why was he wearing a sidcot suit in the tropical heat?
in the tropics and australia it can get very hot on the ground. aviation at altitudes over 10,000ft can have the aircraft in sub zero temperatures for hours. the sidcot suit is appropriate in the cold.
in WW2 in the defence of Darwin australians were eventually supplied spitfires.
many pilots died in those spitfires because of the cold at altitude.
the propeller units were setup on the assumption of tropical heat. the pilots found that at altitude in the cold the propellers would lock into full fine and if the merlin didnt destruct from overspeed the jap guy behind would end your days with an easy shot.
australian mechanics came to the realisation that the oil in the prop hub was thickening in the cold and was unable to make the return to the engine. as the hub pressurised the blades went to full fine.
solution they came up with was to drill out the return galleries in the prop to allow flow of the cold oil. once that was sorted out the japs got a much harder time of it.
from personal experience a ground temp on the nullabor of 45C will be at 0C up at 9,500ft. the difference can cause props to come loose.