What to wear when flying

Bob Gardner wrote:
http://tinyurl.com/3ayjjb

A bush pilot once told me that I should always wear clothing that would
allow me to walk home if I had to put the airplane down somewhere. Guess
this guy learned that lesson the hard way.

Bob Gardner
I can appreciate this advice.

As a pilot sometimes flying in specialized venues, I've had to wear
specific clothing while in these venues.As a guest at Navy TPS, while
flying the T38 and as a guest of Strike ATD in the F14 in the winter, I
had to wear what the Navy calls a "poopie suit"; an exposure suit in
case I ended up in the Chesapeake Bay after doing something stupid. It's
a wonder ANYONE could fly at all wearing that thing. Took longer to get
it on than the actual flight, but your life expenceny in the water
without it wasn't all that hot. Even with it, they had to pluck you out
pretty fast :-)

For air show work in the Mustang I always wore Nomex. Hot as hell in the
summer but not as hot as it might get with a fire in the cockpit not
having it on. Since most of my display work was done using METO power,
the cockpit got a bit warm wearing Nomex.

In the J3 and in all airplanes having offset heel brakes, I favored
sneaks so my heels wouldn't slip off the brakes at just the wrong moment.

Actually, for everyday pleasure flying, I never gave clothing much
thought other than comfort. Strange now that I look back on it,
especially considering the thought I gave to clothing while in the
specialized environments.

The bush pilot had a solid point. One SHOULD give at least some thought
to clothing. I'm fairly certain most pilots flying distances over
specific routes do actually consider this factor and allow for it in
their survival thinking.






--
Dudley Henriques