Do you wear a flight suit ?

Do you wear a flight suit ?

  • Yes - on every flight

    Votes: 3 1.9%

  • Yes - Occassionally

    Votes: 11 7.1%

  • Never

    Votes: 117 75.5%

  • I wear one about the house, pretending to be Tom Cruise

    Votes: 24 15.5%
  • Total voters
    155
  • Poll closed .
Actually this is the only hobby I have had where I don't have to wear a damn suit and I love it. Having raced cars and bikes in the past I always had to suit up and be very hot and uncomfortable. I can hop in my Pitts with shorts and flip flops if I want. I really like not having to wear anything special to fly.
I don't even ride my Ducati that much because I hate wearing a helmet. I ride that bike fast so I DO NOT ride without a helmet but I hate it.
 
Flight suits can be really really useful in the winter with an open cockpit doing aerial photography.
 
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If I were King, I would insist that my flight attendants wear a flight suit. :)
 
Seems like CAP, CAF and work are the times people wear them. I've never seen a flight suit for GA, only in special circumstances.
 
I always wear a flight suit along with big mirror sunglasses while the song Danger Zone plays in a constant loop on my phone. I insist on the FBO personnel telling me that my ego is writing checks my body can't cash when I return from a flight and then I go look for one of the female flight instructors to copulate with. :D
 
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FlyingTiger said:
I always wear a flight suit along with big mirror sunglasses while the song Danger Zone plays in a constant loop on my phone. I insist on the FBO personnel telling me that my ego is writing checks my body can't cash when I return from a flight and then I go look for one of the female flight instructors to copulate with. :D
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You're dangerous, Mav!
 
Sort of serious answer: No flight suit, but I did recently buy a flight vest (well, a a fishing/photography vest) with lots of pockets to carry emergency junk.
 
James331 said:
On my own plane, hell no!

For work I have to wear the damn thing, nomex is hot in the summer and cold in the winter, you look like a monkey, it's just not cool.

Anyone who wears one of their own free will needs to have their head checked.





I've never met anyone who wore normal clothes underneath, t shirt and boxers.
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Is your flight suit a maroon color?
 
I own a few. My old Air Force flight suits which I never wear except to show the grand kids, and two I use for open cockpit flying. Some of the older planes shed oil like a cat sheds hair.
I actually like the flight suit. Lots of pockets and place for pens and pencils, and maps.
I do own a lot of cargo shorts and cargo pants when I fly. Lots of pockets. Most of my shirts are all multi pocket for holding "stuff".
 
My old zoom bags are a little snug these days. I was a 38R back then, a 42R these days. I still have the last ones I was issued. Can't bring myself to throw them away. But, no.
 
StinkBug said:
The sad part is that most people wouldn't even get the joke. I see guys in flight suits at the airport regularly. Usually walking across the ramp to the helipad though.

I question even the safety aspect of a nomex flight suit. When companies like Simpson or Impact racing test their racing fire suits they blow fire at them for a very short amount of time. IIRC it's less than 10 seconds even for the thick multi layer drag racing suits. Idea being that the nomex is simply there to buy you the time to get out of the vehicle. If your plane has an ejection seat this might be realistic, but if not and you're on fire that suit isn't gonna do you a damn bit of good.
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I've seen several pictures in flight school where people suffered burns where the flight suit wasn't covering the skin. Pics where you can make out a distinct line where the pilot wasn't wearing gloves or even on the neck where they didn't have the collar up. They give you an extra few second of protection that could be the difference of no burns or minor burns compared to life threatening burns.

Is it worth putting them on in GA? I don't think so but I don't care if other pilots do it. Even wearing a helmet, if they think it could possibly prevent a TBI in the event of a crash, more power to them.
 
Anthony said:
LOL! I totally forgot about Tron Guy!
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Has anybody heard from Jay recently? Just curious. Last I heard about him was an interview after the newest TRON movie released. He used to be on here before he had to sell his Zenith and leave flying for a while.

John
 
Here's the problem with flight suits - it's really uncomfortable to wear a leather bomber jacket over them. Bomber jackets == cool at the club later on that night, flight suits not so much.

That said, a friend of mine at the gym is a prison guard, and he wears OD green coveralls for his uniform, which looks exactly like a flight suit. He tells me he gets a lot of questions from people, particularly women, who ask him what kind of airplane he flies, despite the California Department of Corrections patch on his shoulder. Then again he's kind of tallish and fit. His bud, who is a short stubby bald guy with tats, always gets pegged as a prison guard.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Here's the problem with flight suits - it's really uncomfortable to wear a leather bomber jacket over them. Bomber jackets == cool at the club later on that night, flight suits not so much.

That said, a friend of mine at the gym is a prison guard, and he wears OD green coveralls for his uniform, which looks exactly like a flight suit. He tells me he gets a lot of questions from people, particularly women, who ask him what kind of airplane he flies, despite the California Department of Corrections patch on his shoulder. Then again he's kind of tallish and fit. His bud, who is a short stubby bald guy with tats, always gets pegged as a prison guard.
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Thats an interesting thought, how many pilots own a leather bomber jacket? I see the Marines wear them all the time on base, over their flight suits.

I was gifted a canvas one that goes quite nicely with business casual but I don't wear it regularly.
 
Not sure how to answer the poll. I wear one for work, but I'm not the pilot. I doubt I would ever wear one for GA unless I were flying in an open cockpit and it was cold.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Here's the problem with flight suits - it's really uncomfortable to wear a leather bomber jacket over them. Bomber jackets == cool at the club later on that night, flight suits not so much.
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My biggest problem with flight suits is when I need to poop. Right about then it becomes insanely annoying to be wearing one. :mad:
 
Shorts, t-shirt and shoes in the summer. In the Flybaby I just fly barefoot and hope the firewall doesn't start on fire. Sometimes I bring the shoes with me, usually I just toss them by the hangar door.

In the winter I swap the shorts for jeans. If I'm instructing and it's really cold I'll wear Carhart overalls and jacket, two shirts, a sweater, and at least two layers of pants, two pairs of socks and warm winter boots, mostly because I'm sick of freezing my ass off standing on the ramp in a 30 mph wind with 2F OAT watching them prefight.
 
Sac Arrow said:
Here's the problem with flight suits - it's really uncomfortable to wear a leather bomber jacket over them.
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Why do you say that? I've worn both leather jackets and Nomex flight jackets over the flight suit and never had an issue.

None of my naval aviator co-workers seem to have any trouble wearing both either.
 
Fearless Tower said:
Why do you say that? I've worn both leather jackets and Nomex flight jackets over the flight suit and never had an issue.

None of my naval aviator co-workers seem to have any trouble wearing both either.
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It seems like it would be uncomfortable, although anything substantial underneath a leather jacket is uncomfortable to me. I suppose in cold climate that might be different.
 
Sac Arrow said:
It seems like it would be uncomfortable, although anything substantial underneath a leather jacket is uncomfortable to me. I suppose in cold climate that might be different.
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I don't wear our company leather jacket over the flight suit. It is uncomfortable with the seat belts over it. Too restrictive as well. On cold days I wear Nomex thermals under the flight suit and chuck the jacket in the "chin bubble" in case of emergency landing.
 
Velocity173 said:
I've seen several pictures in flight school where people suffered burns where the flight suit wasn't covering the skin. Pics where you can make out a distinct line where the pilot wasn't wearing gloves or even on the neck where they didn't have the collar up. They give you an extra few second of protection that could be the difference of no burns or minor burns compared to life threatening burns.
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I wasn't saying that nomex doesn't work, I was saying that in a plane without an ejection seat you're not gonna be getting on the ground and out of the plane in that few seconds where it will make a difference.
 
StinkBug said:
I wasn't saying that nomex doesn't work, I was saying that in a plane without an ejection seat you're not gonna be getting on the ground and out of the plane in that few seconds where it will make a difference.
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You'd be surprised.

Plenty of military accident reports of non-ejection seat aircraft where guys weren't wearing gloves and their hands were seriously burned, but the bags protected their bodies.
 
I voted on the occasionally option. More specifically: in the Yak, yes, most of the time. In a Cessna/Piper, no, none of the time.

Side note: I wear the USCG-issued suit that my father wore in the 80s. It's a little snug. :redface:
 
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last time I wore a flight suit as required uniform was 1985 ... my goal for 2015 is to fit back into it and zip it up... :)
 
Scrabo said:
I saw on the AOPA website last week the lucky folks who were part of the "One Week to solo" project - all three were waiting flight suits.

So I was curious - do you & why ?
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Working Ag I will, a few extra seconds of flame resistance can go a long way. Normally Nomex over cotton.
 
Sac Arrow said:
It seems like it would be uncomfortable, although anything substantial underneath a leather jacket is uncomfortable to me. I suppose in cold climate that might be different.
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I wear the jacket daily in the winter over my flight suit(for work). It's actually really comfortable assuming it isn't a cheap knock off. When flying I obviously take it off.
Kiddo's Driver said:
Go buy a tankers set of coveralls...they have a velcro flap in the back.
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Wish ours had that:(
Fearless Tower said:
You'd be surprised.
Plenty of military accident reports of non-ejection seat aircraft where guys weren't wearing gloves and their hands were seriously burned, but the bags protected their bodies.
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That may very well be true. I have still never seen any of my coworkers wear their gloves while flying. The only time is during receiver air refueling to keep from getting sweat all over the throttles.

As to the OP, wear them for work, never when flying GA.
 
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I wear the nomex zoom bag or ABDU at work. I don't have an ejection seat, so if we go down, I have what's on me. 3.7k hours; so far, so good. Civilian flying? Hat, t-shirt, shorts and shoes. I don't fly in flip flops. I'm paranoid they'll get caught up in the pedals, and I don't want to egress bare foot.
 
Flymy47 said:
I wear the nomex zoom bag or ABDU at work. I don't have an ejection seat, so if we go down, I have what's on me. 3.7k hours; so far, so good. Civilian flying? Hat, t-shirt, shorts and shoes. I don't fly in flip flops. I'm paranoid they'll get caught up in the pedals, and I don't want to egress bare foot.
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My 2nd CFI (out of 3 used while getting my Private) wore flip flops for nearly every flight. It bugged the crap out of me.
 
Speaking of foot wear, or lack of, one time I went up on an FAA Challenger 601 during a Flight Check operation and the FO was flying with no shoes at all. No slippers, no flip flops, no socks, just barefoot.
 
My Mooney and I live in Florida. My flight suit consists of shorts, T-shirt, and tennis shoes. In the winter I might wear cargo pants.
 
Kiddo's Driver said:
Go buy a tankers set of coveralls...they have a velcro flap in the back.
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Link to a site that sells them? Google found me some WWII and Korean War era tankers coveralls, but nothing that looked like a current military issue flight suit with a poop chute. I would love to find one that looks like this with a rear flap:

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I am looking to buy a flight suit now that I am flying the PT19 almost weekly. It will help keep me a bit warmer and keep the oil off of me.
 
Warplane pilot on my field wears an olive drab nomex suit. It looks right in his AT-6 Texan, but it wouldn't in a C172.
 
Rigged4Flight said:
Link to a site that sells them? Google found me some WWII and Korean War era tankers coveralls, but nothing that looked like a current military issue flight suit with a poop chute. I would love to find one that looks like this with a rear flap:
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I think I have a set in the hangar. I'll see if I can find them tomorrow and pull a part number off of them.

Jim
 
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