MD11Engineer

Hello,
Don't laugh, since the request might sound a bit silly:

I'm looking for a pair of engineer's epaulettes for a possible flying spanner job.
I have heard that some countries are a bit suspicious if somebody is listed as crew on the general declaration, but doesn't wear a uniform (actually a former colleague of mine spent several days in a Chinese jail, because they didn't consider him as crew and demanded a visa from him, which our ex-boss back then insisted he wouldn't need), until he was bailed out by the embassy.
To look "crewy" I was looking for a standard pair of epaulettes to go with the standard uniform (white shirt, black trousers, black tie), but all I could find are pilot's epaulettes.
While epaulettes are not customary for engineers in my own country, Germany (and I would never wear them at work on a line or hangar job due to looking like a dork), I have previously seen British engineers wearing them. I also know that engineers in India use them.
Does anybody know where I could source such a pair (as LAME I think that three gold on red background would be ok)?

Rgds,

Jan

mrmagooo

For engineers its on a purple background as a mark of respect to all the engineers who died on the Titanic. They all wore purple shirts to identify them....... apparently

NutLoose

And remember you need 5 stripes

themoonsaballoon

'You can have mine i never wear the things'
Smudgethecat shame on you!

what on earth do you wear in the flying club?
I wear a tool belt aswell with a hammer in, it really tops the lot off and is considered de rigeur in my part of the world.
TMAB

HAWK21M

http://www.mypilotstore.com/mypilotstore/secp/145

http://estore.smallwoods.com/browse.cfm/2,16.html
Try these links Jan.
regds
MEL

Perrin

Well the moonsaballon, work and fly in the middle east without uniform and you will end up at the wrong end of a AK47, happened to me in Jordan and never took them off out there after that.
BA uniform stores have the lot.

MD11Engineer

This, and the story about my ex-colleague, who ended up in a Chinese jail, because the local cops didn´t believe that he was a crew member, because he was wearing civvies, is the sole reason.
If I would wear them (even white shirt, black trousers, black neck tie, as I have seen many British and Irish engineers do) e.g. on an ordinary line job in Germany, I'd be laughed out off the crew room.
Jan

stevef

MD11 - bars can save a lot of trouble when dealing with petty officials and the military in some parts of Africa. The more stripes the merrier but I always used singles (whatever 'they' represent) and they usually worked just fine. A 'small' monetary gift of, say, $5.00 can be useful as well if the wheels start grinding to a halt in places like Kinshasa. Annoying but worth the lack of strife!
I agree with Perrin, having had the business end of an AK waved under my nose...

mrmagooo

The more dodgy the place the greater the need for them Ive always found..... For me, its not for look, its merely to get to the hotel bar quicker

Blacksheep

While doing flying spanner work in "South Asia" we were issued with jackets with the gold bars on the sleeves. We didn't get a big hat or a big watch though...

In Delhi, our flight switched from International to domestic with a night charter service from Delhi to Bombay using a domestic operator's ticketing and cabin crew. On the first trip I was taken off the aircraft and through Immigration/Customs then round to the Domestic Terminal to re-board. There I became the rope in a kind of tug-o-war with the company rep hanging onto one sleeve and pulling me in and a Policeman hanging onto the other and pulling me out. The flashy uniform with gold bars didn't impress him at all - he refused to believe I was crew on a domestic flight because I was a European. I refused to get off the aircraft thereafter and stayed aboard all the way, through Delhi to Bombay and back through Delhi to Kathmandu.

merlinxx

All rank markings gold/silver rings backed by purple ground. Grnd engineer narrow rings, F/E normal aircrew thick rings. BA uni stores should help. If no purple ground avble G/E 4 gold, F/E 2 or 3 thick. Also add correct uni jacket/trousers. Carry ID with pic in uni + spare pics for poss local ID issue.
Some uni areas have gone out of use, these are the traditional & recognized values.

PS If senior/chief G/E stars up to 3 can be added above rings to show further seniority.

Golden Rivet

You dont by any chance have a pair with Goat symbology on them ?

bflyer

HI.......

IN MY COMPANY FLIGHT ENGINEERS WEAR EPAULETTES WITH GOLDEN WIDE BARS ON A STRAWBERRY RED BACKGROUND TO DIFFERENTIATE THEM FROM PILOTS...NUMBER OF BARS COMMENSURATE WITH EIQ'S(engineer in question's) TOTAL FLYING HOURS

mainwheel

This is a bit like the origin of the term "boxing day". Who's right?
I have heard the theory of the titanic, but it was the band that kept playing, not the engineers, and it dosen't explain the colour purple.
I am told, and believe, that some queen gave the colour purple to the engineers corp.
Epaulettes are actually the flap of the shirt, the "SLIDE" is the striped removable fabric with gold stripes.
In a few countries, it is accepted to wear 1 to 4 gold stripes with purple bands inbetween and also a black band for the engineers having died in wartime.
I do agree that wearing multiple strips of gold are worth there weight when flying through certain countries, especially asia.

Dennes Boy

Here at our Company Dennes we can supply the Epaulettes you require - we make them at our Gatwick base.

For the record we can supply the rest of the uniform that you attach the Epaulettes to!!!!

So please leave me a message if we can help you - or anyone else for that matter with all your Aircrew Uniform requirements.