CFI Uniforms

[zamboni9]

I only had to wear shorts and tee shirts to instruct. And we were very busy flight school, I flew 750 hours in the 6 months I instructed there and had about 60 sign offs from pvt to mei. Airline style uniforms for instructors are hilarious....C172 Captains eh?

 

[chriskcmo]

I had a Chief Instructor who was furloughed from TWA/AA. The Aviation Dept. Chair brought up the idea of wearing uniforms. The Chief said "I wore 3 stripes to fly an MD-80. There's not enough stripes in the world for me to fly a Cessna 172."

We wore University polos/khakis or shirt & tie.

 

[flyingnome]

I personally like a nice shirt, and some khakis... the whole uniform thing not so much, I just dont like the idea of crawling into a 172 wearing an airline style shirt with epaulets, I guess it just weirds me out.

I had to wear uniforms while teaching at Embry Riddle Prescott, it was a polo and some slacks, although they were made of polyester, excellent choice incase of an emergency fire situation...

 

[pgcfii2002]

Go for it.. You may not even see the airplane cause he would probably fail you on the oral..

Nah, you should dress that way when you take your CFI initial with the FAA.

 

[pgcfii2002]

Niiice. I gotta get one of those, especially for those summer flights to Phoenix.

WOW, I have to get one of these when I do my next night cross country to Modesto. Do they include some apple sauce in a baggie too???

 

[SBD]

I dread wearing that uniform at the school. How it makes us look more professional, I will never know. I feel like such a tool when I'm a cross country and have to go to a FBO and get out of the C-172/C-152. What's wrong with a polo and khakis.

 

[Salukipilot4590]

Polo shirt and Khakis here, standard...

 

[jaxpilot]

Logo polo shirt and khaki pants (though some instructors wear cargo pants and no one minds). Makes it nice in the Florida summers, only wish that we could wear khaki shorts sometimes. One of my friends instructs at a place where they have to wear ties and epaulets and I tell him to change before we go to a mall or something.

 

[Alamanach]

I like threads like this because I'm not a CFI. Which means I'm a student, and that makes me a customer, and that means I'm always right. I'd never heard of a fight school dressing its instructors like airline pilots. I'm trying to imagine how that would work without it appearing totally ridiculous, and I can't do it. And then one or two of you mentioned schools at which the students have a uniform to wear. Any school that tries to give an order like that to its students has forgotten who is in charge.

Company-logo polo shirts are not a bad idea, but they're not a very good one either. Think for a moment, where else do you see employees wearing such shirts? "Hi, Mr. Student, welcome to McFlyers. I see you've scheduled 1.5 hours of DME arc training. Would you like fries with that?"

As a student, I'd much prefer to see the CFI dressed in his own clothes. Two reasons for this. 1) I'm way more interested in his ability to keep me alive and teach me than I am in his flashy duds. Let him wear what he wants. 2) As a few people kind of pointed out on the previous page, whatever clothes the CFI chooses will tell me a little bit about what kind of person he is. I'm robbed of that knowledge if the CFI's boss is picking out his clothes for him.

Khakis, a dress shirt, and a tie are nice. That's similar to how I dress. But the CFI can wear old shorts and a ripped-up T-shirt if he's a good enough instructor, it's fine with me. I really feel sorry for you guys who have your clothing issued to you. I hope I never find myself in that position.

 

[momike]

ICompany-logo polo shirts are not a bad idea, but they're not a very good one either. Think for a moment, where else do you see employees wearing such shirts? "Hi, Mr. Student, welcome to McFlyers. I see you've scheduled 1.5 hours of DME arc training. Would you like fries with that?"

I really feel sorry for you guys who have your clothing issued to you. I hope I never find myself in that position.

Fries!!! Ha, ha!!! very funny...exactly like what I get at DCA. Clothing issued? WTF????? We are required to wear uniforms and have to PAY out of pocket for them, tailoring, etc.... Issued???? Oh, to be so lucky...

 

[acaTerry]

khakis with logo polo tucked in, friday is casual friday and we wear jeans and logo polo. the weekends it is a free for all...the one thing to look forward to on a 7am saturday flight.

DING DING! Winner! This guy has the answer that at least in my opinion meets both professional appearance and comfort.

 

[cobraman]

Listen to this guy???:erm:

Where have you been? DCA has not been wearing ties for almost 2 months. The school dropped the ties for the summer months. Drag queens? WTF are you talking about?

Most of the people actually didn't like the fact that management got rid of the ties for the comfort of the students and instructors. Oh BTW, IF your airplane needs almost 3 100hour inspections a month, it wouldn't be the cleanest either. Next time, look in the cowl of that 172, I'll bet you it has a NEW motor. The maintenance team does an incredible job maintaining the aging fleet.

You say these guys had a dual magneto failure? Give me a friggen break. Do you even know what a magneto is? Enough said.

 

[Metro752]

Listen to this guy???:erm:

blah blah blah DCA blows, blah blah......

You flew an F-16 & C-130 for the military or somehow got hooked up for the ride?

 

[cobraman]

And this is the guy who admitted in another thread to failing his last DCA Stands/proficiency check...

Uh... wrong again pal. Never failed a ride civililan or military check ride or no-notice checkride at 4am. Let's put what I've flown to rest once and for all. Yes I have actually FLOWN an F-16 for almost 2 hours when I won a stupid award YEARS ago as a 2 striper! It's called an incentive ride in the airforce. I have also spent about 4 hours in the seat actually flying a C-130 on long trips. Crews have a way of doing stupid stuff when were really bored. Ask any loadmaster, FE, or navigator, pilots will gladly change seats for a short time in flight. Did I log it? Hell no, that's just gay. Did I do takeoffs and landings? Hell no. Only in the simulators.

Does any of this matter to you or me? NO, I could give a rat's ass what I've flown. Now you call me a pole smoker? Have you met me? Do you even know me? IF NOT, news for you, I am not your personal DCA punching bag.
You don't like the school, fine. I am not trying to convince you or sell you anything.

As far as the aircraft that crashed years ago, I hope the families don't read what you said. Bad enough we don't have an "official" answer yet from the NTSB. (you claimed the instructor killed his family???) Are you even human?

Now to have a DUAL magneto failure is EXTREMELY RARE. IF they choose to test it with the plane tied down, WHO CARES? You make it sound like these guys (with ties on) were actually part of a three ring circus. Next time, bring your camera, I'd like to see it, then I would say you are telling the truth.

btw, Have a little respect for people that aren't walking the earth anymore. Someone lost their family that day out to the east for reasons unknown. Speculate all you want, just do it tactfully and with respect. This way, people will respect you instead of peeing on your grave if you die.

 

[TRGFlyer2006]

But, now, only DCA "people" can rent DCA airplanes (i.e. kill themselves)??? They have to go to Flying Services (part 61) and sign a waiver. The families DO need to read into that accident and expose why DCA shuns maintenance and continues to operate aircraft from the stone age.

Hmmm,

For someone who never attended the school, yeah right, you seem to know an awful lot about the place. Thats pretty funny! Did you hear that from your "friends" that go there?

:laugh:

 

[cobraman]

I think as long as a flight instructor appears neat and groomed and has his act together, I personally don't care what they wear. If you flight train in the islands, I would expect instructors to wear shorts and a Jimmy buffett Hat. Here in the flight training capital of the world. (orlando area) Airline style shirts with stripes seems to be the norm. I'd much rather wear a nice pair of dockers pants and a polo. That's professional enough in my opinion when flying a c-152.

 

[simplemind]

khakis with logo polo tucked in, friday is casual friday and we wear jeans and logo polo. the weekends it is a free for all...the one thing to look forward to on a 7am saturday flight.

 

[dumblonde]

Sleeveless logoed polo, kahki shorts in the summer. Polo's and kahki's in the winter.

 

[ajhbubs84]

"Brown jacket, green jacket, who gives a s*&!."

As long as an instructor can provide quality flight training and project confidence, clothing style should not be an issue. I have trained in many environments, from tie and slacks to shorts and tee shirt. I know when my student was "throughly" going through that check list today and we were sitting on the ramp in 115 degree heat I was thankful to be in shorts in a T-shirt.

If you are a good CFI, after that first flight, the student will look right past what you are wearing and at the professionalism displayed through the skills you have earned.

The time will come for the tie and stripes again, but sure as hell not when it is in a C-172.

 

[sargeanb]

We wear the full stripes and tie in the winter, and polo shirts and black pants/dress shoes in the summer. Something that used to drive me nuts was my first instructor here, decked out in the full uniform, with his "soul patch," and spitting his chew in a bottle the whole time we flew...it's more how you act than the way you dress. We had a BBQ last month and we all came to work in Hawaiian shirts...it was nice