Question: In many flight and pre flight scenes, Ice is shown wearing a blue collared shirt under his flight suit. Is it normal for pilots to wear street clothes under their flight suits as opposed to just an undershirt? What about pants?
James Rowell
14th Jun 2006
Top Gun (1986)
Answer: During the timeframe the movie was shot, polo shirts were authorized under flight suits. They no longer are for two reasons - 1) the buttons are a FOD (foreign object damage) hazard and 2) the v-neckish does not provide enough flame protection. However, regarding color, every navy squadron or command is authorized to choose a color for their crew/turtle neck undershirt. If a color has not been specified, the color shall be navy blue or black.
Thanks! That makes sense in the movie: You can see several other pilot / RIO pairs with the same color Polo or undershirts on (red and yellow). Also, Goose and Mav are wearing white and other pairs are wearing black.
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Answer: After being stationed onboard an Aircraft Carrier for several years I can say your observations are correct. They should have a regulation white T under there. None of the pilots I know would wear a civilian T under their flight suit because it could mark them as an American, and it could contain chemicals that in a pure oxygen environment of the flight suit could have produced fumes.
James Rowell