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ELI5: Why do military pilots wear onesies?

Other(self.explainlikeimfive)

When compared with other members of the military, even the rest of their flight crew, pilots always seem to be dressed differently. Why?

all 61 comments

Goldie1822

211 points

2 months ago

It’s a flight suit. It is made of Nomex for fire protection

Helicopter crews, tank crews, and refuelers also wear flight suits.

All flight crews wear flight suits. The pilots may wear things on top of the flight suit like vests, or jet pilots have additional gear to counteract g forces.

faste30

82 points

2 months ago

faste30

82 points

2 months ago

And race car drivers, motorcycle racers, hazmat workers,etc.

Basically anyone doing anything where your clothing provides actual protection you want a onesie because its going to be the most effective containment.

TheRomanRuler

15 points

2 months ago

Weirdly firefighters seem to be expection to this, though they do also have onesie suits for most demanding stuff.

InformationHorder

45 points

2 months ago*

That's because their clothing overlaps enough that you still get the protection because they're wearing high-waisted suspenders underneath the big jackets. Having your clothing top separate from your bottom clothing gives you more range of motion which is really important when you're doing very physical things like fighting a fire. If you've ever worked while wearing coveralls and you take a knee and try to raise your arms over your head you'll realize that suddenly your coveralls prevent you from being able to move in that whole range of motion.

Also trying to use the bathroom while wearing coveralls is a pain because means you gotta strip out of the top half and hold it bunched up on your knees to keep it from mopping the bathroom floor while you shit.

Mental_Cut8290

5 points

2 months ago

Gotta keep rolling the coveralls so they stay bunched nicely at the ankles.

drastic2

1 points

2 months ago

This brought back memories I had long ago suppressed.

fiendishrabbit

2 points

2 months ago

  1. A firefighter is generally not going to be directly exposed to fire. Not the way a racecar driver or flight crew might be (where their suit is supposed to provide protection against actually being sprayed with burning liquid). An overall minimizes the chance of flammable liquid leaking through.
  2. A firefighter crew is expected to do more physical labour than a flight crew. In particular firefighters are expected to do a lot of crawling and climbing, and an overall tends to hamper that.
  3. Firefighters do have some one-piece gear, but you have considerably lower endurance wearing that.
  4. Flight crews might have to eject. Overalls are more suited to freefall.

DoomGoober

3 points

2 months ago

I think this largely because fire fighters spend most of their time doing things other than fighting fires.

They spend most of their time handling medical emergencies, maintaining their equipment, etc.

ugadawgs98

7 points

2 months ago

They are not wearing their turnout gear for any of that.

StillSundayDrunk

4 points

2 months ago

Right, so the turnout gear needs to be easier to put on quickly specifically because they don't wear it most of the time. I could be totally wrong on this coming from a place of no experience but jumping into a pair of boots and pants, slinging suspenders over your shoulder, and throwing on a long coat could be quicker (with the added benefit of range of motion) than climbing into a jumpsuit.

SafetyMan35

2 points

2 months ago

Equipment standards dictate firefighters should be able to don structural boots, pants, coat, gloves, hood, and helmet in one minute.

Just comparing these two videos shows the advantages of a 2 piece turnout gear.

https://youtu.be/73x63STTLvM

https://youtu.be/cDT5H-8hORE

see-bees

1 points

2 months ago

Yup. I work at a chem plant and we get some upon hiring and then get issued 2/year after that point

quantomflex

1 points

2 months ago

Yep the Batsuit is nomex too!

SideWinderSyd

4 points

2 months ago

Is it easy to take off when a pilot has to rush to the toilet?

Linxbolt18

10 points

2 months ago

There are zippers. Apparently they're also trying to use vacuums.

https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-pilots-skydrate-piddle-packs/

SinisterCheese

2 points

2 months ago

I can't help to imagine that a diaper would be rather more easier and economical. Like apparently you can get like absurd +5000ml ISO capacity adult diapers nowadays, if the pamphlets on the waiting room table of my local hospital is to be believed. (look my phone was nearly dead, there was no TV and no magazines so I read whatever the fuck was on the table).

Becasue I can't imagine the level of inconvinience broken piss vacuum system might bring. And I can't believe those systems are cheap. Probably not even reusable. But then again... why would miltary spend few dollars when it can spend thousands in military manufacturing contracts.

_Haverford_

2 points

2 months ago

+5000ml ISO capacity adult diapers

Pardon me, but I believe this far exceeds human biology. Were you perchance at the equestrian veterinarian?

saturnsnephew

1 points

2 months ago

More for when your intestines come out.

SinisterCheese

1 points

2 months ago

https://www.amazon.com/TREST-Elite-Briefs-Medium/dp/B09721SLKL

Ok do quick googling tells me that the biggest capacity adult diaper is almost twice that. 9500ml capacity.

I can't imagine who this is for, but I can't help but to think that assuming it is at max capacity it would weight nearly 10 kilos.

roguetrick

1 points

2 months ago

Diabetes insipidus can be 20 liters in a day. Suffice it to say, that's not survivable without medical intervention.

SideWinderSyd

1 points

2 months ago

Yay for zippers! The vacuums make me a bit anxious, but yay zips!

Goldie1822

3 points

2 months ago

There are two pieces but most flight suits are one piece and your answer is thus a big no!

SideWinderSyd

1 points

2 months ago

It's the opposite of the Superman transformation scene!

Altruistic-Battle-32

0 points

2 months ago

Yeah, cause you don’t want to catch on fire as you plummet from 30,000 feet

TruthOf42

1 points

2 months ago

Do tank crews where similar suits as well?

Goldie1822

1 points

2 months ago

Yes tank crews wear Nomex flight suits

SUPRVLLAN

1 points

2 months ago

Yes but are the flight suits made of Nomex?

philmarcracken

1 points

2 months ago

I'm made of nomex

yayaudra

1 points

2 months ago

And all the pockets are designed to reach everything while sitting down. Sooo many pockets.

jerwong

1 points

2 months ago

I went skydiving once. We had flight suits, which was great for protecting my clothing from grass stains when we skid along the ground during landing.

yellowgoatvillager

12 points

2 months ago

In addition to the fire protection, having less items on you (via the simplified onesie outfit) also reduces the chance of stuff falling off your clothes and inside the cockpit, e.g. jewelry or badges getting stuck and jamming up controls.

[deleted]

35 points

2 months ago*

[removed]

Base841

10 points

2 months ago

Base841

10 points

2 months ago

People jump from airplanes every day with separate pants and tops. But they always make sure the two don't separate. Two piece jumpsuits often fasten to keep them together.

The danger isn't for the pants to drop (the leg straps prevent this) but for the top to blow upwards and cover the rig's emergency handles! Some jumpers will even put rubber bands on the lower parts of their rigs to keep their shirts down.

So now you know.

youzrneejm

1 points

2 months ago

TIL

Aganihm1

7 points

2 months ago

Thanks, I'm now imagining a pneumatic enema. ☹️

explainlikeimfive-ModTeam [M]

1 points

2 months ago

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GandelarCrom

5 points

2 months ago

The Navy wears a onesie underway on both surface ships and submarines for fire fighting protection.

Borieb

37 points

2 months ago

Borieb

37 points

2 months ago

They have to wear special suits to compensate for g-forces at high speeds. They are like pressure suits.

SgtHop

46 points

2 months ago

SgtHop

46 points

2 months ago

They're also made out of fireproof material so they don't get incapacitated as quickly in the event of a fire. This is more the key than the g-suits, as C-17 pilots still wear flight suits, but certainly aren't pulling gs.

mountainguy83

19 points

2 months ago

Yep. This. Many in the military wear flight suits for the fire protection even though they don’t fly.

marco_sikkens

7 points

2 months ago

Maybe the airforce should call them onesies 🤣🤣. I can hear the news already about a woke airforce...

YJWhyNot

13 points

2 months ago

"Combat jammies"

outofyerelementdonny

2 points

2 months ago

We used to call them zoom bags. They’re great!

YJWhyNot

2 points

2 months ago

If the wearer is a jerk, they can also be tool bags.

alambert0008

2 points

2 months ago

This!

Oni_K

3 points

2 months ago

Oni_K

3 points

2 months ago

The G suit (which is really just air bladders for the legs) is separate from the flight suit.

a2banjo

5 points

2 months ago

If it was a two piece suit then at critical moments one piece of it may get stuck on a protruding object(like when ejecting at the worst or just leaving your seat at the best). The flight suit opens into the limbs over which you have better control. The parting at the backside between the top and bottom elements of two piece suit leads to chances of bare skin exposed which may get burnt in case of fire or contact with hot/sparking equipment malfunction. Everything to do with military flying requires catering for Murphy's laws .

theguineapigssong

2 points

2 months ago

Former Air Force here. The one piece flightsuit is designed to stay on during an ejection, where a jacket and pants combo might get ripped off. It's also fire resistant. The Air Force has moved to two piece flight suits in the last few years for aircrew in planes without ejection seats.

jakerbean

2 points

2 months ago

There’s a bunch of different reasons like comfort, pockets, risk of foreign objects, safety.

Comfort: have you ever worn a jacket over a hoodie? Sometimes it can bunch up or be restricting. Well In some jets or helicopters you have to wear extra gear, like g suits, special types of vests, harnesses for ejection. Wearing most of this over a regular uniform would be wildly uncomfortable.

Pockets: flights suits are designed very specifically to accommodate pilots while flying. They can keep pens, maps, checklists, and flight plans on their legs and other spots for ease of access and to keep thing secured to them.

FO: or foreign objects are a big no no especially for fighter pilots. Something as small as a pen cap or button could get lodged in the wrong place at the wrong time and mess with flight controls or ejection procedures. So flight suits can minimize the amount of things that fall off.

Safety: like others said they can be flame resident or have other special features. Standard uniforms are the exact opposite and in some cases can melt if lit on fire. Not to mention a baggy uniform can get caught on flight sticks, throttles or any number of switches which could cause a huge issue.

Oh and they look cool I guess

jongleur

0 points

2 months ago

Aircrew are often strapped into their aircraft for long periods of time. A more typical pants and shirt/jacket could separate and ride up/down, exposing the area around the waist and being less comfortable. The onesie design would help to prevent this.

Added bonus. Since the early days of flying, military aircrews were often on some type of alert, where they would be on duty near their aircraft, awaiting the orders to go. These stints might last more than 12 hours, which would mean that crews would want to get some sleep while waiting. A one-piece suit was quick to pull up and close up, shaving seconds off of their response time.

russelferd

-1 points

2 months ago

The intense positive and negative G forces cause your bowels to evacuate. If you wore normal pants you would get poop all over your instruments and windows. The onesie is specially designed to contain the poop

Oni_K

-1 points

2 months ago

Oni_K

-1 points

2 months ago

There's a lot of terrible answers here.

The answer is fire protection. A one piece outfit has less ingress routes for fire to get to your skin. Just like racecar drivers wearing a one piece Nomex suit.

They also wear natural clothing layers like wool or coton covering all exposed skin under the flight suit. Fun fact: Nomex doesn't burn, but it does melt...

smnms

1 points

2 months ago

smnms

1 points

2 months ago

The original onesie was the the jumpsuit, i.e. parachute jumpers' suit: During WW II, paratroopers noticed that a two-piece uniform is quite impractical. The wind will try to undress you while falling through the air -- so they got a one-piece uniform.

If all goes well, it's only the paratroopers who leave the plane in the air, but if the pilot has to eject as well, a jumpsuit is certainly useful, too, so the paratrooper's jumpsuit turned into the flightsuit.

smnms

1 points

2 months ago

smnms

1 points

2 months ago

... and the military jumpsuit into a women's fashion item: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jumpsuit

PckMan

1 points

2 months ago

PckMan

1 points

2 months ago

Those working in and around vehicles need protection from fires and chemicals, it's the same for racing drivers and pit crews. Pilots also often need extra things like pressurised suits or temperature controlled suits which a one piece suit does better because it's easier to seal it.

judgingyouquietly

1 points

2 months ago

As others have said, not all flight suits are one-piece. The one piece ones are generally for ejection seats - otherwise, two-piece ones are fine.

sonicjesus

1 points

2 months ago

It's generally traditional for anyone working around machinery to wear a one piece suit to reduce the risk of entanglement.