A question for all of the ferry pilots out there.

[FloridaPilot]

I have been on a You Tube frenzy watching ferry pilots cross the Atlantic from Goose Bay to Greenland, Iceland and Scotland. I noticed pilots wear Red Installation suits which from my scuba diving experience looks a lot like a dry suit. I was wondering is this a law because of insurance? I get that it's dangerous to cross the Atlantic in a single but what about a TBM for example? Do they have to wear one as well?


Thank you in advance for the info.

 

[Fearless Tower]

Haven't seen the videos, but are they wearing the big red 'Gumby' suits? Or are they wearing dry suits?

I can't imagine flying while wearing a cold weather exposure suit (i.e. Gumby suit). The dry suit on the other hand is pretty standard to buy you time in the water against hypothermia. Navy pilots (both fixed wing and helo) are required to wear the dry suits under their flight suits in the winter.

You pretty much need to be wearing the suit before you get into the airplane for it to be if any use. Not really feasible to don in flight.

 

[FloridaPilot]

Haven't seen the videos, but are they wearing the big red 'Gumby' suits? Or are they wearing dry suits?

I can't imagine flying while wearing a cold weather exposure suit (i.e. Gumby suit). The dry suit on the other hand is pretty standard to buy you time in the water against hypothermia. Navy pilots (both fixed wing and helo) are required to wear the dry suits under their flight suits in the winter.

You pretty much need to be wearing the suit before you get into the airplane for it to be if any use. Not really feasible to don in flight.

Yeah it's an immersion suit and it is used for the trip across the Atlantic. Is there a law saying you have to use it? Do you have to wear it flying a TBM?

 

[Anymouse]

Haven't flown a single across the pond yet, but when I flew the Casa across (a few times) I never wore the suit. They were in unopened bags in the back of the plane.

 

[Katamarino]

I wore a drysuit whenever I crossed the North Sea solo, but not with passengers. Haven't bothered with one when crossing the Med. I'll definitely wear one for the Atlantic when I do that. Not sure about the Pacific yet.

 

[StinkBug]

Don't think it's a law, but if you were to have a problem resulting in a water landing you would have a real hard time putting the suit on before freezing to death. That's why people wear them.