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

Nearly forty years ago gory pictures of nylon socks moulded into aircrew feet were common cause in the RAF.
We next saw similar injuries from the R.N. during the Falklands.

ProfStu

No speed burns, eh?:E

Other than the slightly more painful two pound lump hammer, they are the most effective means of converting dexterous digits into pigs tits :E

Now WG100 will never want to ask a question again

Never thought of the lump hammer - interesting!!!!

Most of our aircraft are ancient and leak oil everywhere, so they come in handy during the walkround!

Oops.......
 

Originally posted by ProfessionalStudent

Quote:
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.
Originally posted by mojocvh

Quote:
dunno about that bit............sounds a bit "melty"
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".
http://www.pprune.org/forums/images/...ser_online.gif http://www.pprune.org/forums/images/buttons/report.gif

Oops :\

Standards are obviously slipping. Doesn't anybody fly in a tie anymore?

wg100
They're an absolute must for getting a nice steaming-hot 'honkers' out of the oven on a Nimrod, or the hot water boiler on an E-3.
But seriously, if you have ever had an in-flight fire, then boy will you be glad you're wearing them then! I've had 2 cabin fires (both on Nimrods) and the natural instinct was to just 'bash' them out with my hands. It worked thankfully, and all my little pinkies are still separate and not welded together!
Kind regards to all
TSM

One other little point my GP has raised with me.

He's noticed signs of skin damage on the back of my hands which he attributes to 35 years of flying in gliders and light aircraft. He has recommended using gloves for that reason.

Ties
 

My Flying school wears ties as part of the uniform. Does that count?

Hmmm all good points, I wear gloves when flying Mil and Civvy probably cause I have ony ever worn gloves being mil trained. I simply feel uncomfortable not wearing them. Fire, yes that s a biggy plus the fact that aircraft of most kinds ( not big fluffy 747) are bloody minging and Mil ones tend to have oil all over them (good thing means they have some in to leak) and you never quite know what the pilot before you was doing for all those boring hours over the oggin:ooh:

A while ago, someone took a swab sample from the control column of a Civil Transport aircraft and analysed it, then produced a report. Amongst other delightful discoveries there were a few dozen findings of urine (from different sources).
Delightful stuff so keep your gloves folks. I do remember seeing a few pilots wearing gloves on civy a/c. Most were ex forces, or perhaps they had read the above report.
Temps.

We wear gloves so we don't leave fingerprints on the switches!

...and we wear silky French knickers for the wonderful sense of freedom...

'But seriously, if you have ever had an in-flight fire, then boy will you be glad you're wearing them then! I've had 2 cabin fires (both on Nimrods) and the natural instinct was to just 'bash' them out with my hands.'

Burnt the toast again??

Another reason to wear them is that they keep your hands warm...... it's an issue in some military aircraft, especially helicopters when operating in the field.

Whatever you do about flying clothing, DO NOT buy one of those dangers to your health and safety, namely a 100% nylon 'flying' jacket, as advertised by one very well known UK vendor of goods aviation. Unless, if the worst ever happens, you don't mind superheated, melted nylon embedded in your flesh, making what might have been a minor injury into a third degree burn.

Or anything else made of 100% nylon unless you like the thought of skin grafts... It should be banned!

Some years ago I worked for an SAR unit that issued these jackets. I never wore mine. A crewman I used to fly with got his melted onto his hands after getting involved in a bush fire. Now they wear 100% Nomex.

They have other, surprising uses too. For example, carrying someone's recently-separated testicle. Tom slipped while stepping over a barbed wire fence on patrol in the Emerald Toilet.

I swear you could hear his screams over the transmission whine all the way back to MPH.

I always wore them in case I had to shake hands with one of those grubby engineering oiks:}

With the greatest of respect, may I refer you to this website and its presentation on crash survival, gory though it is?

Among other things, it explains that wearing gloves might mean that you still have hands after a fire.

Here is a hint: If you fly an aircraft with a passenger between you and the door (eg.Piper, Decathlon) you had better be wearing gloves.

http://www.angtec.ang.af.mil/spruance/Frameset.htm

Since enduring the sight of an F/O sobbing into a lace 'kerchief after cracking his nail varnish,a wise move indeed :rolleyes:

A sad but true tale. An experienced Australian pilot in Indonesia insisted on wearing shorts and short sleeved shirts for flying as they were more comfortable in the heat than 'longs' and long sleeved shirts. Coming out of a clearing one day the engine fails, (Bell47G - piston engine/avgas etc.), heavy landing, aircraft caught fire, the engineer who was a pax managed to get out and drag the pilot out, engineer minor burns and bruises but the pilot died two days later from serious burns to his arms and legs, well over 50% of the body.

Totally different subject. Ladies wearing nylon stockings and/or panties tend to burn themselves when evacuating an aircraft down a slide! Seen it happen in practise drills.

Fg gloves are also a good way of preventing a particularly nasty injury called 'de-gloving', which is what happens when you catch a wedding ring on a piece of metal and tear the skin inside-out....
Not nice to experience (or see) as it can look as though a red glove has been partly removed.....:\:eek: