Been the closest to I have been to nosing over so far, because of my very comfy fat-soled sneakers. Haven't worn them before when flying, but forgot to put on the light boots I usually fly in. I don't have "flying shoes/boots", but I have a set of light boots I like because when I land somewhere they are nice for doing a little exploring on foot. The sneakers, Brooks Caldera, looks a little bit stupid, but they are veeery comfy so who cares. But they made me ride the brakes when I thought I wasn't. Came in slowish but with the tail up, and as soon as the wheels touched it jerked forward quite a bit. I was flying alone and had nothing in the back seat or the baggage hold. It probably felt a lot worse than it really was. I later tried shifting my feet so I didn't ride the brakes, but that position felt very awkward.

Common sense really, but I didn't think it'd make that much of a difference. I'll be a bit more concious about what I wear. Anyone got specific footwear for flying?

Maybe I'm in the minority, but generally I wear leather boots, typically military style. After many days of my life in the outdoors, tennis shoe types just don't seem good if you were to go down in the boonies. Just my opinion. Having said that, I generally wear old tennis shoes when I am on floats. No worries when I have to step off floats into the water as they dry easier.

I just feel a leather boot will be much better in a survival situation or have a fire. Hands and feet being burned are not something I care to deal with if stranded. Lots of people suggest carrying them and wearing lighter shoes, but I feel the chances of actually being able to retrieve and swap to a heavier shoe is not that do able in a crash situation. Anyway, that's my mindset.


As MTV and others have stated in other threads, when the worst happens, your survival gear is what is on your body.....the stuff you can retrieve from the plane is a luxury.

What are your rudder pedals shaped like, and where do you position your feet on them?

I’ve always just worn trail runner type shoes (Salomon XA Pro in summer and XA Pro 3D in winter.) The one time early in my flying career when I landed a 172 with the brakes applied was due to poor foot positioning on the pedal.

Balls of your feet on the base of the pedal for all modes of flight except slow taxi helps prevent applying brakes. If you do need to get on them during landing it’s a quick slide up so you can rotate your ankle. If you’ve got your feet in a position where you can apply brake pressure at any time, it could be a bad time.

The flight school at Twin Oaks in Oregon used to rent a CubCrafters Sport Cub and tailwheel students put it on its nose no less than 6 times. I’m convinced it was because of the toe brakes and improper foot position on the pedals. They’d panic and go for hard rudder input and get a load of brake. Not so much an issue with good old heel brakes.

And somehow guys with bunny boots in interior Alaska made Cessna taildragger pedals work.

And I’m sure there are advanced STOL techniques that require landing with brakes on but TBH I don’t want any part of that.

TL;DR it’s not your shoes, it’s your technique.

A longer version of this TED Talk can be found in my dissertation on Rudder Pedal Foot Positioning on file with the Oregon State University College of Engineering Graduate Studies Library.

Yup, I have to fly tailwheel with a particular pair of adidas. I have two pairs just in case. I’ve tried with sandals, bare feet, and boots but it felt too out of control for me with not enough friction on the pedal. Never had brake problems but I have a heavy wagon and a little J3 with heel brakes.

Sure, my technique leaves a bit to be desired! The Calderas are not so wild that I could not fly with them with a bit of training. But they are different enough from my other shoes (I have a bunch of trailrunning shoes, but the Calderas were my first with a really fat sole. Did not like them at all for running, but they are super nice for everyday use. Less frowned upon than my yellow crocs).

I try and keep my toes on the rudder and not up on the brakes. The Calderas sole is so big that when I keep my feet like this, I am on the brakes anyway. Moving my feet far enough back to get off the brakes, makes it feel like kicking with the tip of my toe, like a toddler playing soccer, and not pushing down. It´s just awkward is all.

Technique can probably make almost anyhing work, but some things will still be less ideal.

I agree with WWhunter about leather boots. Just not the heavy ones I use when hiking with a big backpack.

When I was struggling to ever keep the damn thing straight I flew a lot in Converse All Stars. I liked the super thin soles. Now I pretty much fly in anything, but yes, boots over the mountains. I use brakes when I need them, at anytime the wheels are on the ground, and assume that is normal in a 170?

Just building an experimental Supercub, and that will be All Stars to begin with. A little nervous about the heel brakes.

ington6 wrote:Yup, I have to fly tailwheel with a particular pair of adidas. I have two pairs just in case. I’ve tried with sandals, bare feet, and boots but it felt too out of control for me with not enough friction on the pedal. Never had brake problems but I have a heavy wagon and a little J3 with heel brakes.

IM GLAD I'M NOT THE ONLY ONE.

All these salty dogs flying in hiking boots. Meanwhile if I'm not wearing Sperry's or barefoot I'm totally out of control.

When I first got my 180 I would only fly with light flexible shoes. Now with about 1000 hrs of tailwheel time, it doesn't bother me to fly in leather "stiff" boots.

That being said, I like flying with smaller shoes.

Ditto with WWHUNTER'S comment on leather boots. While crashes are in the flight plan, stuff happens. I want ankle support in the woods, and if there's a post crash fire or an inflight engine fire I'd like to avoid charring my feet. I don't do the extreme of nomex gloves tucked over a fire shirt, but I also won't wear synthetics in an airplane. Radiant heat can melt synthetics too... it doesn't take flames to shape shift clothing to molten goo.

I've got a great recommendation for you guys.

Zzz wrote:I've got a great recommendation for you guys.

Perfect! Do they come in nomex?

I guess if being worried about burning my feet in the post crash fire was high enough on my list of concerns I probably wouldn't be taking my wife and kids flying and I would take up a new hobby. "Ok everyone! let's get into our boots, helmet and Nomex suits and so we can go flying!! Oh don't worry it will be fun!" We all make different risk judgements I guess.

It would seem the more important thing would be to not wear shoes that interferes with the brakes when landing, and that is something we have to do most every flight hopefully. In my plane I do try to think to have my heels on the floor.

For various reasons, my flying footwear isn't highly consistent. I do aim to consistently perform a GUMPS check on approach to landing. Personally, Undercarriage includes a quick brake (and rudder) check, directly followed by settling my heels and balls of my feet into a landing posture, and keeping them there. Engrained habit and muscle memory has probably saved my butt when flying in weird footwear.

-DP

My landing check on down wind is FFFF.

Fuel
Flaps
Fifty MPH
Feet...off the brakes

I like to use hiking boots or Bunny Boots when flying. With the cub and heal brakes it is never a issue but with the Cessna it is a bigger issue. I carry the bunny boots when needed and keep the tops of my hiking boots laced loose so I have good ankle control. You have to train yourself to keep the foot fully dorsal flexed on landing so you do not hit the toe brakes. It is not hard once you get used to it. With all do respect to Mike and others just sliding the toe up sounds good but once you have full rudder in it does not slide all that easy and takes time. On big wide runways not a big deal give up some rudder to reposition the foot, but in the narrow crap it could cost you. See if you have any adjustment at the pedal that would make it easier for rudder usage without brake application. Putting the seat back should reduce the foot angle and that may help.
DENNY

Call me crazy… but I find I can fly in any shoe.

But my fav is flip flops.

Seating position can be huge....ankles only articulate so much, ya know.

I flew with bunny boots in winter in Cessnas, Cubs and Huskys, hip boots most summers, etc, and never a problem.....keep your foot as far down on the pedal as practical. Nowadays, I almost always fly with light hiking boots. The point isn't necessarily to avoid fire, it's to be functional if I have to land somewhere I didn't plan to. Lots of things besides crashes can precipitate parking somewhere unplanned. Fairly lightweight hiking boots serve well in most environments and arent' so huge as to be cumbersome.

I have found that the later Cessna pedals, made of some sort of plastic, actually make life a LOT easier when it comes to braking. They have a longer cross beam at the bottom, which sticks out further. Put your foot on that, and it will generally keep your toe off the brake.

My 170 rudder pedals wore out, and had been bushed till they were junk. I replaced with a brand new set of those late model Cessna pedals. It made it a whole different plane on landings.

Oh, and BTW, my feet are 8 EEEE Sort of duck like, but since they're not very long, less risk of getting onto the tops of the pedals.

Best of all, however, FLY the plane. Dancing on pedals may seem cool, but smooth and solid works for me. Just stay ahead of it.

MTV

I usually wear my New Balance running shoes when flying. I’m not a runner, they’re just what I wear when I’m neither working nor formal. When working I wear Whites, which are heavy leather lace up boots. I’ve flown with those on too, but you definitely don’t have as much of a feel on the pedals.

Most important is to reposition my feet before landing to avoid being on the brakes. I wear size 16 shoes so the “toe brakes” aren’t at my toes in a normal seated position. Like someone else said, it’s essentially become a part of the pre landing checklist to reset my feet on the floor for proper rudder/brake pressure, regardless of what footwear I have on.

DENNY wrote:.....See if you have any adjustment at the pedal that would make it easier for rudder usage without brake application....

My 53 C180 has the same style rudder pedals as did my old C170,
but with the 180 I found that putting in full rudder tended to also self-apply the brake
when my feet were all the way up on the pedals.
Different pedal angle, maybe?
I added little teak pads on the lower rudder pedals that fixed the problem.
FWIW I've seen a few other 180's fittted with something similar.

Hotrod 180 has the best answer to the issue I have ever seen if you can't manually adjust the pedal angle.
DENNY