Why wear gloves?
 

I've got a question for you military aircrew - Why do you wear flying gloves?
It just occured to me that when I was able to visit the flight deck on civvy flights, I never saw the pilots wearing flying gloves, so why do military pilots wear them?

Fire protection (and it keeps our nice smooth hands pretty):)

Because if you poke your finger into an ACC to check whether it's cooked or not, it hurts unless you're wearing your gloves!

...and if one doesn't have a nice air-conditioned cockpit, one might get sweaty little paws!

Cheers

Whirls

The reason I ask is that I'm just about to get into flying, albeit civilan light aircraft with a view to ATPL in the end.
I've not noticed many, if any, civilians pilots wearing flying gloves, so wondered if there was a particular reason.
I guess in the civilian world, personal preference comes into play.

and we dont pay for them and there shiny so, it's a must for us:p

Now for gawd sake don't ask about colour.

1. They keep your hands warm
2. They keep your hands clean
3. They provide a degree of fireprotection
4. They are free
5. Some people think they are smart

Sam, What about that AAC, which colour then????:\

(have we got onto the silk inners yet??)

wg100

It's a fire retardence thing. Most of us military folk fly in clothing designed to slow/lessen the impact of a flash fire, which is a bit more likely for us in an incident. If an airliner crashes, however, there is a higher chance of complete destruction (as there are no accelerated departure means), so a flash fire would be the least of your worries.

Having learnt the civvy way myself, there is little or no heed paid to the risks of flash fires when it comes down to flying attire. The risk is entirely yours. Whilst I'm not saying you should wear a flyng suit every time you strap on your C152 (you would be right royally sneered at), gloves may just give you that extra few seconds of manual dexterity to open the escape hatch should you find yourself in a field engulfed in flames. It's a balance for you between comfort and protection, especially in the summer. A good compromise would be a thin, cotton, long-sleeved roll neck (a bit like ours, but maybe a bit less olive drab), over the polyester, short-sleeved M&S shirt.

Plus ...
 

6. All the reasons given previously (see below) :)

Jack

Eh!!
 

A good compromise would be a thin, cotton, long-sleeved roll neck (a bit like ours, but maybe a bit less olive drab), over the polyester, short-sleeved M&S shirt.

dunno about that bit............sounds a bit "melty"

MoJo

Don't discard the idea of a flying suit as they have lots of handy pockets etc.

Don't try and buy a military one however which would get you sneered at. There are plenty of others on the market. The military ones, certainly the Britmil, are built for all shapes and for comfort - they are not designed for nonchalant elegance - unless you are a Harrier pilot.

The RN introduced smart poly-cotton shirts for working uniform (no. 8s) - and found 25 years ago that they melted onto burning skin. No fun for the wearer or the medical teams trying to save them.

They went back to the all cotton shirts.

I think the main reason for civvies not wearing gloves is the cost between 28 - 32 pound a pair! For the classic mil gloves. I prefer the US issue gloves myself. Scrounged a nice sandy coloured pair in Iraq!

Originally posted by ProfessionalStudent

Originally posted by mojocvh

I agree that in this context using "over" when making a comprison is a little confusing! Rather than "over", I should have less amibiguously written "rather than".

I thought only students wore white
(-where is my blanco?)

What about roll neck under?

As for the silk inners. Well, they've made many a det more bearable...:O

"Most of us military folk fly in clothing designed to slow/lessen the impact of a flash fire, which is a bit more likely for us in an incident. "

:)

If you're cold and miserable - just chuck your flying suit on the fire. Learned that one at what used to be the RAF I.A.M. in days of yore.
Anything changed?

An abbreviated quote from Stockingshq.com regarding the views of their G5 crew:

"Our pilots are qualified on just about anything that flies. Both have previous military experience and our captain flew for Pan Am for many years. I asked him yesterday if he was familiar with any restriction or recommendation by the NTSB, the FAA or any other agency against women wearing nylons in flight. My wife wears nylons exclusively. He said he was completely unaware of any such warning and he added that if the inside of the plane ever got hot enough to melt nylon, fashion would not be our first concern. Good ole Jack! What a kidder!"

That said, I'm with A_A, and surely nylon (and similar) socks et al have been banned for military aircrew since time imemorial.

Jack