Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
A flight suit is a full-body garment worn while flying an aircraft, such as military aircraft and gliders. These suits are generally made to keep the wearer warm, as well as being practical and durable, including fire retardant. Its appearance is usually similar to a jumpsuit. A military flight suit may also show rank insignia. As aviation developed, the need for warm clothing quickly became apparent: early flyers wore flight jackets and pants coverings, and during World War II leather two-piece outfits were common among pilots. The jet era demanded fire-retardant, warmer, one-piece clothing that could fit over other garments and under-garments.
As aviation developed, the need for warm clothing quickly became apparent. Various types of flight jackets and pants coverings were popular, and during World War II, leather two-piece outfits were common among pilots.
With the era of jet-flight and improved focus on safety, however, fire-retardant and warmer materials were required. It was also simpler to make a one-piece suit when it would potentially have to fit over existing clothing or various types of under-garment.
In the 1950s and 1960s, even more specialized suits needed to be developed for high-altitude and space flight. These would include full pressurization, and would be the pre-cursor to today's space suits.
Space flight suits are made of a fire-retardant material, and are combined with a G-suit and during all or part of the flight, a fully pressurized space suit.
Astronauts use several colors of flight suit. NASA crews, for example, wear their blue flight suits as a sort of functional dress uniform during a mission. The orange suits that they wear when they launch and land are that color in order to help with emergency recovery. And white suits are used to control temperature for space walks.
| The above article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/flight_suit ). Apparel Industry definition modified by Apparel Search 1/2/06 |
The cockpit concentrates hazards that ordinary clothing never meets: cold that deepens with altitude, fire risk from fuel and engines, wind blast on ejection, and long hours immobile in a seat full of equipment. The flight suit's answers are systematic. Fire-retardant fabric, standard in modern suits, replaced the leather of the World War II two-piece outfits. Multiple pockets sit where a seated, strapped-in wearer can reach them, on thighs, shins, chest and sleeves, because a pilot cannot stand up to reach a hip pocket. Zips run so the suit can be put on over boots and undergarments and vented on the ground. Rank insignia and unit patches on the suit turn it into a uniform as well as equipment, which is why the flight suit reads instantly as military dress even to people who have never seen a cockpit.
Civilian flying keeps the same logic in lighter form: glider pilots and aerobatic flyers wear flight suits for warmth, pockets and fire protection, and the style passes into workwear and fashion through the jumpsuit, its direct relative. The flight suit is the clearest case in clothing of a garment whose every detail is a specification, written by the environment it serves.
With jet flight it was simpler to make a one-piece suit that could fit over existing clothing or various types of under-garment, with no waist gap for cold air at altitude or for fire to reach the body. The one-piece form also works with the equipment worn over it, harnesses, survival gear and, where needed, a g-suit worn alone or in combination with the flight suit.
They are layers of one system. The g-suit protects against the physical stress of acceleration and is worn with or instead of parts of the flight suit system. For high-altitude and space flight in the 1950s and 1960s, fully pressurised suits were developed from the flight suit line, and those became the precursors of today's space suits. Astronaut flight suits are fire-retardant and are combined with a g-suit and, during parts of a flight, a fully pressurised space suit.
Astronauts use several colours for different jobs. Blue flight suits serve as a functional dress uniform during a mission. The orange suits worn for launch and landing are that colour to help with emergency recovery, making a crew member easy to spot. White suits are used for spacewalks, to control temperature in sunlight and shadow.