"Hah! Who'd be seen dead in a flying suit? Poser! Wimp!"

Well.....me actually.

I have decided to 'come out' and admit that I use a flying suit. There - I've said it and I now feel so much better......

It's a nice green one with lots of pockets and zips.....and room for a badge.....and..and...and....

Can you get hoods for them...?

Saw an old guy getting out of a C152 this summer. Door opened and sandals (with socks) appeared followed by flying suit leg
What an incongurous sight!
If you must have one of these, wear with big lace up boots please. I always have the big boots... waiting for a new ankle... Dear Santa...

I haven't got one - yet. But it would be handy having bits on the leg to put your map in and scribble on, plenty of storage for pens, sunglasses etc and would stop the wife moaning about oil and stuff on my normal clothes.

My resolution for next year, though, is to procure some michelin man immersion suits for overwater legs. Yes, you look a right prat struggling into it on the apron but it would allow me to do more direct cross Channel routings (away from the rat run between Dover and Cap Gris Nez) and I'd rather look a prat than die because I wanted to preserve my (very limited)street cred.

Yes, I too have started wearing a flying suit. Cost me all of £7.50 from a gov surplus store.

The great thing is it enables me to drive home after flying. - I put the car keys in one of the zip pockets and then they don't fall out when I'm preflighting the aircraft. I knew I had to do something after getting my wife to drive over with a spare set of keys for the second time.

The pockets are so useful I wish I'd bought one years ago. Not found a system for which pocket to use for what yet so I can still spend ten minutes going through the pockets looking for something. Not much hope for me is there?

I'll admit to using one in a Chipmunk and Tiger Moth as well.

Why? Warmth, messy oily aeroplanes, lack of storage so all the pockets come in usefull etc.

I don't care what anyone thinks, they're very handy for some sorts of aeroplanes.

And gosh, I even wear a bone dome as well

WF.

Always, and for all of those reasons. And by the way, if all goes pear-shaped, a proper Nomex flying suit is flame retardent as well.

G

...and what about gloves? When I was learning, I vowed that, until I got the licence, I would not (a) fly in a leather jacket or (b) wear gloves. Since then I have been bought the former by my wife and my army flingwinger mate has nicked me some of the latter (green ones: much nicer than the white ones the instructor wore to point at the ASI when speechless with mind-shattering terror).

As for a flying suit, I'll buy one when I get a share in an upside-downy aeroplane, and until then keep borrowing my air force buddy's festering green one: doesn't have kneepads, but it does have a nice picture of Marvin the Moose on the shoulder, and comes in handy for swabbing out Gipsy Major engine compartments at the end of the day.

Definately required if you fly oily aeroplanes. I will be getting one for the coming season cos I'm determined not to ruin any more pairs of jeans wiping the mess from the engine breather off the underside of the fuselage. Isn't it amazing how a tiny quantity of oil can make so much mess?

Green gloves are also a must for winter flying in an unheated Cub.

I always wear one - keeps the oil of my clothes and more importantly it has zipped pockets. So it keeps my change and lose bits and bobs contained about my person rather than spread liberally around the airframe. Nothing quite as disconcerting as finding enough lose change to buy a few beers with, sitting in the canopy roof when you are upside down.

Yes, of course my mates, tease me! One, ex RAF wears his green grow bag, with all the squadron patches removed but the velcro attachments remain so that everyone can see what a sky-God he once was!

sNr

I use grey gloves (I think they are German AF surplus), I find the thin white RAF ones a bit too thin for comfort in a cold cockpit.

In an open cockpit I use thick windproof gloves designed for moped racing that came from my local bike shop - in winter supplemented by silk inners. Very warm, but just thin enough in the fingers to operate the radio. Don't really look the part admittedly, but I'd rather have warm hands. Full motorbike gloves are a bit too silly looking, and too thick to operate the radio (and I don't feel the need for Kevlar Knuckles when flying!).

G

If you feel comfortable in the flight suit then wear one. Just dont wear the gold braid on the shoulders.

Dont wear one in the vintage aircraft (even though the fuel tank is just above my knees), but do wear one for aeros. and a chute and a lid for my sweede.

just had a suit made by <A HREF="http://www.flightsuits.com" TARGET="_blank">www.flightsuits.com</A>

having been a badly burn in an accident i would recommend some nomex

The queen gave me a nice one with my name on, which I kept. Wouldn't wear it to fly my Warrior though (feel a bit conspicuous when you're visiting friends and having dinner down the pub )

However, as everyone else says, for the likes of aeros they're great for making sure you don't lose anything, and older aircraft where space to put things to write can be at a premium. The RAF Mk14 Nomex with knee pads is ideal for this sort of thing.

CM

I couldn't bring myself to wear a flying suit in a cessna 150.... You can get away with it in a Yak 50, chipmunk or tigermoth etc.
I fly aeros in a cessna texas taildragger aand just empty my pockets before getting in the aircraft.
I don't think I have ever seen anyone wear a flying suit in a spamcan.. its a bit like wearing full racing leathers on a moped!

Give me one, single, sensible reason why you should not wear racing leathers on a moped?

Helmets are naff too, so why bother with them on a moped......

Heh Chilli, I've still got the Queen's one, too. However having left her employ 17 years ago it no longer fits, maybe I should e-mail one of her Supply colleagues and ask for a new one!

I do wear gloves and a bone dome (well a David Clarke shell) at all times, too because...

Some years ago, an acquaintance of mine dead sticked a biplane onto a golf course. Hit the only tree on the whole course during the roll out and died from a fractured skull. The instrument panel is full of sharp protrusions, keys, altimeter subscale knob, alternate static valve, cockpit coaming, etc, etc.

Vowed then to protect myself more!

I find that the helmet provides a betetr seal for the headset ear pieces and makes for a quieter flight, too. And yes, it being my only headset I wear the helmet in spam cans, too. Just as many sharp sticky out things in them.


sNr

Nice to be able to read about helmets without having to wade through Jet Blast....

The "not wearing a helmet cos it makes me look daft" thing is interesting. I like going skiiing and rockclimbing, and these are sports in which you really should wear a helmet but practically no-one does because it looks naff. Yet I wouldn't ride my bike or get on a horse without wearing a hard hat (I noticed from a picture in the paper that even Princess Grumpycow has started wearing a proper hat to chase foxes in although her ugly daughter is still trusting to the tongue stud for protection).
Grown-ups wearing helmets on recreational ski slopes are gradually becoming a more common sight. Wonder if if ten years we'll all be hatted up? (assuming there are any airfields still open then)

One thing is for sure: I'd rather be seen in or near an aeroplane wearing a flying suit or a helmet than wearing a tie. GA people in ties, now that really IS weird...

[This message has been edited by FNG (edited 20 December 2000).]

I've been wearing a flying suit since starting to fly aircraft with sticks rather than yokes, as even a small sizes kneeboard kept getting in the way. I've made up some mini sized flight planners which fit into the pockets so that all my en route frequencies and headings are to hand. It seems to work very well.

Also wear the suit for Yak aeros to stop dispersing the contents of my pockets around south Cambridgeshire, where they're anti aeroplanes anyway - no need to give them any encouragement - and gloves to keep a firm grip on the stick!

Haven't got a helmet yet, maybe next year.

Where I fly from, we had a Cessna 152 crash and burn on the runway although the pilot got out OK. Made me think that a bit of extra fireproofing might be a good idea even when flying in spam cans. You never know!

FS: Genuine RAF flying suit. Would fit lard-*rse like me (6' tall, 40" chest, 36" waist).

All offers to [email protected]

I was lucky enough to be let into the UAS recently, after a few hundred hours of jeans and t-shirt clad civvy glider and light aircraft flying. So flying in all the RAF clobber has been a bit strange to say the least- bone dome (makes you neck ache a bit at 4G), grow bag, gloves, jacket, ridiculously enormous boots, and longjohns....yes, longjohns!! (dress to survive they call it) Suppose I'll get used to it eventually- the grow bag is really usefull with the knee-pads and pockets though, and very warm.

You think its warm now Soaring Sprog, wait till summer and don't think about ditching the long johns coz dress to survive isn't just about the cold, your shiny nomex growbag is vastly more effective against fire if you have at least one layer underneath it.

Top tip for the summer is bring your instructor a choc ice/ice pop as you come out for a running change, you get so many more brownie points to cash in for seats on formations, SCT etc.