Flight Clothing Evolution

Lieutenant Theodore “Spuds” Ellyson wears civilian clothes prior to a flight in a Curtiss pusher aircraft.

The old saying “the clothes make the man” refers to appearance.  However, when the Navy’s first aviator, Lieutenant Theodore G. “Spuds” Ellyson, wrote a letter to the Navy Department about flight clothing on September 16, 1911, he sought function over form.

The Navy previously outlined the requirements for flight clothing.  Officers specified a helmet with detachable goggles or visor and leather coat and trousers, but had put in place no way to provide them. Early photographs taken during Ellyson’s early training and test flights show him wearing civilian clothes and even a full dress uniform while at the controls! Left to his own devices, he outlined in his letter plans to purchase his own flight gear out of pocket (some of which he did from Brooks Brothers) and asked the Navy to reimburse him. At the time, a Navy lieutenant’s pay was about $200 a month.

Today, the Navy provides flight gear for its aviators. Since Ellyson’s time it has evolved with technology, a far cry from what he could purchase off the shelf more than a century ago. Today, the “the clothes make the man … and woman,” protecting them when aloft and also projecting an image of what service in Naval Aviation is all about.

Lieutenant Theodore "Spuds" Ellyson wears civilian clothes prior to a flight in a Curtiss pusher aircraft.
A World War I-era aviator wears a leather flight suit, boots and helmet along with gloves. As open-cockpit aircraft flew increasingly higher, aviators required better protective gear to protect them against the cold.
Ensign Robert F. Buche wears a style of leather flight jacket popular with airship pilots and transport pilots during World War II.
Lieutenant Commander John S. "Jimmy" Thach wears a "Mae West" life vest, helmet and goggles. In the first decades of Naval Aviation history, aviators regularly wore ties when flying.
Members of Fighting Squadron (VF) 10 gathered in the squadron's ready room on board USS Enterprise (CV 6) during World War II.
Members of Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron (VMTB) 232 wear flight gear typical of that worn by Naval Aviators during World War II. Note the scoreboard touting the squadron's combat record.
A World War II TBM Avenger pilot wears the the iconic G-1 flight jacket that remains a prized possession for any Naval Aviator.
A plane captain straps in the pilot of an F4U Corsair prior to a mission from USS Boxer (CV 21) during the Korean War, 1951.
Future Chief of Naval Operations Admiral James L. Holloway wore this summer weight flight jacket while serving as a lieutenant commander in Attack Squadron (VA) 3A during the late 1940s.
Record-setting F4H Phantom II aircrew pictured wearing Mark IV full pressure suits. Future Apollo astronaut Dick Gordon stands third from the right.
Regulations today limit the patches allowed on G-1 flight jackets, but for decades one could trace an aviator's career by looking at the insignia on his/her leather flight jacket.
Captain Jane S. O'Dea, one of the first group of females designated as Naval Aviators, wore this flight jacket during her Navy career.
Lieutenant (junior grade) Sarah Alexandre, a pilot assigned to Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron (HSC) 4, stows flight gear in a paraloft following flight operations aboard the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson (CVN 70), January 7, 2017.
An aviator assigned to Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX) 9 wearing modern flight gear looks out the canopy of his F/A-18F Super Hornet as he conducts a maneuver above the south end of Panamint Valley near China Lake, California, September 7, 2005.