Gloves or no gloves?

[AKAFresh]

Howdy all,

Recently saw some footage of an ANA B767 crew flying with gloves on... now i know that in the military this is common practice.. but in the civil world this was the first time iv seen it.

Firstly i would like to hear some of the views of pilots who fly commercial jets with gloves and their reasons, also both advantages/disadvantages.

Do some airlines encourage the use of gloves and do some explicitly ban the use of them in their ops manuals?... if so why? perhaps pilots discretion... hmmm

pprune away....

Fresh.

[411A]

Never used 'em, until....

On an acceptance flight of the first TriStar SV had completed a D check on, I found the nose wheel tiller had been painted with very shiny black paint, and in the noon day sun, it was hot as h*ll, so after that I began using a golf glove on the left hand, and still do to this day.

Oh yes...after the acceptance flight, the aeroplane was returned to the parking stand, and in the tech log was written...nil defects.
The maintenance manager was smiling from ear to ear.

[zerozero]

When I flew in the Alaskan bush and temps were -20 to -40, you bet I wore gloves!

:8

But otherwise, I think it's just guys with sweaty palms.

[JW411]

The military wear them for they are quite useful when the aeroplane catches fire.

As everyone already knows, civilian aircraft do not catch fire.

[A Very Civil Pilot]

I think that in Japan, gloves are quite common on civil aircraft.

In the days when flight deck doors were allowed to be open, on the ATR72 (my old type) you can just see a pilots shoulder and arm from the cabin. There is legend that one capt used to fly with a fancy-dress 'gorillas arm' glove on his right arm. Obviously too near retirement to worry about tea and no biscuits with the fleet manager.

[BelArgUSA]

Yes, pilots generally wear white gloves in Japan, I dont know if it is required, or recommended in their crew policy manuals... It is in Japan, a form of respect to the public, exactly same as employees wearing a tie is a form of respect to the public in the western world.
xxx
I remember, when for overnight in hotels around Narita airport, Tokyo, our crew bus drivers would also load our baggage, and drive the bus to the hotel wearing white gloves as well... and taxi drivers did too. So that is the way they do in Japan.
xxx
I wear gloves too, for taxi and takeoff, approach and landing, the type of leather "bicycle" gloves "without fingers" for hand comfort and because my palms have a tendency to sweat. I do same when I drive my car on long trips. A few colleagues do same... And no, I dont play golf, as some people have asked me.
xxx
In the military, we wore gloves to fly as well...
xxx
I would not qualify for JAL or ANA... my gloves are not white but black.
xxx
:)
Happy contrails

[polzin]

I wonder if wearing latex gloves would bother any of the crew members ?

[zerozero]

As long as you keep your hands in plain view and maintain a secure grip on the control wheel (notice I didn't say stick or yoke?) it really shouldn't be a problem.

I don't imagine you'll have much company at dinner, however.
:hmm:

[cavortingcheetah]

:hmm:

Those beautiful, slightly off white, RAF gloves are much appreciated on longer flights when it becomes necessary, as it does from time to time, to tweak a nipple or two.:O

[Aussie]

They come in useful in aus for the guys doing the early morning charter runs in the outback where its freeezing!!!! :{

[Lemper]

I do wear those off white RAF gloves when flying, mostly for taxi, take off, approach and landing. The reason is that I had to wear gloves in my air force flying life, and it became second nature.
But it appeared to be very useful in Big Lady computerized ops: As you might know, those super automatic thingies works pretty fine on their own, as long as everything works fine precisely, and then there is absolutely nothing to do; in this case, wearing gloves prevents me to put my fingers in my nose, or indulge in even more frowned upon practices.
However when something goes wrong in the system(s), there are hands all over the place in (what really becomes) the cockpit, and wearing white gloves helps me seeing where MY hands are at all time.

[Farrell]

I first saw white-gloved pilots when I did my first Aviation English training course in Japan with some of the crew from JAL.

Having passed comment on it, I was told that it was standard practice, with the reason being that it reduced corrision on the flightdeck switches and screens due to sweaty palms.

[Pilot Pete]

I heard a story about a certain ex-military captain who was one of the very, very few to wear his white gloves in an airliner. He would go through his little ceremony at TOD of carefully placing them on his hands and pulling and flexing each finger to ensure snugness. AN other F/O thought this highly amusing, so when he next flew with him, and on the second sector when the F/O was PF, he proceeded to pull his new pair of gloves from his nav bag and do a similar ceremony at TOD. His gloves? Pink Marigolds.:p

[fireflybob]

Are the gloves marked Left and Right?

[zerozero]

The really nice ones are labeled "Throttles" and "Yoke".

[cavortingcheetah]

:hmm:

The yoke, presumably being a euphemism for 'the wife', it then becomes easier to achieve the desired end , the one with the other?:rolleyes:

[AKAFresh]

thanks for the response guys...

Can anyone add to the following;

Do some airlines encourage the use of gloves and do some explicitly ban the use of them in their ops manuals?... if so why? perhaps pilots discretion... hmmm

Aka

[beamer]

Useful in a bush floatplane but in a modern Boeing or Bus - ludicrous unless its bloody cold outside on a walkround !

[rigpiggy]

An old family friends flying gloves had arrows and writing on them fast/slow, this way/that way, houses get bigger/house get smaller. Sadly no longer with us

[Piltdown Man]

The gloves are to stop the blisters, aren't they?

PM

[DooblerChina]

Neither are they encouraged or banned, they are not mentioned in any manuals to my knowledge.

I only know one Captain in our company who wears them, he is a real old boy ex military. In fact he only wears them for difficult so called "white gloved approaches" I think its done more in jest though now.

[javelin]

One of our No 1's wears blue rubber gloves when she is having a real bad day. The rest of the back end stay out of her way, so do I.

That is the closest any gloves get to a flight deck I am on :E