smc2020

Save the Top Gun jackets for the ones that .....I don't know....actually serve in the military (or have served).

Bonus points if said person was involved in active combat.

Poser765

no. The military does not get a monopoly on leather jackets with fuzzy collars. If a civilian wants to look like a douche he’s free to as well.

flensr

That's pretty lame. Most, if not all, civilian pilots back in the golden age of flying wore leather jackets with warm fuzzy liners. Because it worked. Military experience and combat had not a damned thing to do with wearing a leather jacket when flying. Any pilot who might experience weather or temperature extremes will be well prepared if they're wearing a leather flying jacket. Because that's what those jackets were designed for. Flying. Not military flying, but *flying*.

Prima donna wanna-be fighter pilots trying to tell young pilots what to wear, I tell you what...

rickair7777

The traditional brown leather flyer's jacket is issued by military aviation communities as a organizational clothing for esprit-de-corps purposes (the modern functional equivalent is a green synthetic parka jacket of very similar design).

So a modern military member wearing one (depending on time, place, and context) isn't necessarily "douchy", might just be enjoying a bit of living history that was issued to him. Same for a civilian, although wearing one with modern unit patches around an airport might hint of attempted valor theft.

PhantomHawk

Meh.....I would never do it, but some civilians adorn their jackets with patches as a tribute. If the patch is something that signifies an accomplishment or milestone, I would agree with you. I still have my dad’s squadron patches and various items. I would consider sewing one of his “phantom” patches on my flight bag because the F-4 is an awesome plane and I love it (but I certainly never flew one) I would never wear one of his ribbons or sew his “400 carrier landings” patch on, because I didn’t earn it. In my mind, there’s a difference. Not trying to start a mil versus civ argument, but “thinking military stuff is cool” isn’t the same as “stolen valor”. Not to say that it’s not tacky to sport patches you had no involvement with, for sure.

rickair7777

Patches of historical airplanes is cool IMO. Wearing patches of current/recent in-service planes around the airport might hint at poser. Especially combined with dress, haircut, etc. One of those "know it when you see it" things.

20-something Rocker-chick with piercings wearing a jacket with an F-14 patch at the FBO: Not poser.

40- ish dude with F-35 patch, dockers, loafers, crew-cut and 'Bans: Might be a poser. Or an F-35 pilot.

These are actual real-world examples observed by me recently.

ItnStln

Do pilots still wear ‘Bans?

Al Czervik

The badass F-14 pilots of yesterday rock black tennis shoes with their uniform at my shop. Time gets everyone. Maverick’s drink of choice is now metamucil.

A Squared

Right. Flying. In open cockpit biplanes. The sole reason for leather was protection against the slipstream. In that era, leather was the only material that was truly windproof. Unless you're flying an open cockpit aircraft, a leather jacket is pure adornment, and not particularly practical adornment. The uniform at my airline includes an A-2 jacket. I was issued one in indoc. It's hanging in a closet. I don't think I've ever worn it other than to try it on. A leather jacket is a pain to drag around on the road, it's heavy, it doesn't fold compactly, and above all, it's not particularly warm. If you're actually experiencing the lower range of those " temperature extremes " you cite, then a leather jacket is about the last thing you'd want to have. It used to crack me up seeing the Horizon pilots wandering around on a Deadhorse turn in the winter in their leather jackets, looking completely miserable, back when Horizon was flying in Alaska.



Look, if you choose to adorn yourself with a leather jacket because of the way it looks, or the image you think it gives you, and you value decoration over practicality, that's cool, knock yourself out. But, when you try to claim that a leather jacket is some sort of practical necessity, you've crossed over into la-la land.

Lawn Boy

And I must say. I think it’s funny that some on here are defending this student pilot for his choice in flightwear. But when he shows up for his first flight as a regional FO wearing the jacket in question........