Wetsuit for winter coastal/float flying?

[into the blue]

Hi there, everyone,

Does anyone here have any experience flying while wearing a wetsuit? I'm mostly interested in regular 4/3 or 5/3 diving/swimming/triathlon wetsuits. I have personally never owned one, but after doing some research, I can see some advantages that a wetsuit may have for winter coastal/float flying, as compared to a conventional constant-wear lifejacket. Of course, a properly fitted winter wetsuit is able to delay the onset of hypothermia by many hours, even in waters a cold as 7-10 degrees. It also provides positive buoyancy, eliminating the need to actually wear or don a PFD (though a PFD will still be required to be on board, according to CARs). As far as cons go, apart from being enclosed in materials that can be deadly in the event of a fire (neoprene rubber/nylon), I'm also concerned with how bearable it might be to actually wear such a warm piece of clothing in the cockpit.

Is that a crazy idea? I know that transatlantic ferry pilots wear gear that is much more radical. What are your thoughts?

[High and Behind]

Well since the water temp doesn't change much in the summer, are you suggesting to wear it then to?
I can just see...or should I say smell it now. sitting in the pilot's room having coffee with 6 or 7 other stinky wet suits.
Not to mention that they won't stand up to the wear and tear.
And if your going to have one the first thing your pax will ask is why don't I have one?

Not to be to negative but I've never been to worried about it.

[Gannet167]

CF Sea King pilots wear a rubber suit, affectionately called a "poopy suit" whenever the water temp is less than some figure. Maybe one of them can chime in with the #'s. It's based on survival time at that water temp. The result is they often fly around on warm days wearing a huge body condom. I'm told it's not comfortable and they still wear their flight suit and dual layer fire protection underneath. If you're interested, you might find one at an army surplus store. I believe they have some level of fire protection, whereas a wet suit will likely just melt onto your skin.

[Heliian]

What you're looking for is a survival suit. I saw some guys overseas with a lightweight suit that's "comfortable" enough for flying but can't remember the name. Might have been The Mustang MSD575 suit. There are lots of options out there now, it all depends on your needs.

[KK7]

What you're looking for is a survival suit. I saw some guys overseas with a lightweight suit that's "comfortable" enough for flying but can't remember the name. Might have been The Mustang MSD575 suit. There are lots of options out there now, it all depends on your needs.

That's the one I've used before, it's quite comfortable, but it is a "wet" suit, in the sense that water can flow in and out of it. It is nowhere near as good as the dry survival suits that are meant for aviation. But our company had an issue that people weren't wearing the dry suits for comfort (they would wear the bottom half with the intent of getting into the top half if they needed to, but this takes considerable amount of time and space to do), but they would wear the wet suits. Not as good, but at least they wore something.

I would suggest contacting a water egress/training facility to get more information such as Survival Systems in Halifax. If you're in the area you can probably even go in and try them on in their pool. As an aside, I *highly* recommend their water egress training course. They have a dedicated pool and a contraption that is mounted to the ceiling that can do all sorts of nasty things to you in the water, with the comfort of divers ready to yank you out should you really get into trouble!

[brownbear]

http://www.mustangsurvival.com/products ... =136&mc=70

[into the blue]

Thanks a lot, guys . I will look more into Mustang suits. Their prices are high, but not high enough for a peace of mind.