Was at the club last weekend and was chatting to an old bloke in jeans and T shirt. Went to bog and came out wearing the full olive green flight suit. Laughed... I nearly passed out!! He seemed to take on a different persona too, strutting round like a fast jet jock on the way to his Tomohawk!!

Hi silverknapper,

If I may presume to offer some unsolicited advice: try your best not to laugh at or make fun of other people's attire. Their appearance doesn't do you any harm, and goodness knows we all don't have the same tastes; e.g., recent immigrants who persist in wearing traditional gear from their home countries, or young people (and some not so young) with body piercing and/or tattoos. Just because people may look different ('weird') on the outside doesn't mean that they aren't wonderful on the inside (which, of course, is what counts).

Re the strutting-around part: at the risk of appearing unspeakably sanctimonious (and with the frank admission that I am not always personally successful in practicing what I preach), here's a more-or-less apt quotation from Halberstam's Everyday Ethics:

Best wishes,

MLS-12D

silverknapper,

I hope that was not me you are talking about.

I only wear mine to work at the things. :cool:

I saw the Tomohawk, parked behind our TB20 but did not see the pilot

Tony

Whats wrong with shorts and t-shirt?! Or a pair of old jeans just for flying LOL

Advertised in a current edition of a well known GA magazine: flying suits made out of, derrr, polyester. That's a good choice: Be an object of ridicule AND burn to death.

Gentlemen,

Having recently retired from the Military world, I am now embarking on 'keeping my hand in' flying civilian machines from my local club.
I am of the personal opinion that flying suits should be worn, and whilst this will upset a few I'm sure, may I just explain my reasoning......
In a past life, I flew the mighty Sea King Flying Egg Whisk on SAR.
Now I'm not for a minute suggesting, that you chaps will ever need pulling out of the sea at 20W, but mishaps DO happen to us all, even civilian weekend flyers, and it is worth considering your own well-being. I have sadly seen quite a few air accidents, where the crew have died both from their injuries on impact, but sadly also from burns.
The flying suit will certainly afford you a greater level of fire protection than your jeans or shorts will. The flying suit will NOT melt, as will many man-made fibre garments. Flying gloves are an absolute MUST in my opinion as their fire-resistance is quite fantastic, as I can vouch for during BBQ's!!
The only other item I would question would be a helmet.
Yes, I can hear the moans and screams from you now, but think about it.....
If you break a leg, an arm whatwever, it will almost certainly NOT kill you. A damned good whack on the head almost certainly WILL kill you, and if not, it might well leave you a cabbage. Maybe consider it for T/O and landing only??
I simply ask you to consider the pros and cons... if you are certain that you will not crash and/or burn, then fly in shirts sleeves and shorts but, if there is any doubt, is it worthy taking the chance?

Kind regards to all, and I for one, will never take the mickey out of any weekend flyer wearing a flying suit (unless he or she is dressed up to the eyeballs in TOP GUN badges etc!!

Kind regards
The Swinging Monkey

Sensible stuff. There's no logic in this, but if I go flying in a Bulldog, I wear my badgeless flying suit. In the Cap 10, I have started wearing the flying suit unless it's a really, really hot day. In a Beagley Pup, I usually wear weekend flying bloke clothing (but no artificial fibres or shorts). Parachute and gloves always, helmet on order from the States. I think today I'm going to wear the suit in the Pup and care not for comments.

Incredibly Stupid Flying Suit

Flew Mustangs in Japan post WW2.

The squadron pilots looked superb in their tailor made white flying suits. Thiis was before development of nomex and serious considerations of fire protection

Suddenly we went off to war in Korea. Yes in our white flying suits. Before the second mission we had all decided that to bail out in a white flying suit would not be very healthy.

Found some greenish brown dye and my suit was soon the colour of the rice paddys.

Saw the results of our amateurish attempt at camouflage when the ground fire became more accurate and a few had to earn their caterpillers. No doubt saved a few lives.

Whenever I wear a flying suit I look like a tellytubby but there really is no counterargument to the protection they afford, though as stated they are part of an ensemble designed to keep the flames at bay. How many people fly in boots?

There is a real problem with peoples perception and no matter how ofter you say "to hell with them" it does have an effect on people. Remember, this is not just from our peers but from the public too. Are these suited types the down-to-earth normal people they appeared to be to begin with, or is there a gung-ho figher ace fighing to get out? :)

Supposing I wore a flight suit in my C172: my civilian pax would give me funny looks for starters and I would feel embarrased as I explained about the fire protection etc. and how I didn't bring enough for everybody.

If I wore a bone dome I would take out the window or brain the person in the right-hand seat ;)

A more sensible and socially acceptable option is surely to have clothes of natural fibre (with long sleeves) to be worn in the aircraft. OK, so you can't write on your knees but it is a small price to pay for a little peace :)

If worried about the sartorial statement, leave it in the aeroplane - put in on before you untie, and take it off after tieing down. The safety benefit rarely counts in the clubhouse.

And if it's too hot, don't wear anything under it.



I really hope all those middle age guys at my club don't follow this hot day advice. It would really put me off my club house bacon sarnie;)

SSD

Fair point, probably better to do one of the other, not both.

G:uhoh:

Just washed and ironed my Nomex flying suit (sad I know, but going to be the wrong side of the fence at a static display). If nomex is so great at fire resistance, why must it be cool ironed only?:\

PS I wear a helmet and whist it was strange to start with, I would feel naked without it now. Best bit is that you no longer have to clamp the arms of sunglasses between the head and head set.

Don't let Shaggy put you off, Genghis. You go commando if you want to.