Still think that poly/cotton flight suit is ok for mission use? Watch these!

[vmstan]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[Eclipse]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Not if that ounce is on your nickel...

[Майор Хаткевич]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Not if that ounce is on your nickel...

That's about where I'd need the cure from the beating my significant other will inflict upon me.

[lordmonar]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Nomex flight suit $170+
Nomex Gloves $30+
Flight Helmet $600+
Survival Vest $500+
LPV $500+
HEEDS III $300+

That's a pretty heft costly ounce of prevention!

[Mustang]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Nomex flight suit $170+
Nomex Gloves $30+
Flight Helmet $600+
Survival Vest $500+
LPV $500+
HEEDS III $300+

That's a pretty heft costly ounce of prevention!

Couple things:

--I agree with you on the helmet.

--My survival gear (on par or better than what's in an AF-maintained vest) cost a lot less than $500. 

--We already have a PFD requirement for flights conducted beyond gliding distance of land.  Most CAP ops will never require this.

More to the point: just as it does for its own aircrews, our primary customer (i.e., USAF) should bear these costs for CAP's aircrews, just as they bear the costs for our aircraft and communications gear.

[Mustang]

Until pilots are required to wear fireproof gloves, boots, and helmets, a flightsuit is just "Safety Theater".

Interesting notion.  Is this anything like the "command theater" you run in your group, Bob?

[MSgt Van]

so I guess it's basically a decision regarding open casket or cremation...   

[NIN]

so I guess it's basically a decision regarding open casket or cremation...   

Or it might be the choice between a big urn or a little one.

[Mustang]

so I guess it's basically a decision regarding open casket or cremation...   

Or it might be the choice between a big urn or a little one.

Or "paper or plastic".   

[Eclipse]

Or common sense and wasted money...

[lordmonar]

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Nomex flight suit $170+
Nomex Gloves $30+
Flight Helmet $600+
Survival Vest $500+
LPV $500+
HEEDS III $300+

That's a pretty heft costly ounce of prevention!

Couple things:

--I agree with you on the helmet.

--My survival gear (on part or better than what's in an AF-maintained vest) cost a lot less than $500. 

--We already have a PFD requirement for flights conducted beyond gliding distance of land.  Most CAP ops will never require this.

More to the point: just as it does for its own aircrews, our primary customer (i.e., USAF) should bear these costs for CAP's aircrews, just as they bear the costs for our aircraft and communications gear.

I agree....but that still goes back to my point...we either go whole hog on the flight safety or it is just lip service.

[PHall]

I look at it this way, the last two crashes in CAWG that had survivors both had folks who were burned only in areas that were not covered by their Nomex flightsuits. The fires in these crashes were of the "flash" fire type. Both aircraft were involved in grid searches in mountainous areas.

Pretty much matches the stuff the Air Force taught me. If you want to survive the crash, then wear your protective equipment.

[Mustang]

Pretty much matches the stuff the Air Force taught me. If you want to survive the crash, then wear your protective equipment.

Which brings us to another sore point.  As Phil said, Nomex garb is protective equipment, period.  It isn't a status symbol, it's safety gear, and to require an increasing number of our members to pay a 25% surcharge (at a bare minimum) to protect themselves is simply unconscionable.  (To say nothing of what the fat & fuzzies are supposed to do when it's cold; there is no commercially-available CAP-distinctive equivalent to the Nomex CWU-36/P and CWU-45/P flight jackets.)

In an era where the CWU-27/P sage green flight suit is worn by every branch of the U.S. military, countless federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and many foreign countries, how the Air Force can demand that the fat & fuzzy crowd stay out of its "uniform" simply boggles the imagination.

As much as the current CAP-USAF staff likes to bang the safety drum, I say it's time they put their money where their mouths are and both authorize and fully fund Nomex safety apparel for all CAP mission aircrews.

[Short Field]

If we really wanted to spend our money on a flight safety item that addresses the number one cause of death in an aircraft crash...we would all be wearing flight helmets.

I vote for a inertia reel shoulder harness/lap belt system being installed in the airplanes before we buy helmets.  If you keep your head out of the instrument panel, you don't need the protection of a helmet.   

[Major Carrales]

(and now...the PUNCHLINE)

Gee, I wonder how the GOLF SHIRT burns?