no need to be patronising or sarcastic
No such intention; it's just my rapid writing style
But I stand by the words of what I say. I wouldn't climb into some old heap like that. On my plane, I know the hoses are tight, are Teflon, firesleeved, 1500 PSI tested. Actually I sourced them myself from Saywells and assembled the flow totaliser plumbing myself (prior to inspection by an IA obviously) with the correct sealants and correctly torqued. The whole lot is inspected with a torch on every preflight; one can just see the fuel hoses through a gap underneath.
OK, I realise that instructors, not to mention PPL students, have little choice but to fly in all kinds of junk which they cannot visually inspect under the cowling, but data shows it is still very very rare to get an in-flight fire, especially one which penetrates the firewall and extends into the cockpit.
You are more likely to get a mid-air collision. A couple of those a year...
A good point about "commercial pilot" clothing. I had a look at this recently (because one of the non-UK JAA IR options I looked at mandates the wearing of the full Col Gaddafi uniform despite the temperatures down there; they even suggested I wear four bars because I already have a CPL, hey ho) so cotton is desirable, but seems hard to find. I thought that buying a white shirt and black trousers from a normal shop might be the easiest way to get cotton.
If I do pursue that IR option I will delight in setting fire to the nylon when I am done so I will be able to report on how well it went. Might even put it on Youtube