What's up with instructors wearing pilot uniforms??
 

Isn't it the stupidest thing you see? I was at the local grocery store and I see someone with a full uniform, euplets and all, come out of the car. Normally I don't ask pilots who they fly for but I did for this guy because he was really young and my age, maybe 20-22. So the guy says I'm an instructor at an academy. Since I was in a good mood I left it at that but seriously why do academies do that, is it because they want their students to keep the SJS or to give an illusion that they are airline pilots??

That's what I like about working at ATP, no wannabe airline pilot uniforms. I think that when those guys get out of a little GA plane they look ridiculous. I would be embarrassed to wear something like that.

Uniforms
 

I saw a guy at a baseball game wearing a white shirt with four-stripe epaulets. Wondering why a pilot would attend a game in uniform, I got close enough to read the logo on his shirt. He was a bus driver. :rolleyes:

The sad thing is he probably makes more than me. :(

I did my comm/multi/instrument at a big 141 school. No uniforms worn by anyone. One day I was there getting ready for a flight (in my uniform: jeans and T-shirt) and a student walks by in a flight suit. It was a blue cotton flight suit like the Blue Angels wear. He had his E6B and Sectional charts in the pockets. We all had a good laugh. :D

ATP almost went to unifroms to simulate a "Professional Career", I about died when I was a month into 5 months of training when we got the e-mail. All students will be required to wear epaulettes and the whole get-up, when inside the ATP buildings and while conducting flight activities.

Thank you Lord for sparing us that headache (I thought to myself)!

I am already embarrassed to explain to people that I don't really fly for anybody yet, I am a flight instructor. And then comes the "Oh", I feel like I just ruined the party afterward.

It is funny to see though, reminds me of some security guards that dress up like swat team members. You think "wow", then I read the array of patches and realize, "This guy is a rent-a-cop!"

Well I agree there is some merit to the uniform theory, it makes the pilot feel a little more focused. I never fly with tennis shoes, shorts and a t-shirt because I want to keep a level of seriousness, but going all the way with the epaulets and the wings and name tag, it's just overkill.

I just wake up in the morning and put whatever on. I am not being paid to do fly yet... Just because you dress up nice does not mean you are serious about what you do. My girlfriend is attending Texas Culinary Academy and they wear their chef uniforms to school... That is chef school, not flying though...

You're kidding, right?
Every pilot I know would say that putting decent clothes on for an afternoon flight around the patch is overkill. Heck, some would say that putting shoes on is overkill.

Nothing wrong with business casual. In fact, pants and a good sturdy pair of shoes can become very practical in the event of a forced landing. However, the bars on the shoulders are a bit of overkill for a cessna.

kansas state was making their students wear uniforms, stripes were handed out for different ratings, etc...looked pretty bad and i was glad it never made it over to CMSU...

@ the airport, we have a "dress code" partially because they didn't want peoeple looking like slobs and the other reason was safety (no sandals, frayed pants, overly long pants, etc)

And from everyone i've talked to...all that wearing a uniform does to a pilot, is make him hate wearing a uniform....lol, can't wait till i get mine, but..maybe that's just because i never had to wear one. . .

oh, and students who wear flight suits, i had two students who did that every day we went flying...they were part of the the airforces Initial flight screening program. :p

They used to make us wear the 4 bars at MTSU...now most of us refuse the epaulets and some even the wings. We still have the white aviator shirts and slacks though...its at least better than the whole monkey suit. My personal vote is either a leoptard with a cape or a space suit (I think air conditioned suits with sun visors would be a great CFI tool. Haha just my two cents

"I think air conditioned suits with sun visors would be a great CFI tool".
Thats some funny ****tt! Great Idea.

At least you guys don't have to wear a tie, hat, and blazer. :D

Actually I really like the airline uniforms! They do look good in my opinion and they do look quite professional and show some last bits of piloting being a "white-collar-job"! But of course, only airline pilots should wear them, not CFIs! And maybe I only like them because I never had to wear one and wont have to until a few years. But as I said, if an airline pilot wwears a uniform, it just looks right!

Just my 0,02$...

I think the uniforms for flight schools serves a purpose, but...I would feel uncomfortable in it. My previous school almost decided on uniforms, but luckily didn't. Students should be comfortable, they'll have plenty of time looking professional when they get a flying job. The instructors on the other hand should look professional, but uniforms and nice clothes are expensive. Anything above shorts and t-shirt is good enough. But, if it were my choice thats what I would wear.

You could be like the retard instructor at the airport where I keep my Cherokee....he tells everyone that he flew for Comair. Most people immediately think the regional, but when you put it altogether you figure out that he really instructed at Comair Academy. He likes to lead people to believe he was actually an airline pilot. Nice.

I have seen those guys before trying to pull that little scheme off. Most people don't know any better.

I wear a shirt and shorts here and I work for the AirForce lol. It's supply and demand. I know what the demand is. And as far as supply goes I'm the only one. So it's my way or bust lol.

What do you mean you work for the Air Force? How could you wear that type of "uniform". I was in the Navy and never had any instructors like that.

Air force and navy hire civilian flight instructors to prep/screen flight officer candidates. They seem to be doing more of this nowdays than they used to. Back when, some of the navy civilian CFIs wore military flight suits w/ (non-earned) navy wings! That annoyed a few people...

So I guess what toilet duck means is that he is a civilian, he does not work for the Air Force as in he is not an officer or former officer. I flew with guys who were civilian contractors in the Sabreliner, but they were all former O-4 and higher and they flew fighters or strike/fighters and wore a black flight suit with their wings. In otherwords, they were all winged military officers. I had never heard of this. In Pensacola, the Navy sends guys out to PNS to a flight school, but they aren't civilian contractors by any means. That would annoy me too if these guys wore military wings and never earned them. I have seen a few guys at ATP with these wings that they never earned on their flight bags. I guess they think they are cool, I don't know.

Is their nickname "Maverick" or "Goose" on their flight bag too?:D

ATP website...
 

From the looks of things at ATP's website I thought uniforms were a given.

"Uniform Policy
ATP provides students airline-style uniform pants, shirts, and epaulettes. For the summer months, the uniform will allow for shorts. Each student will provide his or her own black shoes and black belt. A tie is not required. Students must appear in uniform at all times when at an ATP Training Center and when flying ATP aircraft."

I think a lot of people want to be an airline pilot so bad that they see the uniform as one more step towards landing that job for real. If it makes them feel better I guess let them have some fun. I used to work in the Hospitals and the same thing could be said for students wearing surgical scrubs. You would see them in the super markets with not only full scrubs but they would also have the hats and shoe booties still on. Once and a while you would see one with a stethoscope around their neck just to make sure everyone knew they were important. :) Sounds like the same type of people wear their un-uniform in public. It's for attention. "Hey look at how good I look!" I doubt a 747 capt would care if a 20 yo cfi was picking up chicks with his blue shirt and tacky Toys-R-US epaulettes. Then again, if he was single...maybe he would :) It's a crazy world out there.
I fly out of my FBO @ AXH so no fear of finding me in the frozen food isle picking up a hot dish.
Jes

Of course, it's absolutely impossible that somebody's wearing their instructor uniform in public because they're doing errands right after work. :rolleyes:

I met a guy like that at the aero club on Travis AFB a while back. I didn't say anything - thought he was a c-5 pilot getting his FAA tickets or something...Saw him the next day at the MPF - NCOIC of outbound assignments...

-LAFF

Some in the Childrens Air Police, with their "bird" on their sholder crack me up. With their pregnant looking bellies squeezed into uniforms. And then they expect people who are currently serving to salute them. Now while some of them are prior service members themselves, I have met quite a few who have no real time in the military and are "officers" simply because they are over 21. HA thats funny

HA I think I found them for ya

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...iendID=2148678

You dont have to have myspace, his free page says it all

That is probably the funniest s@#t I have seen in a while. He definately has Maverick on his flight bag, and wears his "wings" on his flight suit while getting into his C172 with pride.

No one wears a "uniform" at ATP. Students wear whatever they want. We tell them to look normal, no pants with holes, sandals, cutoff t-shirts, or cutoff shorts. Instructors wear a blue buttoned shirt with no wings or shoulder candy.

The only thing on that page that I found interesting was Serena and Andria Lee...


_LAFF

.................


YGTBSM...this guy beats all!

I bet that "Maverick" has a bunch of buds just like him who think that they are real military aviators, it wouldn't suprise me one bit if you went on his myspace account and all of his friends were just like him talking about being a fighter pilot at the age of 20 or just acting like they are one. I still can't get over how funny that is.

It's okay to dream; on his blog it says he's an Air Traffic Controller. Wonder why he's wearing an AF flight suit?

I know it is okay to dream, but this guy goes beyond that, and he is wearing an AF flight suit because he is in the Civil Air Patrol, and they get to wear that kind of stuff, if they want to. We all have dreams, but I don't pretend to be someone I am not.

Just wait till he starts ERAU...For all we know - he lurks this board...

-LAFF

But most of you Flight instructors are wannabe airline pilots. So what you are basically saying is that a white shirt with black pants and epulets is EXCLUSIVLY for airline pilots. No one else is allowed to wear them or they will be considered wannabes. So if I wear some BDU pants does that mean I am a soldier wannabe? or if I wear a business suit, am I am executive wannabe? I dont remember pilots having the rights to a certain kind of uniform and noone else being able to wear it. I thik it looks professional. A CFI is a professional pilot arent they?

I am in Civil Air Patrol and yes I do wear a flight suit. I tell people all the time. I couldnt fly in the service due to my vision so yes Civil Air Patrol is the closets I have to being a military pilot. Is that bad? I enjoy CAP and its mission. I am inthe Army in a non aviation role and thats cool too. Just because you wear a certain type of clothing doesnt mean you are perertrating although yes you do have a few people that think they are more than they are. You just have to ignore them.

I hold nothing against instuctors who have to wear the whole pilot getup, they have no choice, but personally I think that it looks ridicolous to get out of a Seminole or Cessna wearing that. The uniform was created by airline pilots and instructors and their companies just started using it. People come would come up to you asking what airline you work for and you just tell them, "I'm a flight instructor". And I am not a airline pilot wannabe, I have never said I was on these forums, or told anyone else I was, just to get that straight. Coming from military aviation myself, it just dosen't look right for someone to get out of a cessna wearing the uniform that we earned at flight school and becoming an officer. To wear military wings and that flight suit for your everyday uniform takes years of hardwork and dedication, something that I think the young guys in the CAP take for granted and wear the uniform and flaunt it around prentending that they are something that they are not. I don't know you and I never said that you portray yourself that way. That is why I think that the flight suit and steel toe boots look ridiculous coming out of a cessna, it just doesn't fit, just like instructors like myself, climbing out wearing the airline pilot uniform. In my opinion, those uniforms are something that you have to earn inorder to wear them.

It's OK to be a wannabe, anybody who ever got anywhere used to be one! The uniform is totally non-ergonomic in light aircraft...but most of the CFI's who do wear it have no choice due to company policy, which is usually based on marketing. So there's not really much point in busting on them for wearing it to work. Out in town is another story...

Essentially all airlines prohibit pilots from wearing their uniform unless traveling to and from work.

And yes, the average guy (or girl) on the street ALWAYS assumes that you are an airline pilot if you're in uniform, and we ALL know this. So if someone wears a pilot uniform out in town unnecessarily, he is doing so to send the message that he is an airline pilot. If he really is one, he's a dork. If he's not, then he's a poser.