Do pilots still wear ‘Bans?

 

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.

 

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.

 

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........

 

If you're referring to my comments about the Horizon pilots, you've missed my point pretty badly. If a leather jacket is a part of your airline's uniform, well one can hardly fault you for wearing one. My point was that when it's actually cold, as it is in Deadhorse (which is on the Arctic coast) a leather jacket is a really poor choice for keeping your warm.

 

You’re holding a student pilot and an airline pilot to the same standards?

 

All I wore my first year and a half on the line, including 2 winters, was a leather jacket. Cuts the wind just fine and when combined with a watchcap and gloves I had no problems doing walk-arounds even with night winter turns in Chicago. Yea it got cold waiting for the dang hotel shuttle wearing just the leather jacket but perrone has the option to get the zip-in liner which makes the jacket a bunch warmer.

Plus the leather jacket looks cool. Haters are gonna hate but those guys probably like their airline hats too. Last time I wore a hat like that I was in a squadron busy killing bad people so my association with a uniform hat is more along the lines of killing people, not friendly customer service. There's just something cool and friendly about a pilot in a leather jacket, that is instantly recognizable. If you really insist that your pilot wear a double-breasted coat and wheel cap, some airlines charge about double the ticket price for that level of service. I'd rather look cool and be comfortable, smile all the way to the bank

 

“Cool” is a matter of perspective I suppose. You can keep looking cool in the silly leather jacket. I’ll keep looking classy and professional in my blazer.

 

So you're the guy! That hat looks snazzy too.

 

Wow pilots are so lame.