Originally Posted by
Tankertrashnav
Are you saying that some of them were flying without gloves? My reaction to blokes calling each other "mate" is just to harumph a bit and shrug my shoulders. Dispensing with gloves when flying a fast jet, though, is just unbelievable. I once attended a talk by a retired USAF VSO who had been a fighter pilot in the Korean War and had been in a crash when his aircraft caught fire. He had gloves on but rolled down so that his wrists were exposed. One wrist was so badly burned in the fire that he was in danger of losing that hand which was only saved by means of some very clever surgery. After that I never flew without ensuring that my gloves were pulled right up and securing my flying suit sleeves around them, a lesson these "mates" need to learn, it seems
Although I never flew with exposed arms or hands, I always considered that if there was a cockpit fire, the lack of fire extinguisher to hand meant that I would eject quite quickly after discovering said fire and certainly before I got burnt. The only other reason for covering skin would be the MDC. Of course, it's a totally different story in a non-ejection seat equipped aircraft.
Didn't notice the exposed arms/hands whatever it was. Was it Hawk or F35 or both. Do both have MDC (before another outrage bus sets off)? You often see non-MDC US FJ pilots flying with exposed skin so context is everything.