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Air Force fields special flight suit for JSF

Pilots flying the F-35 Lightning II are getting their own flight suit, a more comfortable one that will protect their arms if they have to eject from the stealth fighter.

The sage-green flight suit looks like the one now worn by thousands of other airmen except for no line-cutter pocket on the left leg and the addition of a removable fabric cord attached to each upper sleeve, said Cheryl Limrick, a spokeswoman for the Joint Strike Fighter program office in Arlington, Va.

Officially called the “JSF light-weight coverall,” the flight suit has been tested by designer RFD Beaufort but isn’t being worn yet by the Air Force’s handful of Joint Strike Fighter pilots, Limrick said. No date has been set for when the pilots will get the flight suit.

RFD Beaufort, a British firm specializing in aviation survival gear, is also making cold-weather, fire-retardant underwear and an anti-G vest and pants for the JSP pilots, she said. The pants will have the line-cutter pocket that was dropped from the flight suit.

Pilots wear the fabric cords only when they’re in the cockpit. The cords connect to the centerline harness buckle on the ejection seat and come into play only if the pilot starts to eject.

The cords are drawn tight once the pilot pulls the ejection seat handle between his legs and the seat begins to rocket out of the cockpit. The arm restraints prevent the pilot’s arms from flaying; contact with debris or the cockpit during a high-speed ejection can seriously injure the pilot.

Once the pilot is clear of the plane and separates from the ejection seat, his arms go free.

The flight suit is made of an improved fire-resistant fabric developed by Dupont, Limrick said. “Nomex Comfort” feels better against the skin than DuPont’s commonly used Nomex III fabric because it is made of smaller, finer filaments.

The finer filaments produce a trio of improvements:

* More of the fabric touches the skin to wick away sweat and moisture.

* Smaller threads create a smoother fabric that doesn’t run against skin, similar to why a bed sheet with high thread count is smoother than a sheet with a low thread count.

* The finer threads are more tightly woven together, making the fabric more durable. The material is less likely to pull apart at the seams or pill in areas that are rubbed against such as elbows. Airmen wearing flight suits often complain about pilling and unsightly seams.

Part of fielding the flight suit includes making sure it fits well.

Researchers from Air Force Materiel Command’s 711th Human Performance Wing spent two weeks in March at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, asking pilots to compare the fit of their current flight suit to the new flight suit, said Greg Zehner, the 711th’s anthropologist.

The team asked pilots to do several tasks such as lifting their legs or bending over to tie their shoes and rate the suit’s comfort as they moved about.

The 711th staff also measured the pilots to compare their arm length and inseam, for example, to uniform sizes.