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Why is Flight Equipment so Expensive?!

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Why is Flight Equipment so Expensive?!

Old 10th Jun 2011, 13:43
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Wessex Boy, thanks for chipping in with that.


A couple of comments I'd make:

- You're quite right, that most aviation people prefer not to display their activity outside of the flying environment too ostentatiously (microlight and hang-gliding people probably being the exception).

- It would be really helpful if catalogues such as Transair actually stated fabric and flammability next to clothing products.

- If you can make a modern, smartish, non-green copy of the RAF cold weather flying jacket, there is a massive market for that- especially in the rotary wing world.

- I'm not a moderator on Private Flying, but speaking as a regular contributor and a mod elsewhere on Pprune, I reckon that you'll find people here more than happy to contribute to sensible attempts to gauge opinions about designs, styles and composition of clothing for flying.

G
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 13:54
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Most FTOs require the uniform even for a private pilot doing an IR conversion.
No they don't usless you are pulling folks legs either that or its a southern england thing.

The default uniform seems to be a pair of dark chino's and white shirt from primark which costs under a tenner. well its was in my day and also from what I can see in the IR schools north of Brum
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 14:21
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No uniform requirement for IR training at Aeros. Having shelled out £11K for IR flying training I expect them to teach me how to fly on instruments, not what to wear!
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 14:39
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Thank you Ghengis, we always state the materials on our products so that the customers can make an informed choice on what they wear.

A flying jacket is something we would like to do, but everyroad we travel down would lead to a retail price of over £100, experience has told us that this is too steep for the average flyer, but we will continue to look, I liked my cold weather jacket too!

We do like feedback and comments on our products, I will also post some questions on here too.

We have had some great feedback on how our customers have customised their Wristboards to hold their iPhones/GPS, folding PLogs, rags on string, etc, etc which is great to hear, and shows that the great British inginuity is alive and well in the GA world!
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 14:41
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Genghis,

- It would be really helpful if catalogues such as Transair actually stated fabric and flammability next to clothing products.
Allow me to rephrase that for you Sir.

- It would be really helpful if catalogues such as Transair actually stocked clothing products made of suitable fabric and flammability resistance.



(I've yet to have any urge to buy any clothing from a catalogue, Transair or otherwise to make me look like a muppet when I'm off in a jaunt in a light GA aircraft !).
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 14:51
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Wish you could get a cotton pilots jacket with a couple of pen holders on the shoulders.

The best I have seen was an old RAf flying jacket made out of the same stuff as they make rugby tracksuits out of. The bloke that had it said he could only wear if away from base and he had to be on constant guard of it being nicked.

And I know its not GA but if you could source some pilot shirts with a decent cotton mix. Not 100% been down that road and they are a bastard to iron. 70% or 80% cotton seems to be a good trade off.
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 15:31
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I have a friendly tailor in Bankok who'll copy garments in the material of your choice. I'll bet they'd copy a good flying jacket in cotton or linen.

G
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 15:43
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Some where east is where my current batch of shirts are from.

And yep you can get pretty much anything.

But its a long way to go just to get some more work shirts or a jacket.
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 15:57
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We started due to the fact that the only flying clothing available was for muppetry, I don't need to wear a green babygro and Bonedome any more and I certainly don't want/need eppaulettes.

Our aim is to provide good quality, functional clothing, at reasonable prices that you can wear at the destination as well as in the cockpit. Our Vintage Sweatshirt was from the same supplier as Crew Clothing and looked identical (apart from the price-tag!) Alas we can't source them at the moment. Our jumpers are very smart and pure heavy cotton, so warm, but breathable and have sold very well in Norway!
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 16:37
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I was kind of working my way up to a babygro

'tis funny that you use the Chipmunk as a logo, the mostly likely thing to wear in a Chipmunk, is eeer a babygro with a map pocket 'cos there isn't room to wear much else!
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 17:11
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We chose the Chipmunk as it is a generally admired aircraft in the GA scene, has some aspirational and historic overtones, makes ex-cadets go all misty-eyed (jump, jump John!) and both my Wife and I have had some terrific fun flying with Janie in hers.

It was cockpits like the Chippy's that we designed the Wristboard for, so you don't have to wear the gro-bag and scribble on your legs
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 17:43
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Originally Posted by mad_jock
Some where east is where my current batch of shirts are from.

And yep you can get pretty much anything.

But its a long way to go just to get some more work shirts or a jacket.
Mine does internet ordering these days - tailored cotton or silk shirts about about £24 delivered to the UK, not to be sneezed at.

If I wanted them, I've no doubt they'd add some eppaulettes for me. So far however, I haven't found the urge.

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Old 10th Jun 2011, 18:00
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It was cockpits like the Chippy's that we designed the Wristboard for, so you don't have to wear the gro-bag and scribble on your legs
Damn, I'll never find an excuse to wear a gro-bag now, everyone will laugh at me at the club when I wear one and say, 'you don't need that, you should just get one of those Wristboard thingies'.
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Old 10th Jun 2011, 18:02
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Sorta comes with the job though the eppaulettes thing.

H'mm wonder what the Thai's make though of engineering lecturer cords though.

Must admit though the trousers look good aviation usage or not.
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Old 13th Jun 2011, 07:06
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KieranBal

Good question.
Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about it except -

Check the internet (incl eBay) for lowest prices.
Check the prices at American pilot shops - usually much cheaper, even if you have to take shipping costs etc into account. (ie If you don't have friends/family visiting the States.)
Look out for second-hand kit advertised in your flying club and on aviation websites that allow ads. (PPRuNe doesn't.)
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Old 13th Jun 2011, 18:53
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I turned up for my CPL skill test in my usual natural-fibres "uniform" of flying cotton trousers and cotton polo-neck, my instructor looked at me with horror and quietly asked me if I had "proper" clothes to change into. I didn't, the examiner didn't seem to care and I got a first time pass. I have yet to own a white shirt with eppaullettes, and suspect that I may never do so.
Kinda likewise. I showed up to my CPL test in a pair of jeans, Megadeth t-shirt and Converse All-Stars. My instructor (a top guy, incidentally) asked if I had a shirt I could put on... I asked if it would help me fly any better.

If I were going for a job interview I'd be suited and booted, but when I'm paying over £750 for a CPL skills test I'll damn well wear what I like.
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Old 13th Jun 2011, 21:53
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Thanks Mods, much appreciated, your removal of my company name and URL when I am making a constructive contrbution to this thread has a certain irony
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Old 13th Jun 2011, 22:29
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"Them's the rules!"


As they say in some parts.
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Old 14th Jun 2011, 06:48
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Understand and accept that if they are administered in a consistent manner......
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Old 14th Jun 2011, 08:24
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Seems to me that if we ever want informed opinions from the supplier community, we need to let them announce themselves. Otherwise, we don't see the context. The contribution from Wessex Boy was relevant to the topic and any spin-off PR was proportionate to the contribution. One kind of knows when a post is just blatant publicity seeking (usually self-defeating) and this one wasn't.
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