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Everything an F/A-18 Fighter Pilot Wears in the Cockpit
From the HGU-68/P tactical helmet to the steel-toed, ejection-safe boots. Dan KitwoodGetty Images
Like motorcyclists, U.S. Navy pilots “dress for the slide, not the ride.” Their gear is meant for frost, flames, and flotation. Even the very first pilot to operate from a ship carried safety equipment: Eugene Ely, attempting his landing on the deck of the armored cruiser USS
Pennsylvania in 1911, took the controls of his Curtiss Pusher wearing a leather football helmet, bug-eyed motoring goggles, and a makeshift life vest fashioned from bicycle inner tubes.