is there a purpose to wearing a flight suit in GA?

Badger

Badger

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Badger
I am referring to the one piece flight suit/coverall. I understand in the military they are uniform and likely have fire retardant properties etc., but for everyday GA pilots, is there a reason to wear one? Is it for warmth? extra pockets?
 
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Badger said:
I referring to the one piece flight suit/coverall. I understand in the military they are uniform and likely have fire retardant properties etc., but for everyday GA pilots, is there a reason to wear one? Is it for warmth? extra pockets?
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It's handy when your pilot shirt with epaulets is at the cleaners.
 
I think the biggest reason for wearing them is 1) Fire Retardant Properties and 2) Pockets.

I think any pilot that flies something where there is a reasonable chance of screwing the pooch and becoming a human tiki torch, can get some benefit out of them thats why military pilots wear them. only application I've seen in the GA world is with CAP missions and airshow pilots. I think they are probably incredibly handy and comfortable but no way am I wearing one on the $100 hamburger run. If its pockets I want I'll wear cargo pants. I think it makes GA pilots look like tools to wear them.
 
Saw a Cub pilot wearing one who claimed the pockets excuse. I had more pockets in my shorts. I think he liked wearing it because he thought it made him look cool. Then again, my own father wore lots of things he thought were cool that I couldn't believe. I think all our fathers did that. No doubt all your children will say the same about you.
 
From a practical standpoint I like to have my shirt tucked and the onsey is better than dropping trou to tuck the shirt in. That being said I am not wearing one.
 
Depends on the flying you do and what you're flying. If there is a reasonable potential for bursting into flames, they'd be nice to have. If you need one more layer of thermal insulation in a drafty plane with no heat, they are nice to have. Outside of that, not really.
 
No way I'm wearing one in GA, they are comfortable but not as much as shorts and a t-shirt/polo. Plus they are hot in the summer and cold in the winter!
 
Henning said:
Depends on the flying you do and what you're flying. If there is a reasonable potential for bursting into flames, they'd be nice to have. If you need one more layer of thermal insulation in a drafty plane with no heat, they are nice to have. Outside of that, not really.
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Pretty much. Not much practicality for wearing a bag in typical GA flying.

I only wear one when flying in warbirds. For one, it is nice to have something that you don't mind getting dirty/oil/grease on and also, the zippered pockets are very handy for keeping loose objects from getting lost inside the aircraft and interfering with flight controls. Particularly important if doing any form of acro.
 
Test flights in a homebuilt and as a Maintenance Coverall. I have about 4 green bags from back in the day that amazingly still fit (if a little snug).;)

I did see a friend of mine who had what looked like the old time English Tropics outfit with a short sleeved shirt and long pants it seemed it might be comfortable for flying and had tons of pockets.

Cheers
 
Most of the folks at work fly in flight suits. That makes sense on the ER-2s (well, pressure suits are essential for those), but in the airliners? Umm....

No one does aerobatics in a DC-8 or a 747SP.

And they didn't worry much when I showed up without one.
 
1) They can be really comfortable if the cockpit isn't too hot.
2) Before the iPad, the leg pockets for charts were awesome.
3) Why not have extra fire protection even if it's a low probability?
4) On long XCs, the fact that the zippers start low and are split makes for very easy access to the Gatorade bottle.
5) It's purpose built for flying and over the decades, a lot of thought has gone into the design to optimize it for this task.

The only real downside is that unless what you fly looks like some kind of a warbird/professional acro/air show plane, you look like a total idiot if you wear one. Also, you will need to change into normal cloths when you land unless you want to continue looking like a total idiot.
 
Fearless Tower said:
For one, it is nice to have something that you don't mind getting dirty/oil/grease on ....
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As an amateur race car driver, I've got a Nomex driving suit.

It was stressed very heavily at racing school to take the suit off before tinkering with the car, as any oil/grease on the suit negates its fire resistant properties.

Mechanic's coveralls are very different from flying/driving suits.

....Just something to think about....
 
Fire Resistant clothing is absolutely amazing. Basically what it does is have a much higher threshold of energy before the fabric itself ignites. Depending on the construction/rating they may not help too much from the heat of the initial flames... but... the clothing itself won't catch fire from brief exposure. Depending on the incident, your clothes burning can cause much worse injuries than the original fire.

I don't have any good data on how many injuries FR clothing would prevent or decrease the severity of in GA. FR has worked wonders elsewhere. Generally the users that benefit from it had to be forced to wearing it initially.
 
So everyone can know that they're in CAP and therefor a more superior pilot than the rest of us.
 
No flight suit here but I also don't fly in shorts and sandals. I do always try to wear 100% cotton to avoid having my clothes melt into my skin in a fire.
If fire resistance is a priority, Carhartt has a line of fire resistant work / casual wear. You don't have to look like a fighter pilot wannabe to be safe.
 
seand said:
Fire Resistant clothing is absolutely amazing. Basically what it does is have a much higher threshold of energy before the fabric itself ignites. Depending on the construction/rating they may not help too much from the heat of the initial flames... but... the clothing itself won't catch fire from brief exposure. Depending on the incident, your clothes burning can cause much worse injuries than the original fire.

I don't have any good data on how many injuries FR clothing would prevent or decrease the severity of in GA. FR has worked wonders elsewhere. Generally the users that benefit from it had to be forced to wearing it initially.
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Yep, wear cotton/wool, avoid synthetics.
 
Henning said:
Depends on the flying you do and what you're flying. If there is a reasonable potential for bursting into flames, they'd be nice to have.
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If there's a reasonable potential for bursting into flames you should be flying something else.
 
Skylane81E said:
If I was doing acro or the first test flights on a new EAB I might consider a nomex one for the fire protection
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warthog1984 said:
They're fire-retardant if you're doing acro.
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Forgive the perhaps silly question, but it's a real question, not a troll/argument starter. Not being involved in acro, I don't know - is there a reason an acro flight would be more likely to have an onboard fire?
 
I wore one when I was flying with the CAP because they required it otherwise I'd not wear one. I'm not sure what it gains you for fire resistance in real life and they look silly for civvies. Compared to the firesuits and nomex undies we wore for pitstops with indycars they are a joke. I have experienced a fire in the pits and the suits did work but only because they were actually made for it and we wore the nomex long johns too. The 2 on our crew who didn't wear their nomex long johns lost some hair in some sensitive places in the fire. Our suits were quilted thick nomex and the normal flight suit is very lightweight so I'd not consider them to be any sort of fire resistant aid. In the CAP sure, you have to wear them. In real life no way. Warbird pilots look better in leather jackets anyway. Green bags make them look like idiots.

Frank
 
snowbird said:
No flight suit here but I also don't fly in shorts and sandals.
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And you live in Canada. Down here it is hot so cotton shorts, T-shirt, and a pair of Tivas are my standard summer flying gear.
 
Z06_Mir said:
So everyone can know that they're in CAP and therefor a more superior pilot than the rest of us.
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Well, some of us are in CAP, are on flight crew status, and the only flight suit I've ever worn is my royal blue with all the NASA patches when I'm working at the museum in the space/mars exhibit. On a CAP plane I'm wearing grey jeans and the blue polo shirt.
 
RussR said:
Forgive the perhaps silly question, but it's a real question, not a troll/argument starter. Not being involved in acro, I don't know - is there a reason an acro flight would be more likely to have an onboard fire?
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The fire retardant properties are not as important in acro as the zippered pockets. The reason flight suit pockets are designed the way they are is to keep any loose articles wthin easy reach while seated in the cockpit (note there are no back pockets or side pockets like you have in typical pants/short) while keeping items in those pockets from flying out and about the cockpit while doing abrupt maneuvers.
 
Non Compos Mentis said:
As an amateur race car driver, I've got a Nomex driving suit.

It was stressed very heavily at racing school to take the suit off before tinkering with the car, as any oil/grease on the suit negates its fire resistant properties.

Mechanic's coveralls are very different from flying/driving suits.

....Just something to think about....
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True and I wouldn't recommend wearing a flight suit while doing maintenance (for one - they are too dang hot). I was mostly referring to the grease and grime you get climbing around old airplanes with radial engines.
 
So you look cool at sun n fun ,and everyone will think you fly a warbird.
 
Skylane81E said:
I once considered one for this reason. If I was doing acro or the first test flights on a new EAB I might consider a nomex one for the fire protection
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In warbirds, it's also dirt protection as well as fire protection (fire safety not having been as big an issue in those planes as it is in what most of us here are flying). In fact, FAST requires it (along with a parachute, and, I believe, a helmet) for authorized warbird formation operations. A lot of RV pilots flying formation under the FFI aegis also wear both flight suit and parachute. It's also a uniform option for CAP and USCGA operations.

So, yes, sometimes there is a purpose (as in "good reason") for wearing a flight suit in GA. But sometimes it's not so appropriate, say, when you're a charter pilot with paying passengers or taking your friends for a $100 hamburger in your Cessna 172. Personally, I haven't worn one to fly since my Sahwadee ride in the F-111 in 1988.
 
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Nomex alone, without layers of woven nomex underneath, will do little to protect you from fire. The main advantage is that it doesn't melt into your skin but you will still have burns underneath unless you have additional insulating layers (cotton, wool, woven nomex, no malden fleece).
 
I knew a woman who wore one when she flew her open cockpit biplane for the pockets. I can see that they would be handy for survival stuff in the back country instead of a back country vest. But it's easier to remove the vest and still be clothed. Obviously for women the Gatorade bottle accessibility is moot.
 
lots of good info, thanks for the replies
 
Don't forget the helmet for a total cool look.:yes:

How do I look?

José
 

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There's plenty of pockets to keep your fighter pilot fantasy ego in.
 
Skylane81E said:
I once considered one for this reason. If I was doing acro or the first test flights on a new EAB I might consider a nomex one for the fire protection
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Learn a little more about nomex and you may change your mind about its merit in a GA aircraft for fire protection.
 
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