How to dress for flight testing????

[revdjd]

If you are going to purchase a flight helmet, gloves, flightsuit, parachute and only use this gear for flight testing this seems like a waste of money. If you believe that you need these items for 40+ hours why not wear them all the time? It would seem to me that an event requiring this gear could happen at anytime not just during the first 40 hours.

D.J. Dormer

[kentb]

Originally Posted by revdjd

If you are going to purchase a flight helmet, gloves, flightsuit, parachute and only use this gear for flight testing this seems like a waste of money. If you believe that you need these items for 40+ hours why not wear them all the time? It would seem to me that an event requiring this gear could happen at anytime not just during the first 40 hours.

D.J. Dormer

Why not buy a second setup for the passenger, and if you are going to fly young eagles you will need a kid size setup also.

I think that we all should take precautions with our planes and good clothing is a worth while consideration. If you did a good job with construction and inspection then your plane should be as safe as a spam can. Are you going to go to these extremes when you use the FBO's Cessna?

The best way to protect you butt is to make sure that you are ready for the flight and not rely on some superman suit. After all we (most of us) are not military jet aces and won't be flying that close to the edge.

Kent

[Jim P]

The best way to protect you butt is to make sure that you are ready for the flight and not rely on some superman suit.

Being ready for a flight does mean appropriate clothing. Even in AZ, if you're over the mountains in the winter, better prepare for cold even though the valley may be 70 degrees as you never know when you're going to end up out in the sticks. Then again, it's your butt, wear what you want.

[John Clark]

Originally Posted by Jim P

Being ready for a flight does mean appropriate clothing. Even in AZ, if you're over the mountains in the winter, better prepare for cold even though the valley may be 70 degrees as you never know when you're going to end up out in the sticks. Then again, it's your butt, wear what you want.

Jim makes a really good point. We are a little off the original topic but I think it is important to pay some attention to clothing. Many years ago someone said "dress for the ground that you are flying over" or words to that effect. Fat dumb and happy at altitude with the heat on could turn into very cold on the surface if something quits.

On the Nomex issue, no I don't wear a flight suit every day to fly "Sunshine." I do, however, avoid synthetic fabrics and "plastic" shoes.


John Clark
RV8 N18U "Sunshine"
KSBA

[prkaye]

Racing shoes. When I first started flying Katanas I wore leather ankle boots (military parade boots), thinking it would be good for my feet to have more protection than regular shoes offer. But I found with boots my flying got messy... I didn't have enough of a fine touch on the pedals, so I switched to shoes (which really helped).
This got me thinking about first flight footware, if I end-up choosing to do my own first flight (still undecided - won't decide until after I've done transition training). Is it better to have the protection of boots but sacrificing the quality of my touch on the pedals? Then I discovered the Racing industry has already created something for this purpose. Racing shoes. They're fire retardant, and desigend to give you a really good feel on the pedals when driving.

[N941WR]

Phil,

While racing shoes will work great, if you want total protection don't forget to order fireproof socks, underwear, and gloves when you buy your suit. (Check out http://www.saferacer.com.)

When we would do equipment safty checks for the SCCA, checking underwear was part of it. You would be surprised how many rookies would try to get away with cotton.

The truth is, if the plane catches fire, the only piece of safety gear that will really matter is your parachute. I believe you will be out of the plane long before the difference between cotton and Nomex comes into play.

I can only imagine how hot the cockpit must get with an engine fire and if I had one, I would seriously wonder how long the engine mount would last before departing the plane.

[ShadesOfGray]

[Canadian_JOY]

One material which hasn't been talked about in this list is leather. If you look at some of the older "certificated" airplanes and many eastern-bloc airplanes you'll see leather is used for things like firewall boots over push-rods, etc. As cockpit wear, leather is a relatively flame-proof material, and unlike Nomex, it also provides significant protection from abrasion and also from radiant heat.

If you can't get a Nomex suit but want additional protection, consider talking to a biker friend about borrowing his (or her! *wink wink*) riding leathers. Also, good leather bike gloves are extremely supple and allow for adjustment of radios, etc. I have a pair which extend 3/4 of the way up my forearms. I believe they offer better protection than any of the Nomex gloves I've worn.

One last point... While wearing helmets is a grand thing, I've seen too many helicopter pilots with severe burns to their necks as a result of them being covered up to their necks in Nomex, and wearing a helmet, but leaving their necks totally exposed. I don't know the solution to covering this part of the body but I'm certain there's something out there, perhaps like the automotive racing "hoodie" that would provide protection to this very vulnerable area.

While it's normal for us to say that a fire would be cause for bail-out, a post-crash fire is often fed by fuel which has been forcibly ejected from broken tanks, lines, etc, so we never really know where the fire will start, or what parts of us will be soaked in fuel when it does. As a result, for any high-risk flying I always wear protection, even if it's just in the form of jeans, leather shoes, leather jacket and gloves. A little protection can go a long way.