Warplanes: Fireproofing Fliers

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July 8 2006: The U.S. Air Force is in the final stages of testing a new flight suit and, perhaps more importantly, a new high-tech T-shirt. This undergarment uses a fire-resistant, high tech ("meta-aramid") fibers that wick sweat away from the body, cooling the wearer. The new flight suit is basically the same design as the current one, but uses the new, fire-resistant material. It also uses a new shade of green (sage, actually, or "Freedom Sage"). The testing of the new flight suit mainly seeks to discover if the new material results in any meaningful changes in how the suit wears and feels. The new undershirt addresses crew complaints that they have been forbidden to wear many of the popular commercial T-shirts with wicking and cooling properties. It was discovered that these shirts used polyester fabrics that were very flammable. Not a good thing for people working on aircraft that tend to burn if broken, or even just bounced around a bit too much.

 

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