Preferred footwear

airbornejohnny

airbornejohnny

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Lawn Dart
Maybe a silly question, but aside from bare feet or flip flops, what sort of footwear works best for flying?
Being a mechanic/farm type, boots have been my normal foot covering for long enough I'm not sure if I should get sneakers, hiking boots or whatever for flying. Keeping my toes off the brakes has been a bit of a challenge, so I'm looking for suggestions. Thanks for the input!
 
Old worn out pair of sneakers that my wife won't let me wear anywhere else. Did flip flops a few times - landed at CRQ and went in to use the facilities. Blew out my flip flop (thanks Jimmy) had to walk back to the Tobago barefoot. Won't do that again :)
 
Footwear (and clothing) should be appropriate to the flight / weather conditions.
 
DC sneakers for warm to moderate wx

Chippewa loggers with smartwool socks for wet and cold wx ops

For float ops I'll wear the DCs or just go barefoot if I'm going to be stepping off the floats for beaching.
 
Only plane I am footwear specific in is my brothers Pitts. Narrow shoes with straight sided soles. Modern athletic shoes with flared soles hang up between pedals and fuselage tubes...almost lost it landing one day when that happened.

I wore cowboy boots/ropers most the time for years. Now, mostly running shoes or leather low quarters.


Jim R
Collierville, TN

N7155H--1946 Piper J-3 Cub
N3368K--1946 Globe GC-1B Swift
N4WJ--1994 Van's RV-4
 
BillTIZ said:
Footwear (and clothing) should be appropriate to the flight / weather conditions.
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SkyDog58 said:
:yeahthat::thumbsup:

This is absolutely true, especially if you will be over any remote locations.
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Hiking boots doesn't sound like a bad choice. I flew over suburbia and wore sneakers. If you had to land out in an emergency on your typical route of flight, what would you want on your feet to walk to get help?
 
My worn out Columbia sneakers or boat shoes. I have to be able to feel the rudder pedals. I tried flying in my loggers once. Was not pretty.
 
airbornejohnny said:
So basically, something comfy but snug, with a flexible sole sounds about right?
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Generally a good rule that works in most airplanes.

You want to be comfortable, but want to make sure that your footwear doesn't cause any problems with control of the airplane (inadvertently applying brakes or interfering with pedal travel).
 
Summer: Tivas
Winter: Boat shoes or suede Puma Clydes
 
Boat shoes. Easy slip on and off or running shoes.
 
I flew with bunny boots during winter in Alaska.

Just wear what keeps your feet comfortable, and for goodness sakes do not forget to wear fuzzy red socks that you stole out of your wife's sock drawer.
 
d4f42d67ec9e0408a45a65932c4848b6.jpg


Whatever the footwear, make sure to get the socks right.
 
Shoes!!! Fancy thing, this happens to be my area of expertise. ;)

Boots. Always boots. If you step in a puddle in tennis shoes somewhere then your socks are going to get wet and stink up the whole plane, trust me. But stay away from those SMS boots with the real tall heel and long toe; I'm sure they'd get in the way and they look awful, too.
 
Footwear should be chosen based on a few factors:
1) what is the weather like
2) what type of aircraft is being flown
3) where are you flying (route)

1. Obviously the weather will be the most obvious. I think tennis shoes/sneakers are appropriate for most flying. I'm not against boots, but I dislike having heavy shoes on when flying, especially in ground operations. I also like low-rise shoes because I like to have the ankle flexibility. I wouldn't ever wear flip flops while flying simply because of the risk of having them slide around or get caught up on pedals/structure in the floor.

2. The type of aircraft may restrict large shoe styles (boots/wide dress shoes/etc) from being an optimal choice. As was mentioned, the tubing in the Pitts and tight foot-well may make certain styles difficult or even dangerous to wear.

3. Route of flight can also be a consideration. If I'm flying over the plains states, it probably doesn't much matter what I'm wearing if I have to set it down. However, if I'm putting down in a heavily forested or mountainous area, I probably don't want smooth-soled shoes like cowboy boots or dress shoes. Something with some "bite" for climbing up inclines and loose soil would be more appropriate. Obviously it's a low-risk item to consider, but if the terrain you're flying over frequently is difficult, you don't want to make things harder on yourself than they have to be in the event of a forced landing.

That being said, I'm a flat-lander. I normally wear casual Sketcher-type shoes or tennis shoes. During my training I flew mostly in dress shoes because I was coming from the office.

Side note: if you want to drive a 90's Ferrari Testarosa, make sure you have some very narrow shoes or drive barefoot. I couldn't operate it with normal dress shoes because my left foot hit the clutch/brake simultaneously in the narrow foot-well.
 
Below picture is for illustrative purposes of what sort of footwear not to wear. It is not posted for any other purpose.

3a67ebf382675c65575947b19ea2c4d9.jpg





:D
 
Zeldman said:
I flew with bunny boots during winter in Alaska.

Just wear what keeps your feet comfortable, and for goodness sakes do not forget to wear fuzzy red socks that you stole out of your wife's sock drawer.
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That's a whole lot of boot!

image.jpg
 
SkyDog58 said:
Below picture is for illustrative purposes of what sort of footwear not to wear. It is not posted for any other purpose.

3a67ebf382675c65575947b19ea2c4d9.jpg





:D
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How come the nav log sheets aren't curling downward?

(Edit: Nevermind, I answered my own question. "If I was a nav log...")
 
I prefer slip on shoes with the smooth bottoms. Also a pair of running shoes with no knobs on the bottom work nicely to not catch on the bottom of the pedals or brakes in a wrong way.

Living at the beach, you would think I would have tried flip flops already... Wont get to try that for a few months now...
 
I wear these Puma driving shoes especially when out for some close formation practice.
 

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I wear waterproof cowboy boots with a safety toe

Edit: in the summer I wear Patagonia hiking shoes
 
Something you can walk out with if things go bad. In the winter there are Sorels in the back.
 
The old movie says Gentlemen prefer Blondes, I guess I'm not a gentleman.
 
rachelk.tailwinds said:
Shoes!!! Fancy thing, this happens to be my area of expertise. ;)

Boots. Always boots. If you step in a puddle in tennis shoes somewhere then your socks are going to get wet and stink up the whole plane, trust me. But stay away from those SMS boots with the real tall heel and long toe; I'm sure they'd get in the way and they look awful, too.
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SMS? - sadomasochistic.....?
 
I just wear my boots that if he wearing anyways. I've worn my dockers flying once, but didn't really like flying in them afterwards.
 
Mine are Oakley's. Fire retardant. My next ones will have to be some kind of pitcher shoes since Oakley doesn't make these any more.
 
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