And arent there some hot bank tellers around :D

Why bother with the two or three stripes question. If it was me I'd go for 8 (or maybe even 10).

Who remembers Spike Milligan having to pass sideways through doors to accomodate the great epaulettes.:D

We have some Gold 5 Bars in the stock at my work.

Every so often the teenagers get it into there head to bait me, and try and get me to put them on. Some refresher stall training shortly follows in the tomahawk which usually puts the matter to rest.

All our students know that pecking order is done with how much hair you have on your head. The less hair the higher up the scale you are.

No doudt one of the teenagers will read this and grass me up.


"your career bonnie lad!" will get issued from the office followed by a can of cider ;)

MJ

Stripes when instructing are not necessary. Maybe allowances can be made for commercial flying but certainly not for PPL instructing. At the end of the day PPL flying is all about flying in a relaxed atmosphere and having fun. You want to be approachable to your students and not create a 'them and us' culture with you with your 4 silver or gold bars on! My CAAFU IR examiner did not wear any stripes so if he if not going to then I as a PPL instructor will definitely not even consider it. You can still create a professional impression to a customer at a PPL FTO by wearing a white shirt with dark trousers and a dark tie and polished shoes!

Leave us Alone!!
 

As one of the instructors who falls into the "overinflated ego-self absorbed-sad git" camp can I point out in my defence that I am compelled to wear stripes by my employer who also incidentally pays me at least minimum wage salary each month come wind,rain or shine. If I do not wear them I can be sent home for the day and lose a day's holiday, consistent breach of contract can result in dismissal. So, given today's employment climate, I'll keep wearing mine when flying my C152 if you don't mind.

On a slightly different note said employer also insists that our white airline style shirts are adorned with our name, position and 2 huge gold wings around their logo, which restricts after work hours pub antics somewhat, as well as destroying the veil of anonymity when chatting up members of the opposite sex (errr also in the pub generally).

mad_jock

I've heard some excuses for going bald but that one takes the biscuit!

Did you tear all yours out in Coventry?

Nope its not worth it. I am going to have to pull out a hell of alot more if i want to catch up with my CFI.

And the baldy git has decided that he gets 2 months paternity leave. So it looks like i have the least hair in the building without even trying.

Mind you this means i have been promoted to training manager so i can sign the log books for the night ratings.

MJ

More experienced than you and less hair!

Are you learning humility or have you had a guilt attack old boy?

Still racking up the hours I hope. Becoming a parent seems a bit of an extreme way of getting two months off. We get that much time off at the LBA just for weather between each lesson we teach....as you may remember!

:D


The experence bit isn't hard to beat. I i am pretty sure the boss has more avgas hours than SA.

Just pretty happy with life just now.

Anyway i may see you chaps again if i get time off for good behaviour in a month or so after the sprog has dropped.
And i will be expecting all you chaps to be wearing gold stripes just like the multi!!!!e instructors ;)

Mj

Mj

MS instructors have given up wearing stripes because everybody thought they looked a right load of pi*locks (and told them as much, being as this is Yorkshire)

We can wear them to take the pi*s if you like!

Thought your gaffer had lots of turbine time! Didn't he used to fly J31's or was he on something else?

jsf

Stripes in Spain!!
 

I'm a flight instructor in Madrid.

Another instructor and I, last summer, decided to do a bit of night flying in a PA28T whilst "off-duty" and obviously NO uniform and NO stripes. We landed at Barajas International Airport that only welcomes general aviation between 23.00 and 07.00h.

On our departure two days later (we had a slot for 4.00am!), we showed our IDs and pilot licences at the police control so as to be able to access the parking area and the words of the policeman on duty were:

"Hey, if you're really pilots...how come you're not wearing a uniform??! And where are your stripes??!"

He really seemed more worried about the fact that we were'nt wearing our stripes than our licences and IDs! In the end we were allowed to continue, but I have the funny feeling that he really didn't believe that we were REAL pilots!

In general, here in Spain, "Stripes" get you through police controls even if you're carrying a bomb in your bag!

DC3's or i should say C47's in the UK.



Don't both with the stripes i will see you all on Monday.

MJ

As we all know, airline pilots wear uniforms to make them readily identifable and impressive. If there is an emergency and the pilots or cabin crew members have to give orders to the pax, you don't want any confusion or resistance ("who is that guy in the golf shirt to tell ME not to evacuate on the side that's on fire?").

Such considerations don't apply to most instructional situations. Training flights generally are manned by one instructor and one or at most two students. Everybody knows perfectly well who is in command, who has the most experience, and who has the final say over how the flight is conducted. The instructor doesn't need a fancy uniform to set himself or herself apart from the other occupant(s) of the aircraft. And of course, Mister Geezer's point is valid.

I certainly agree that flight instructors meet most (though not all) of the criteria for being "professionals" ... but that status is not dependant upon fancy dress. A doctor without a white lab jacket, or an ungowned barrister, is still a professional.

Finally, at the risk of appearing to contradict myself, if someone (pilot or not) wants to wear wings on their chest or bars on their shoulders, IMHO that's their choice and their business. Pretentious? Sure, but they're not hurting anyone, so big deal. Let them have their fun (so long as it doesn't go to their heads and result in them bossing everyone else around, of course).

Having lived in different countries over the past few years i have noticed something among brits. The y are ashamed of the accomplishments and identity. Note, I said ASHAMED not MODEST, cos those are 2 entirely different things.
Another observation i have made is that 90% of the anti-stripes, anti-unifroform, anti-suit, anti tie brigade tend to be suffering from some form of middle aged crisis. my advice is that you act your age, trying to "fit in" with 18-25 yr olds isnt going to help your case.
It's really sad that airline pilots believe that they are the only ones entitled to wear stripes and uniforms. It is also sad that pilots are ashamed of being identified in public. Bus drivers walk around town in their unforms so do motorcyclists, nurses, industrial workers, retail assistants, travel agents, etc, etc. and it doesnt seem to be a problem.
BTW, can someone explain why in the UK the re is this divide b/w PPL and commercial instructors? in most countries all FI's are treated the same.
I'm about to spend over £10k on flight training,. If you think that i'm going to spend that amount of cash on some boring middleaged git in flip flops, then u can forget about it.
There is nothing wrong with "ppl instructors" wearing stripes. From a consumers point of view, an instructors dress code is one of the first things i look at when shortlisting schools, and i know a significant no of people who do the same.