the skylight because it is so tough and unlikely to fail in a spectacularly bad way. Acrylic can be used for the skylight IF you really know how to install acrylic. But a poor installation of acrylic on the skylight is potentially very bad situation. Mark

[bestbearhawk1231]

Hey Mark, what thicknesses are recommended for each location?