Ok, why do Air Force Predator pilots wear flightsuits?

[AndrewR]

Just something that I've always wondered about. They sit in trailers in Las Vegas, yet they were flightsuits like pilots strapping into cockpits.

Incidentally, they don't have to buy the flightsuits and their flight boots -- you, the taxpayer, pays for them.

 

[91TTZ]

I guess it's a vestigular accessory in the evolution of aircraft pilots.

 

[Analog]

pic or ban.

 

[preslove]

They are officially pilots. I would assume that the flight suit is the working uniform of air force pilots.

 

[Passions]

Because predator pilots are real Air Force pilots and not some disc jockey's from Studio 54.

 

[foghorn67]

Relax, they aren't wearing g-suits.

 

[Bateluer]

The flight suit is a duty uniform. I wear woodland BDUs, even though I work indoors in an electonics shop.

 

[dartworth]

aren't you in the air force?

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: dartworth
aren't you in the air force?

Yes, I am.

Flightsuit is a duty uniform, but the pilots don't pay for them. They are made of fire-resistant material and designed with flying duty in mind, not desk jobs. Since non-flying officers like myself are required to purchase our duty uniforms (BDUs), it goads me that non-flying pilots (doing staff work, operating a UAV, flying a desk) wear their taxpayer-funded uniforms which do wear out after successive washings. So, you can have someone doing scheduling work in a squadron, which requires long hours at the desk, who could wear out a flightsuit without actually flying in it.

There was even discussion last year about the Air Force looking at new flightsuit materials to prevent pilling of the fabric after washing and drying several times. It seems that if the flightsuits have a limited lifespan, were designed for a specific purpose (flying), and are funded by the taxpayer/government, then they should be limited to the purpose for which they are intended. There's nothing that says that pilots cannot wear BDUs when they are conducting non-flying duties.

Oh well, the F-22 and F-35 are the last manned fighter/attack aircraft for the Air Force in a ll likelihood, unless the fighter mafias of the Navy and Air Force can somehow cancel another UAV project like the J-UCAS.

 

[jammur21]

I think some of the Predator pilots are former B-1 pilots who lost their rides when that aircraft was retired - that may be why they're reluctant to give them up, or its the $$$ like andrewr is talking about.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Because they are complete bad asses!

 

[Mackie2k]

cause flight suits rule!

 

[SVT Cobra]

Considering they still need places to strap a notepad to on their knee etc, it makes perfectly sound sense to me.

Also it sounds like the OP is just jealous he doesn't get to wear one.

 

[newmachineoverlord]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ
I guess it's a vestigial accessory in the evolution of aircraft pilots.

fixed, and lmfao, that is by far the best possible answer to the topic question, it beats the heck out of "because the government pays for them and they don't want to have to buy their own clothes if they don't have to."

 

[Windogg]

My boss does nothing but fly a desk but he still wears his flightsuit. A long time ago he "flew" satellites so he is permitted to "bag it." Hell he even has a set of wings.

Hey AndrewR, I see you are in Ohio. WPAFB I assume? I'm now at a little AFMC base on the east coast.

 

[murban135]

OP, it sounds like your issue is that pilots in general get to wear flight suits when not flying. It is just an Air Force tradition that allows that, as I am sure you know. Navy pilots have to change out of their flight suits after flying, not in the Air Force.

Also, while it is a perk that flight suits and boots are government issued, it is not a huge investment. The flight suits can last 5+ years and cost about $130 a piece.

 

[everman]

You act like it's not normal to wear a flight suit when playing ms flight sim

 

[AbAbber2k]

I wear a biohazard suit when I play HL2. It's all about IMMERSION, DUDE.

 

[jadinolf]

Back in the previous century, I was in the Air Force and we wore nylon flight suits. Then one day, because they had so many accidents with them catching fire that they switched us to gabardine flight suits which were the only other ones available. They probably were welcome in places like Greenland but I was in Morocco where the weather was around 120 degrees.

 

[biggestmuff]

You're an officer in the Air Force?!

The question you pose sounds like it was asked by a middle-school student. Butter bar?

Flying a UAV is flight duty, much like a radar operator on an AWACS or a loadmaster on a C-5; both enlisted positions. That is why they wear a flightsuit. It's a duty uniform. I only wore my blues once at my permanant duty station, The Pentagon. Both officers and enlisted can be assigned to UAV duties. They're not all at Nellis. Several operate in theater.

 

[jakedeez]

Originally posted by: AbAbber2k
I wear a biohazard suit when I play HL2. It's all about IMMERSION, DUDE.

Did you ever play LSL?

 

[chusteczka]

It is probably a side benefit meant to keep moral high for a necessary job that few pilots are happy to perform.

 

[Midlander]

Probably for the same reason that MLB managers wear the team uniform.

 

[Googer]

Originally :thumbsuposted by: Bateluer
The flight suit is a duty uniform. I wear woodland BDUs, even though I work indoors in an electonics shop.

 

[sandorski]

If they spill hot coffee on themselves during an intense Mission they need protection!