Why dont warbird flyers wear the real warbird flightgear?

[oscardeuce]

The female flight suit MUST be red and plainly read "remove before flight".

ooppsss!

[Beachy]

The female flight suit MUST be red and plainly read "remove before flight".

ooppsss!

HA!

[Lynn Allen]

I actually am interested in finding an affordable helmet now, and I do sometimes wear one of those green Air Force suits that I picked up locally, but it's still fun to work with the plane in the gear. Oh, and the gear really isn't that bad all things considered. I've worn it to at least 5 airshows here in South Texas (for 4-8 hours) and would still do it again. Wool is not as bad as it sounds.
Here are a couple of pics:




Ryan

Ryan: Depending on your preferences, David Clark makes a nice helmet that fits around most of their headsets. Alternatively, I'd recommend an SPH-4 or one of the leather Soviet flying helmets -- either of these are relatively inexpensive. I have an L-2 and have used a number of different helmets over the years. I've settled on an SPH-4 with upgraded electronics (electret-mic and 300-ohm receivers) and modified connector. I think I'm into it for $125.

Your in-cockpit photo is a great illustration of how close your head is to the steel frame overhead and wing roots to the sides. With a helmet and decent straps (which you appear to have), you should be in good shape.

Ryan,
A friend of mine was givng dual in a J-3 and lost the engine on takeoff and was only 25' AGL, after the left wing tip caught the ground and it nosed in, he was sitting in a pool of gas and his right ear was ripped apart and he had a lot cuts over his face, all from the simple metal panel in front of him. He was on a grass field and if it was a paved runway, there would have been a fired. He had on a pair of dave clarks, but was still hurt and lost time from his job at American. As Bob Hoover said, you can almost kill youself in a Cub.

Lynn

[Lynn Allen]

Scotty over on the Warbird Aeropress page wrote a great line on this using photo's of Doug Jeanes helmet to show what a fire can do to ruin your day.

Lynn

[Obergrafeter]

No Lynn what R.E. said was that a Cub is just enough airplane to kill you. Hair splitting I know but almost killed and killed is a big difference. You know the story about Hoover and me and a pick up truck.