CFI in shorts?

saddletramp

saddletramp

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saddletramp
Back when I started instructing in the mid 70's we wore dress slacks, dress shoes, & tie. The 141 school I flew for required it. I was 18. I I know this sounds weird to the younger crowd.

I'm instructing full time again. In my mid-60's. I flight instruct in eastern WA/OR where the temps can climb into the mid 90's & up. Do you all feel that CFI's in shorts look professional? Presently I wear a company embroidered polo shirt with nice jeans.

I wore shorts a bit last summer but felt like I looked too casual. Thoughts?
 
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I wouldn't have minded if my instructors wore shorts, but I trained in a very casual, part 61 environment, so it wouldn't be out of place to me.
 
Seems a strange question in this day and age. I worked in the consulting engineering for over 40 years. For about 30 of those years I wore suits every day. The last 10 years I worked, it was shorts and running shoes.

I guess it may depend on where you love but west coast, shorts in summer is common place in business, at least in many. A CFI wearing shorts, of course, no question.
 
Shorts are fine, just wear nice shorts.

Not the same ones you paint in, or are full of holes.

I actually find that I trust casual people more.

Those who wear a suit and tie, or uniform, always make me question what they are hiding, or why they are trying to impress people with their clothes, instead of their ability.
 
I typically do wear pants even in the summer. But jeans, no way, they’re way too hot.

My reason is primarily based on not wanting to rub my sweaty hairy leg up against my student’s sweaty hairy leg.

But I have definitely made exceptions for clients I know well (and airplane-dependent too).
 
What a strange question and I'm even older than you!

If you are in a training (or any other) environment where uniforms or professional* attire is worn, that what you wear. If others in the environment are wearing shorts in the summer, it's solely a matter of personal preference.

[*i don't see anything particularly "professional" about being uncomfortably hot on a sweltering summer day in an unairconditioned GA trainer.]
 
Daleandee said:
Shorts are fine as long as you wear the proper epaulettes ...

Click to expand...

LMAO.

Great video.

Epaulettes are well.......
But I guess some people feel more important wearing them.

Maybe I should order some from Amazon and sew them on all my shirts, so I can feel important to.

Would 20 or 30 bars per shoulder be best for riding a horse?


But if more bars are the mark of a better man, my dad should have been wearing thousands of them!
 
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I wear leather, assless chaps. But I don’t teach people to fly either. But if I did, and they could still keep it together during stall practice or the shower room, then kudos to them.
 
Wear whatever is comfortable. Life is too short to have swampy ass and balls all the time. Unless thats what you like, and in that case you should consider a move to Florida.
 
I wouldn’t care if I was the customer. When I was full time instructing, the dress code was (and still is) company polo, black slacks, black shoes.
 
When I was instructing Part 61, it was pretty informal. The students were usually in Tshirt and shorts or jeans, and the instructors were as well. If you are spending 6-8 hours a day bouncing around in an 80+ degree aircraft with no A/C, dressing up would be brutal.
 
Get a pair of kaki, navy or coyote 5.11 shorts. They have different styles. I prefer their TDU lite short, great in hot weather and sharp with a polo shirt. Their ARB Pro has a dedicated cell phone pocket. Check them out. You’ll be cool and Professional.
 
A bit of a long story, and a bit off topic, but it sort of fits . . .
Years ago, my wife and I were on vacation in Key West. My wife DOES NOT like flying. We were visiting Fort Taylor there and a red Waco biplane flew over towing a banner that read "Airplane rides" and a phone number. She turned to me and said "You want to do that, don't you?" I said "Oh, Yeah!" We went into town and called the number and they gave us a time to arrive. We got to the airport and explained why we were there, and the lady at the desk asked us to have a seat and she'd let them know we were there. A few minutes later, a guy walked in - kinda wild hair, shorts, sandals, Hawaiian shirt - typical Key West vibe. He pointed at us and said "You guys here for the airplane ride?" We told him "yes," and he said "lets go flyin'!"

He was our pilot. I thought my wife was going to faint!
 
For contact pilot work I do wear "business casual." But flight instructing in a 172 with OAT hovering around 100 like today here in Atlanta, you'd better believe I'm in shorts.
 
Way back in the 70's when I instructed for Seattle Flight Service...............I wore a leisure suit. Do any of you remember those?
 
Whitney said:
Looks sharp.

But if you want a final touch, replace the white socks with black.
Click to expand...

I’m a relic from a time when athletic socks only came in white.



And that’s not my plane. I was flying the C-150M, which is way cooler…ventilation-wise.
 
I couldn't care less what my CFI wore in the cockpit. Hawaiian shorts and flip flops for all I care, as long as he's teaching me what I need to know. The pilot puppy mills love to make their staff (and students) where the button-up shirts and epaulets, which looks goofy as hell when it's 95F+ outside and you're sitting in tin can oven sweating up a storm waiting for clearance on the ramp. Part 61 vs 141 problems I guess.
 
saddletramp said:
Back when I started instructing in the mid 70's we wore dress slacks, dress shoes, & tie. The 141 school I flew for required it. I was 18. I I know this sounds weird to the younger crowd.

I'm instructing full time again. In my mid-60's. I flight instruct in eastern WA/OR where the temps can climb into the mid 90's & up. Do you all feel that CFI's in shorts look professional? Presently I wear a company embroidered polo shirt with nice jeans.

I wore shorts a bit last summer but felt like I looked too casual. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Did you get the feeling any of your students thought you looked to casual?
 
Howsa bout a kilt....

pilot-in-a-kilt-on-plane-on-the-beach-at-barra-airport-in-the-outter-A5WP1M.jpg
 
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