Flight Suits

[FL500]

I did a search on this but did not really find what I wanted so I put the question to everyone here.

I've gotten a deal on a new flight suit and since we currently dont use them, I wanted to know if there is a standard colour/style that is used in the industry. I would like to take advantage of the deal but prefer to get something that can be useful in the future. So I guess what I'm asking is, if your company has them is there a standard or does everyone just pick and choose what they like?

Thanks in advance
FlySafe.

[Flybabe]

The company a person is working for generally supplies the flight suits, so everyone looks the same with the company logo. Don't waste your money, IMO (unless you want to wear it to the bar and look cool!!)

[iflyforpie]

Or wear it on the tarmac and look cooler that all the other pilots with their white shirts and bars.

I wear my Olive Green one with USN Patches all the time. It really sets of my gold-rimed Aviator glasses...

[TG]

The company a person is working for generally supplies the flight suits, so everyone looks the same with the company logo. Don't waste your money, IMO (unless you want to wear it to the bar and look cool!!)

I'll second that!
On top of it since the current Health & Safety trend is to have them fitted with reflective bands, I don't think it will looks cool in a bar.


If they ever did...

[Tim]

once you get it, make sure you wear it to interviews so they know your serious about the job.

[ogc]

once you get it, make sure you wear it to interviews so they know your serious about the job.

Best advice on here... Thats what worked for me,

[Big Pistons Forever]

It's not just the flightsuit..... you also need a helmet......then you can be like the guy I once met. I saw him in the flying school lobby with a flight suit and helmet, so I asked him what aircraft he was flying. His answer "C - GXXX". Without thinking I said "But that airplane is a C 172". His response delivered in a completely serious voice "Yes it is "

[Beefitarian]

It's not just the flightsuit..... you also need a helmet......then you can be like the guy I once met. I saw him in the flying school lobby with a flight suit and helmet, so I asked him what aircraft he was flying. His answer "C - GXXX". Without thinking I said "But that airplane is a C 172". His response delivered in a completely serious voice "Yes it is "

I'd like you to refer to me by my call sign, "Washout" also you forgot to mention my awesome tanker boots.

[ragbagflyer]

It's not just the flightsuit..... you also need a helmet......then you can be like the guy I once met. I saw him in the flying school lobby with a flight suit and helmet, so I asked him what aircraft he was flying. His answer "C - GXXX". Without thinking I said "But that airplane is a C 172". His response delivered in a completely serious voice "Yes it is "

My guess is that the helmet was for walking, not flying.

[JMACK]

It's not just the flightsuit..... you also need a helmet......then you can be like the guy I once met. I saw him in the flying school lobby with a flight suit and helmet, so I asked him what aircraft he was flying. His answer "C - GXXX". Without thinking I said "But that airplane is a C 172". His response delivered in a completely serious voice "Yes it is "

My guess is that the helmet was for walking, not flying.

Its all funny stuff guys but I have seen the lads at MAF wearing helmets of course they were in Africa with lots of big birds here and there!

Oops................. thread drift yes wear the flight suit to the interview the bar and to bed! The ladies dig it!

[FL500]

Very good stories everyone although I seem to remember a long long time ago a rumor which involved a pilot, flight, gold bars, and a late night stroll outside a hotel during a fire alarm Note quite what I had in mind but I guess I have figured out why all these young pilots are having such a hard time finding that first job so I guess I will have to make some notes for future reference

1. show up in a flight suit to all interviews thx to ohh and can't forget to have the Log Book on the dash

once you get it, make sure you wear it to interviews so they know your serious about the job.

2. get a helmet perhaps with one of those O2 masks attached

3. get me some of those cool top gun shades

4. After the job interview with that new job straight into the left seat I can hit the bars and impress the ladies

unless you want to wear it to the bar and look cool!!

Not really what I had in mind fellas I was thinking of for those lovely ground checks on the lovely minus forty days we get in this great country or my second fav trying to crawl under the cowlings in the slush besides I wasn't going to be the one flipping the bill for this so wanted to know if it was possible to kill two birds with one stone.

[shitdisturber]

2. get a helmet perhaps with one of those O2 masks attached

Absolutely! The helmet is meaningless without the mask marks!

[Kilo-Kilo]

Jugdeing by the amount of smilies in your posts and the reference to the other posters as "fellas", I'm betting you're a chick. Just keep the suit unzipped enough to show you're qualified to give a mountain check and 'badda bing, badda boobs' the job is yours.

[Beefitarian]

My guess is that the helmet was for walking, not flying.

That was pretty mean but got a legitimate laugh out loud when I read it.

[Heliian]

Yes a flight suit might be useful one day, the standard is blue but I've seen all different colours. Not only do flight suits and helmets look "cool" they are pieces of safety equipment. Real suits are made of Nomex and other fire resistant materials to increase your chances of survival during an accident, that acrylic short sleeve shirt that most "pilots" wear only makes it worse. Helmets are very common in the helicopter industry but for some reason not in fixed wing, maybe it's the nature of the work, but trauma is trauma, no matter what you fly. Some people don't care and fly around in shorts and sandals, some people feel more comfortable suited up in their safety gear. You can't diss someone for being extra safe but once you're done flying for the day, please remove the epaulets and rayban's, the unwashed masses will know you're a pilot simply by your gigantic noggin

How can you tell who's a pilot in a bar?
Don't worry they will tell you.

Never gets old.

[niss]

Oops................. thread drift yes wear the flight suit to the interview the bar and to bed the ladies dig it!

How do you know what I wear when I slip into something a little more comfortable?

Whenever I am about to penetrate a lady I always pretend that she's tower and ask for permission to enter her cz.

If I'm really lucky she'll let me shoot the localizer backcourse.

[jacek_flying]

Yes a flight suit might be useful one day, the standard is blue but I've seen all different colours. Not only do flight suits and helmets look "cool" they are pieces of safety equipment. Real suits are made of Nomex and other fire resistant materials to increase your chances of survival during an accident, that acrylic short sleeve shirt that most "pilots" wear only makes it worse. Helmets are very common in the helicopter industry but for some reason not in fixed wing, maybe it's the nature of the work, but trauma is trauma, no matter what you fly. Some people don't care and fly around in shorts and sandals, some people feel more comfortable suited up in their safety gear. You can't diss someone for being extra safe but once you're done flying for the day, please remove the epaulets and rayban's, the unwashed masses will know you're a pilot simply by your gigantic noggin

How can you tell who's a pilot in a bar?
Don't worry they will tell you.

Never gets old.

+1

Nothing worse then surviving a crash (hard landing) and then being stuck in AC and burning I would think a suit then would really come in handy.

Has anyone actually seen someone going into a bar wearing flight suit or something similar? That must be funny to see. haha

[jpilot77]

Helmets are used in fixed wing low level survey where bird strike danger is high.
At my company we wear the one piece nomex flight suits, which I think adds another level of safety.
The recent Northern Thunderbird crash shows that even though the copilot survived the crash, he sustained severe burns. A nomex flight suit could have given him some protection till the firefighters put out the fire(I assume Northern Thunderbird uses standard pilot attire).

[TG]

Has anyone actually seen someone going into a bar wearing flight suit or something similar? That must be funny to see. haha

I have seen Snowbirds pilots doing it..
They have an excuse.

Being part of the Snowbirds

[iflyforpie]

I have seen Snowbirds pilots doing it..
They have an excuse though.

Being part of the Snowbirds

What excuse is that? Other than trying to do what every other pilot wants to do but perhaps bringing more to the table as far as credentials?

[sidestick stirrer]

When the decision of what to wear is up to me, I try to rely on the Air Force's' "Only leave exposed what you want barbequed" maxim.
yes, I take ribbing from my colleagues and some questioning glances at the fuel pumps but feel slightly-less alarmed when getting a wiff of something too hot while flying.
Aviating is the only thing we do in which we can't immediately get away from a fire, we can't pull over, we can't run outside, we can't grab a lifejacket and jump overboard.
The cockpit of my favourite ride is small and cramped, the approach to my previous homeplate required threading one's way through thousands of well-fed gulls on their way between the city dump and the seashore so-yes-I wear a helmet as well, with the visor down when at low level.
Only two birdstrikes so far...

Pilot,
Dog Ship

[Big Pistons Forever]

When the decision of what to wear is up to me, I try to rely on the Air Force's' "Only leave exposed what you want barbequed" maxim.
yes, I take ribbing from my colleagues and some questioning glances at the fuel pumps but feel slightly-less alarmed when getting a wiff of something too hot while flying.
Aviating is the only thing we do in which we can't immediately get away from a fire, we can't pull over, we can't run outside, we can't grab a lifejacket and jump overboard.
The cockpit of my favourite ride is small and cramped, the approach to my previous homeplate required threading one's way through thousands of well-fed gulls on their way between the city dump and the seashore so-yes-I wear a helmet as well, with the visor down when at low level.
Only two birdstrikes so far...

Pilot,
Dog Ship

Clothing choices do matter. For the average pilot flying around in his Cessna or Piper, there is a much higher chance of you freezing to death after crashing than being in an inflight or post crash fire, where the wearing of a NOMEX flight suit would have materially effected the outcome. A lot of pilots seem to be regularly flying over some really nasty terrain not far from where I live, dressed in a thin hoody, jeans and sneakers........

If you are really, really really concerned about fire while flying your average bug smasher, then I would recommend investing in a pair of NOMEX flying gloves. They will help keep your fingies warm, are subtle enough to allow unimpeded operation of all knobs, levers, and controls, and will allow you to touch hot surfaces which can make the difference in getting out of a burning wreck.

[sidestick stirrer]

reminds me of the students at Moose Jaw wearing lifejackets to fly around southern Saskatchewan...
I think part of that "too soon old, too late smart" applies in this case. By the time you reach my age, you really don't care what other people think.

Pilot,
Dog Ship

[Nark]

Nomex flight suits will make the difference between you being "Chicago" or really "well done."

Wearing a flight suit while flying anything other something you get shot at in is nothing more than vanity.

[TG]

Wearing a flight suit while flying anything other something you get shot at in is nothing more than vanity.

Not always,

-The one made with Nomex will give you a few seconds extra that can make a difference in this one in a zillion chance of a fire.
-High viz colored one (bright Blue or Orange) will make you easier to spot on the ground for SAR.
-They have a good amount of pockets to put your crap in. Since sometime, in this other one in a zillion chance, the only thing getting away from a post fire crash or a ditch is yourself and what you are wearing.
-They are the one to get dirty with oil and fuel instead of your personal pants and shirts.
-They gives you some crew status recognition in some third world countries airports.
-They certainly gives you some dumb @ss status recognition if you are silly enough to wear them on the ground, outside any airport's perimeters.
-And we do very occasionally go into some places where we can get shot down. Not by missiles, more by a "golden BB" coming from a frustrated hunter, farmer or else.
Don't go imagine things, I only learned about this particular term watching Air America movie's opening

That was my excuses for the aerial work's domain.
Can't wait to read the ones form flying school...