SkyLogic

No, this is not sponsored. Just my honest thoughts on what every airline pilot should carry in their flight bag besides the essentials like documents, iPad, chargers, safety vest, etc.

1. Quality Aviation Headset

First things first. EVERY pilot should have a quality aviation headset. This one is a no brainer. My go to is the Bose A20 headset. I still remember to this day, putting those bad boys on for the first time in a Cessna 172 and activating the noise cancelling. It was a night and day difference from the crappy starter student pilot headset I had beforehand. The peace and quiet made flying feel like a blissful dream.

Still the best

Fast forward almost 6 years later, and I still have my trusty A20’s in my flight bag while flying a much larger jet. Sure, I’ve had to replace a few bits and pieces like the cable assembly and the ear pads, but it was covered for 5 years under the warranty. It saddened me to see they stopped making replacement parts, most likely in an effort to sell the new A30‘s. But I’m holding on to these until I can’t anymore.

Bose has been known to have great customer service, and will replace parts under warranty often with no questions asked. When my cable stopped working years ago, they sent me a whole new cable ($200 value) for free.

Other options

Regardless of whether you have the A20’s or not, Active Noise Reduction (ANR) is a no brainer to me no matter what you fly. Go with some Bose ProFlight’s if you prefer the in-ear type of headset. Or maybe some David Clark’s if you’re looking some smaller over-the-ear headsets. Lightspeed Zulu’s get phenomenal reviews as well (if your company does not care about TSO approval). One thing is for certain, do not be the guy that wears the ship headset. The headsets that are on the aircraft are missing the microphone cover/windscreen and can become very annoying (for BOTH pilots) after hours in flight.

2. Sunglasses (but not just any sunglasses)

This one took me a while to figure out what I really wanted. But I finally have it nailed down. I never really was an “aviator” style sunglasses guy. There is nothing wrong with wearing them, and I am sure they are great to fly with. But to me, it almost felt too cliche to wear aviator sunglasses as a pilot. It’s like someone is trying to scream “I’m a pilot!” if they wear aviators. They were cool back in the day when it was just pilots that wore them. Now it seems like everyone wears them just to look cool.

The Dilemma

So for a while, my go-to sunglasses were Ray-Ban Clubmasters. I liked the look of them, and I was able to find some with a thin enough frame where they did not dig into my head too badly. However, even with the thin frame, they got uncomfortable after long flying days.

The moment that switched me away from these, and about 90% of sunglass styles was pretty recent; I was flying a takeoff and the sun was just starting to rise. The sun was at the perfect angle where it shined directly into the side of my face, into the gap between the sunglass lenses and my eyes. I realized this happened quite often while flying.

Not to mention, when we went into clouds or it got slightly darker out, the tint of the sunglasses made it almost too dark in the cockpit.

The Gold Standard

How did I tackle these issues? I got myself a pair of Flying Eyes Golden Eagle Sport sunglasses. Absolute game changer. They have a super thin 1mm frame that you forget you are wearing. And they also wrap around my face and cover the sides as well. They have a gradient lens to make viewing the instruments easier. No, they were not cheap. $250 to be exact. But to me this was well worth the investment since I wear sunglasses constantly at work. They also are not my typical style in terms of looks. But in the cockpit, who cares about looks?

3. Deadphones

Yes, I made that word up. But it is really just the combination of “deadhead” and “headphones”. Listen, you’re going to get an unexpected deadhead sometimes and you have GOT to be prepared. Get yourself some nice ANR headphones or earphones to listen to music/movies/shows on your deadhead.

What do I use?

I got some Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless headphones a couple years ago and have not looked elsewhere. I put them on and feel like I’m in my own world on a deadhead. They have fantastic noise cancelling that honestly feels just as good as the Bose A20’s in my experience. And they have amazing sound quality and battery life that can last me several trips. Can’t ask for much more than that. I usually keep these in my carry-on bag with my clothes to save space then I move them to my flight bag when a deadhead or commute comes up.

AirPods

If you prefer lower profile wireless earbuds, you can’t go wrong with AirPods or similar. But to me it is hard to beat the sound quality that comes with over-the-ear headphones.

Let us know in the comments what you use for listening devices!

4. Snacks

Speaking of being prepared, you need to be ready when you have a 4am van, no time to get breakfast, and a long day ahead of you. Heck, when that maintenance delay hits and you are sitting around for hours, you definitely need some food. Pack some quality snacks that are not those unhealthy airplane snacks. I like to bring breakfast bars, trail mix, almonds, and beef sticks. If you bring a cooler bag with some ice packs in it, maybe even bring some carrots to snack on. These snacks fill me up a little more than your typical chips or pretzels and they can usually hold me over until the next meal.

I am going to do another blog about eating healthy as an airline pilot. I’ve seen too many guys/gals go down the path of constantly eating airport food or snacks from the airplane. There is nothing wrong with that, we all do it. Sometimes you have no choice. But making a constant habit out of it can be detrimental to your health. This blog will include my personal ways to get around this habit.

5. Flashlight

This one is more for my FO’s out there. The ship flashlight does not cut it for doing a late night or early morning walk-around. The thing is about the brightness of a candlestick. Go on Amazon and get yourself any LED flashlight and I can almost guarantee whatever you pick will be brighter than that ship flashlight. The last thing you want is a call from the Chief Pilot’s office saying there was a bird strike on your aircraft that you did not see.

Conclusion

There you have it, 5 things you should always have in your flight bag as an airline pilot. Let us know in the comments if you carry any other noteworthy items in your flight bag, we are always happy to listen. Stay tuned for the next blog!