What Should A Pilot Look Like?

[bubbleboy]

I have been on both sides of the fence. I have worn the "custom-made" dark blue flight suits, and have also looked like the typical helicopter bush pilot i.e: jeans, jacket, hiking boots, truckers wallet, and company ball cap.

Does a flight suit look more professional, or should it be left up to the comfort level of the individual? I guess there are certain safety issues such as nomex vs. cotton etc. Lately I have been wearing carhart bib overalls that make me look like a farmer, but they sure are comfortable and don't seem to mind Jet B as much as my tight fitting $60 designer jeans! 🙄

I have had comments when wearing flight suits that suggest it is important for some people to differentiate between flight crew and maintenance.

In addition do you guys think I should stop watching "queer eye for the straight guy" with my WIFE 😀 😀

Standing by to stand by!!!
bb

 

[407 Driver]

Our company insists on FlightSuits, they supply them too!

 

[L'ACADIAN]

i think that flightsuits r great because u don't have to worry about matching ..........get up and put on the suit and go ......yours truly martha !! 😛

salut !!

 

[Elvis]

I remember in my James Bay days of an Ex "Nam" pilot that on days he was wearing jeans and a tee-shirt all was OK.

On days he had the old flight suit on look out.

:elvis: :elvis: :elvis:

 

[graunch1]

Why don't you want to look like an engineer?

 

[gannet]

I believe a pilot should be easy on the eyes and have a winning smile. Either that or dress well and have a really big watch. 😛 Failing that, the pilot should be slovenly, able to consume large drinks in a single swig and demolish plates of BBQ in a single sitting. Of course a mixture of all three is also admirable.

Seriously though, I don't care how a pilot dresses, as long as it is appropriate for the job at hand. Poopy suits=off shore, flame-resistant=bush/firefighting/ag (ie. closer to the ragged edge work), collared shirt and tie=corporate VIP, and weather appropriate regardless of location.

 

[Rotorhead]

I have been on both sides of the fence. I have worn the "custom-made" dark blue flight suits, ...

Shouldn't that read "worn-out"?

If it is the same version of the custom made suit that I had, they sure didn't last long. Version two lasted a little longer. How about the Canadian Tire shirts?

I always preferred jeans, comfortable shirt, good workboots, ballcap and a leatherman tool on my hip. These days I'm in a goretex immersion suit, rarely ever take the leatherman out of the case.

Note for low time pilots: See what the pilots at the company wear and dress like them. The employer will see that you will fit in well. I wouldn't do the shirt and tie thing unless you are headed for Helijet or a corporate job.

RH

 

[407 Driver]

We had about 10 - 206's in Ft St John in the late 70's. It way Maynard and a whole bunch of us 200 hr kids. One guy (not in the industry anymore) always showed up to work with pressed pants, a shirt and Tie ...a wide gaudy OKie Tie no less 😀
... boy, did he look out of place wrestling pigs into the 206 on the WCE pigging run every day !!
For those you you who never worked the oil-patch....No, these weren' the "bacon" variety of Pigs... 😀

RH, my last custom made spiffy blue CHC flight suit arrived in 98, but it was cut for an Arnie Swartaneggar kind of guy, not the Homer Simpson fit that I required, DoH ! 😀 (I gave it away to a 100 hour Pup !)

 

[bubbleboy]

The light weight version would be better called thread bare!! I liked the way you could tell the wind direction and speed by the way they bellowed around. 😀

During the dog days of summer a guy has to try his best to keep cool, but the most extreme was the picture I saw of a driver who's name escapes me now, but he was sitting in a long ranger with nothing on but cowboy boots, shorts, and a head set. Looked comfortable, but slightly out of place. It takes all kinds I guess. 🙄

.....oh yeah, and the machine was running!!

bbutt

 

[T-rex]

Ya, my 'custom' made blue coveralls sure didn't fit the way I thought I measured them. If they would of taken some time to read over the questionaire I sent in with regards to my measurments, maybe they would of been a better fit. Never mind the "praise the lord" propaganda tag sent with the 'flightsuit.'

As our good friend 407 stated, wear what the job dictates! Sometimes, rubber boots and a set of good John Deere green coveralls is best! Enjoy the gaspatch! Watch out for those pigs....they burn!

 

[Randy_G]

I prefered to wear a flightsuit. Thankfully I never got to wear one with the flaming chicken on it. I was contract, and they wouldn't give me one. They wanted me to buy it. With what they were paying, I said no durn way !!! I picked up a 40 buck one at a surplus store, it was pre-worn and still outlasted the ones the fulltimers got. 😀 Flightsuits keep the washing loads smaller. Wore shorts, and a t-shirt underneath, and was still decently cool. Even had a nice nomex one suplied to me by an employer. It even fits nicely too.

 

[jetbox]

Bubbleboy,

I have had comments when wearing flight suits that suggest it is important for some people to differentiate between flight crew and maintenance.

Please explain to me what exactly this means and why it would be important for anyone to differentiate between pilots and engineers. 😱

 

[highbladedown]

I don't know what they should look like.......good question. Between big watches, wallets and egos who knows what they should look like. It's bad enough that some use a "47" bubbles as a helmet cause nothing else would fit. One would not want to look like an engineer because they make squat for money and buy all their clothes at Value Village and stay in hostles.

 

[bubbleboy]

Jetbox: No worries. I don't know if I can explain exactly what that means, but here goes. 😀 The way I interpreted those comments was that some people like to to see a pilot dressed like a pilot - whatever that means. I guess that's why I asked the question. 😉

It doesn't matter to me, I like to wear whatever is comfortable and appropriate for the moment. As I mentioned earlier, my current "flightsuit" is a pair of functional bib overalls - something allot of maintenance guys wear. Other than my over-sized head, an outsider might not be able to tell that I was a pilot. 😀 🙄

Actually, now that I think about it that comment was made to me by an engineer back in the days when I was wearing the navy blue "jumpsuit", and the engineer was working for a different company. He was saying how professional it looked for a pilot to be wearing a flightsuit as his pilot looked more like a biker.

Another company I worked for used to give pilots and engineers the exact same type of coveralls - worked for me. They were free!!

I don't think it's important for us to differentiate between the two, but it might be hard to find an engineer willing to wear a flightsuit.

Cheers
bb

 

[Rotorhead]

...a wide gaudy OKie Tie no less 😀 ...

When I was working for CHWs Logging division, I found a box of those ties. 100% polyester, survival ties, I am sure they would have lit up a pretty good bonfire.

Wonder how much I could get on eBay?

RH