Flight Bag
 

Hey guys,
I'm about half way thro my PPL, with plans for going commercial after that. To start with I had no problem just carrying out my checklist to the aircraft but over the past month I seem to be collecting more and more things that I need to take and so have decided to invest in a flight bag. Any suggestions? I don't really want to spend more then £40ish. My basic needs are space for kneeboard, maps, checklist, headset, spare glasses, sunglasses :) and I'm sure that theres stuff I'll need in the future that I don't know about know. I've had alook round alot of the online shops and so have an idea of the things availible but I've not seen any of them so I thought I'd post here for all the wisdom that is around the private flying forum :8

cheers

Argos do a leather one for about £30, which almost everyone at our flying school seems to use. Excellent value, although of course you can spend much more if you wish.

Keep it as small as possible. It used to surpirse me what a helo pilot would take compared to a fixed winger to do what amounts to the same thing. When private flying I used to have a headset bag and a kneeboard. Chart and plog on kneeboard, wallet and licence in headset bag. Now I'm a CPL, just a bumbag with wallet, chart, licence and passport, and a "brain" in the pocket of the flying suit. The brain is an A5 clear pocket folder with lists of frequencies, local airfield info and one or two other bits and pieces. KISS

Avoid those large 'pilot case' type things. Unless you have empty seats in the aircraft there's no room for them. Better off with a small & soft/flexible satchel/backpack thing that can be stuffed just about anywhere.

Be careful on the flight bag front...

I have seen many a pilot with large black leather flight bag stroll out to his..........PA38:O

Get a small Nike hold-all, let it wear out while you are getting towards the commercial stuff and then get a leather poser pouch for Christmas or something.

Just my opinion.

M&S plastic carrier bag. Costs nowt, and does the job better than posey inappropriate black leather jobbies. It is replaced regularly (again, at no cost) by any other plastic carrier bag as wear and tear dictate. Holds my helmet, second headset, GPS, charts, AFE guide etc. And after the helmet has been removed this flight bag can be stuffed into the tiny luggage locker behind the Chipmunk's rear seat.

SSD

Thanks for the replies guys. Don't worry I wasn't thinking of one of the proper airline pilots leather things, abit over the top right now I think :D I was just thinkin about a hold-all with some nifty pockets for flying stuff :=

Do you HAVE to wear a helmet in a DH Chipster Shaggy?:confused:

I got the cheapest one I could find from Argos. I think it cost me about £10. I went for one with a couple of flat pockets, to keep my paperwork & maps separate, several pen pockets, a couple of zip-up pockets for the little bits you always seem to lose, and space for a headset, kneeboard & hi-viz jacket in the main bag.

Recently I've only been flying a cub & my microlight, so I have a HUGE bag ... full of warm clothing. :O

I use a nice small, soft shoulder travel bag that can be bought in any department store. It holds the knee board, extra charts, AIP, copy of the airplane manual, extra pens and pencils (the ones I usually use are tied to the kneeboard so that they don't fall to the floor), rulers, etc etc... I can even fit the headset into it if I want!
No, don't go for the black leather pilot bags... very unpracticle, not too mention appearing like a :mad: :E

Westy

My instructor used to take great delight in pointing out pilots with big flight bags and saying:
"Do you know why they need such a big bag? To keep their ego in!" :E

Westwind,

Do you really fly with a copy of the AIP? :E

...... any old briefcase / bag will do to contain your planning items, then you walk out to the aircraft with : half mill chart folded to A4 size, held rigid with 2 slide binders, with your plog slid onto the reverse.

Pens go in pocket, heatset in hand, watch on wrist.

No clutter, no confusion, pass commercial .. go home.

http://www.argos.co.uk/webapp/wcs/st...clickfrom=name


That sort of bag is perfect. I use an old satchel/ soft bag that i got given at a conference. Pen holders in the front are a bonus.

Plenty of room for a headset, couple of charts, plog pad, nav kit mobile phone, sandwich, 1ltr of juice, a fuel tester, a pair of pants t-shirt and toothbrush & paste.

tescoapp

I find a small backpack type to be the best. Plenty of compartments for charts, sunglasses etc. Headsets etc can fit in main compartment.

Useful thing about these is, that they can be fastened to the passenger seat by the shoulder straps. Rear of the seat if you have a front seat passenger or front of the seat if you dont. Thereby remaining accesible throughout your flight.

Also has the advantage of making it easy to carry your kit if like me you often travel to the airfield by motorcycle.

A further advantage is that they soon look shabby and do not have a negative affect on street cred.

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Do you HAVE to wear a helmet in a DH Chipster Shaggy?

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Absolutly not. I got mine (a rather ugly David Clark thing, but it does of course fit my DC headset perfectly) because when flying aeros in the Yak 52 I needed something to stop my headset flying off my head. I could have chosen a 'soft' helmet, but thought I might as well avail myself of the extra protection from head injury a hard helmet provides - head injury is a common cause of fatality to pilots in otherwise survivable accidents.

So, having aquired the helmet for the Yak, it would be churlish not to use it in the more gently-aerobatted Chippy, where of course it still offers protection in the event of an accident. But I'm quite happy to fly the Chippy without a helmet.

SSD

But if you don't hav an enormous ego flying bag where do you keep

9 checklists,
pooleys, (or IFR plates if you're posh),
foggles,
sick bags,
old mars bars,
fuel strainer,
spare oil
lots of bits of paper,
all of your flying plans ever (just in case).
Six different types of ruler, protractor,
this years map (and last years map) plus the map for scotland for that trip you planned but never completed due to weather.
All of the pens you have picked up off cockpit floors
etc etc...

There just isn't a carrrier bag big enough.

18G - good point. I keep an old retired, large flight-bag-like brief case at home for all that stuff - and the carrier bag comes flying with me.

SSD

No self respecting PPL should be without one of these http://www.piperdesign.co.uk/images/astonmartin1.jpg


when he or she - climbs into the LHS of one of these:


http://www.netjets.com/newfleets/images/Encore_Ext1.jpg

Heaset, map and checklist is what i take flying. I have a bag from transair (slimline case) which fits everything in should i need to transport everything, but i have never taken a bag in the cockpit with me! (doesn't really do any favours when upside down....)