CFI Flight Bags

"BoDEAN" wrote in message
...
| Need a flight bag. Any suggestions from other cfi's on what they use?
| Maybe something just for the headset?

The CFI needs to travel light. For most flights, I don't even carry a
headset bag; I just walk out with headset in hand. Of course, I also carry
an extra pen, sunglasses, a couple of instrument covers, the Microlight on
my keychain, and my cell phone in my pockets. (I actually weighed all the
stuff I carry in my pockets and on my belt; it came to five pounds. No
wonder I wear out my pants so fast.) I also carry my pocket knife and I wear
my Leatherman on my belt. I make the student carry the hood if he needs one.
All the stuff I carry in my pockets goes with me wherever I go, not just
flying. The only exception is that I don't wear the Leatherman with a
business suit.

The whole effect is a slightly lumpy, nerdy appearance that seems to put
people at ease.

On cross countries I take my headset bag, which includes extra sectional and
terminal charts, a bigger flashlight, an extra aircraft checklist, and a
Western Guide. It also has extra batteries for the headset.

At night I bring a big LED flashlight.

If I am departing the local area IFR I will bring a set of my own approach
plates which I keep in a Jepp binder.

If I am taking a multi-day trip then I take my Cencal November flight bag
with my wife's headset, handheld GPS, handheld radio, Jeppesen books,
Flitestar trip kit, complete survival kit, etc. This stuff does not actually
fill the November, but the bag was on sale when I got it.

"BoDEAN" wrote in message
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| What leatherman do you have? Just curious...
|

The Supertool

"BoDEAN" wrote in message
...
| You dont keep the headsets in a bag or case?
| I wrap the cord around them now, and feel it is bad for the cord and
| the conneciton to the headset.
|

Generally not. Yes, it is bad to wrap the cord around the headset, but no
worse than the bizarre setup for the headset plugs in our school's planes,
especially the millennium edition Skyhawks and my 206.

Sky High Gear has a new bag (it's not even on their website yet) called the
Freedom VII that is designed for CFIs; it's just big enough to hold a
headset and a few other aviation essentials, but not so big that you don't
want to lug it around all day. Ballistic nylon construction with
closed-cell foam padding, good stuff. I took some pix of mine, you can see
them he http://64.203.15.42:81/shg/ I know of two places that carry
them:

Windsock Aviation & Pilot Supplies Inc
3930 Campus Drive, Newport Beach, CA 92660
(949) 263-1534

Marv Golden Discount Sales Inc
8690 Aero Drive, San Diego, CA 92123
1-800-348-0014 or www.marvgolden.com


"BoDEAN" wrote in message
...
Need a flight bag. Any suggestions from other cfi's on what they use?
Maybe something just for the headset?

$39.95 -- cheaper than that crappy Best Buy pleather camcorder bag it
replaced! :-)

Anybody in the market for a crappy Best Buy pleather camcorder bag? No
reasonable offer refused! ;-)


"BoDEAN" wrote in message
...
How much?

In article , Aloft
wrote:

$39.95 -- cheaper than that crappy Best Buy pleather camcorder bag it
replaced! :-)

WAAAAYYYY TOO MUCH MONEY!
I shop at the Eddie Bauer Outlet.
$11 buys a small duffel that will hold all the basics (two headsets,
kneeboard, GPS, charts, handheld comm, fuel sampler(s), flashlights and
more). $15 buys a medium duffel, holds even more stuff. Comes complete
with hand straps and shoulder strap.

EDR wrote:

I shop at the Eddie Bauer Outlet.

There's no comparison between Sky-High bags and Bauer. Sure, you can throw a
lot of stuff into the big pocket of a sports bag or duffel bag. Might as well
use a 5-gallon bucket. The Sky-High bags I saw at Expo are extremely well
designed and organized for pilots. They haven't just stuck their logo onto
a laptop case or sports bag (like Sporty's seems to have done).

You may not get what you pay for everywhere, but you do with Sky-High. I was
quite impressed.

George Patterson
You can dress a hog in a tuxedo, but he still wants to roll in the mud.