What to wear in the cockpit?

[Old Koreelah]

Couldn’t find a thread in this topic, so here goes…

 

I’ve always liked working in overalls, especially those with lots of pockets. Perhaps thinking of Sydney Cotton’s flying suit, I recently climbed into my plane wearing my favourite old overalls and quickly discovered how unsuitable they are. The leg pockets easily caught on bits as I simulated an emergency exit. These pockets are damned strong, so we’re not going to tear our way out of a pranged or burning aeroplane.

 

 In winter I habitually wear a wool jumper rather than a jacket; it is less flamable and easier to tear if it catches on something while climbing out.
 

Lots of shirt pockets are handy for pens, phone, etc.

 

 

[kgwilson]

T shirt, shorts & thongs in this weather. Winter - T shirt, pullover, jacket, jeans & hiking shoes. If it is not too cold I dispense with the jacket or just have it on the back shelf.

 

I did not install a cabin heater when I built the plane reasoning that I live in a pretty mild climate. The last time I was away was at Airventure at Parkes in September 2019 & we had 4 seasons in 3 days. I decided to return home on the Monday & woke up to freezing temperatures & the aircraft covered in ice after a hot sunny Sunday airshow. I left early after de-icing and climbed to 7500 feet. My thermometer was showing -7 deg celsius OAT & it was freezing. I had a jacket on but was still cold. After an hour & a half as I got closer to the East coast it warmed up. 

[Old Koreelah]

Without a cabin heater, I try to dress for the flight, but one trip to Qld was plurry cold. When high cloud cut off that big heater in the sky I started to shiver uncontrollably. Came down thru the turbulence and landed at Warialda; walked around for a couple of hours thawing out.

[rgmwa]

Jeans or sometimes cargo pants (for the extra pockets), T-shirt with or without an old windcheater, casual shoes or sneakers. The jeans and pants are OK being cotton, but the rest are not the best for safety.

I've thought about getting Nomex or flying overalls, but Nomex is pricey and uncomfortable, and flying overalls seem a bit over the top in an enclosed cockpit. Maybe if I had a Tiger Moth. 

[planedriver]

My tip if buying new shorts is always check the depth of the pockets as so many are far too shallow, and there's nothing more annoying than all the guts falling out and under the seat as soon as you get seated.

[facthunter]

IF it's really cold (sub zero) in an open cockpit you won't last long without proper gear. That cold is all pervading and you are not exercising or anything to generate heat. Also if you get wet, the evaporation will add to the cold.. A heater is nearly Mandated in Vic and Tas.  I think if I was regularly cropdusting or flying a chopper I'd consider flame proof gloves and flying suit. Nev

Edited February 1, 2022 by facthunter
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[APenNameAndThatA]

When you have one of these….

[APenNameAndThatA]

… you and your colleagues will look like these 

[rgmwa]

Tennis players!??

[APenNameAndThatA]

2 hours ago, rgmwa said:

Tennis players!??

That is Medvedev looking sad as Nadal kisses his MSA flight helmet. 

Edited February 1, 2022 by APenNameAndThatA

[RFguy]

I'm always 100% cottons and longs.  esp and pure cotton sox, no blends.

 

full cotton overalls are good, albeit a little inflexible if under sized. 

[cscotthendry]

I fly in normal clothes (to suit the season) with nothing in my pockets and full cover shoes. Things in pockets are just another source of potential injury if things go sideways and full cover shoes will be useful if you have to walk out of the bush.

[Old Koreelah]

49 minutes ago, cscotthendry said:

…full cover shoes will be useful if you have to walk out of the bush.

I prefer elastic-side boots so I can slip my feet out of them if caught in a crash.

[turboplanner]

33 minutes ago, cscotthendry said:

I fly in normal clothes (to suit the season) with nothing in my pockets and full cover shoes. Things in pockets are just another source of potential injury if things go sideways and full cover shoes will be useful if you have to walk out of the bush.

Good points, GA cross country aircraft usually have a few storage points.

Its wrong to make an assumption when you start the flight that you are not going to be somewhere else on the ground in different circumstances. You pull off a perfect forced landing, or even precautionary landing, get out of the aircraft and all you hear is "tink" "tink" "tink" of the exhaust cooling and nothing in sight for kilometres. That's when some shoes, and a bottle of water come in handy. Same for a car trip to a point, but you always have the road. When flying you'll usually have to climb over a fence etc. Same with clothes; you might leave in a T Shirt but if you're down on the ground, even at a deserted country airstrip for several hours and it gets dark, you'll wish you had some warm clothes. Flying is different to road trips; you don't get the roadhouses.

 

We've discussed crash protection in previous threads; motor bikes and cars usually come to grief by hitting something head on like a tree or another car. Aircraft  could do that, but usually you can ground loop, or it might cartwheel over a wing or the wing might take the primary force but rip out the side or you may come down flat or upside down, so design of protection is different.

 

If there is a fire and you are wearing anything synthetic it will melt and take your skin off, so the suggestion of cotton socks was a good one, same with the rest. Washing them in Borax makes them fire retardant. Take a look at the Revolution Racegear for the various levels of fire retardant underclothing and suits, but bear in mind they will only protect you for about 35 seconds in a fire. In Motor Racing there's always a fire crew who will be on the scene in less than 30 seconds to snuff the flames with gas/powder then hit the area with foam so it doesn't flash again, and that's why the 35 seconds performance.

 

 

[gareth lacey]

My CFI prefers that you use a soft soled shoe to" feel the aircraft" and never fly in thongs(flip flops) disgusting footwear

 

[johnm]

clothe ideas from lbj

 

 

[Kununurra]

Usually I fly in jeans or cargo pants, socks and shoes. Most times I have a long sleeve shirt on to protect my skin from the sun and or provide some warmth if needed.

 

In the luggage area there is always a light jacket to grab if the flight gets colder or the weather at the destination requires it.

It depends on where I am flying to as I have also worn shorts plenty of times.

 

cheers

 

 

[ClintonB]

Shorts and T shirt, I used to wear hiking sneakers when I came back to flying, then one day in work boots it felt awkward. I figured with big old pedals in the cessna I should get used to it. Now it feels OK, and sneakers don't feel weird when used at other times. 

[SSCBD]

9 hours ago, gareth lacey said:

My CFI prefers that you use a soft soled shoe to" feel the aircraft" and never fly in thongs(flip flops) disgusting footwear

 

Bare feet flying sea / float planes 

[rankamateur]

On 02/02/2022 at 8:34 AM, Old Koreelah said:

I prefer elastic-side boots so I can slip my feet out of them if caught in a crash.

I find my old favourites are ok but anything half decent squeeze my feet and make them go to sleep about an hour into a long flight.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Since I almost always wear denim and cotton, that is about it. Avoid polymers like the plague.. Leather runners or shoes with a rubber sole.

 

Though, once in a hurry for a flight lesson as the light was fading and they airfield didn't have runway lights, I did the lesson in my motorcycle trousers and boots (jacket was in the back).. Never again!

[Yenn]

Light shoes so that you can feel the rudder pedals. I reckon for a long flight overalls are the go. Wool is better than cotton. The reason for varying my garb according to length of journey is that on a long journey you could be grounded miles from anywhere and even in Sunny Qld it gets very cold at night.

I once wore heavy shoes for a first flight and had terrible trouble controlling the plane.

[Old Koreelah]

13 minutes ago, Yenn said:

…on a long journey you could be grounded miles from anywhere and even in Sunny Qld it gets very cold at night...

Yenn I’ve suffered some very cold nights passing thru your part of Qld. The worst was jammed into the back of a ute with heaps of other hitch hikers, wearing a T shirt.
Riding a bike thru there one night I jammed rolled-up newspapers up my sleeves and over my chest. Bliss.

[RFguy]

How about woolen overalls ? do such things exist ?

 

How about full leathers ? (a-la road motocycle) 

[facthunter]

 Full Leathers? Your own portable sauna. Nev