First woman to fly China's J-10 fighter killed in crash

Hacker15e said:
I'm the opposite -- I'm a True Believer in wearing fire-resistant clothing while flying.
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Too many tiny buttons/switches that gloves took away the dexterity from in the birds I flew, so it was just easier to not have to bother with it.
 
MikeD said:
Never flew with gloves. Carried them on me, but hated wearing them.
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Yup, same. Wore them in flight school because I thought I'd get in trouble if I didn't. Wore them on the boat purely to walk to and from the jet (you will get yelled at there for not wearing them), and then took them off immediately upon climbing into the jet. They lived in my front gsuit pockets while flying, in case I needed them for some reason, primarily if my plane and I became separated :)
 
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Loved these pair...
 
I know more than a couple pilots -- a mix of military and warbird guys -- who have been injured in cockpit fires that would have liked to have the protection of aramid gloves. A friend of mine who was a Viper pilot has a gnarly, burn-scarred hand to this day over such an instance.

From the first time I went to the T-37 cockpit procedure trainer when I was in UPT academics, I took those gloves and wore 'em chairflying. I'd been told that the tactile sensation would be reduced with the gloves, so it would help to learn the switch and control feelings with gloves on right from the start. I used them throughout my military career, and always when warbird flying.

I have the opposite thing, now, flying airliners. It is weird to fly in just bare hands.
 
I'm all about the Wylie-X gloves manufactured without the thumb and forefinger. It's the only way to use a tablet. Some people poopoo on them for not being The Very Best protection, but they are approved and I was replacing gloves constantly because the thumb and forefinger seams were blowing out anyway. We don't have a whole lot of situations where we would need flash/flame protection, but I've seen enough guys get burned when they ride the lightning, and more frequently, when there is a runaway ECS to want the protection.
 
I love my nomex gloves. Still wear them in the airline cockpit. ;)

In seriousness, I always wore them and made my CE's wear them in the military. As with Hacker I saw too many serious burns in helicopter crews.
When retired and left my last unit the CE's took me to lunch. They said I was a PITA about things like wearing gloves, but they noticed over time that it was because I cared for them. While other pilots would not enforce things like wearing their gloves, they would also take off for the chow hall as soon as the blades coasted down. I always made sure my CE's were taken care of first. If they had to turn a wrench, I made sure they got food. Whenever we stopped in Talil and got pizza from the Italians, I always brought some back for the CE's working on the birds.

As for dark humor... well, if I put one into the ground and don't take anyone else with me go ahead and have a laugh at my expense. I'll be dead and if I'm offended by it we'll take it up later.
 
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