As a pilot, here are the key items I never fly without

Tools of the trade accompany every profession. Items that make achieving the job just a little bit easier. For a pilot, those items can be both technical and personal, but in a digital age, the one thing they are is significantly less cumbersome.

A pilot’s briefcase used to be a chunky piece of kit. A rectangular box with hard sides and gold latches protected by a three-digit code on each lock. Aircraft were designed with a space next to each flight-deck seat to house this leviathan of luggage.

Pilot’s briefcases used to be chunky – and heavy – items of baggage. Credit: iStock

These briefcases are linked to a former age of aviation, when a pilot had to be self-sufficient when they went to work. They carried hard copies of aviation charts for every airport the pilot could even potentially visit, performance charts for calculating take-off and landing figures and airline manuals outlining all the rules and procedures to follow.

Pilots would also carry what was known as an E-6B flight computer or “whizz wheel”, effectively a circular slide rule used for calculating things such as ground speed, wind correction, crosswind and fuel burn. Similar in size and shape to the protractor used for school maths, they were designed to fit neatly in a pilot’s shirt pocket.

The heavy briefcases meant the long walks through an airport terminal required regular rotation between left and right arms to avoid injury, so the digital age is kinder to the shoulder joints. Today, most airlines provide a digital tablet, with thousands of pieces of paper now reduced to their digital equivalents that can be accessed with the swipe of a finger.

Pilots typically use tablets for key documentation these days.Credit: iStock

The digital tablets now contain apps for calculating take-off and landing performance, maps of flight paths, arrival and departure charts for airports, flight plans and, if the aircraft has Wi-Fi, real-time weather reports, including forecasts of turbulence and thunderstorms. Information can also be pushed by the airline, when it was traditionally delivered in paper form by hand to the flight deck. But the iPad equivalent, is not the only carry-on for a pilot.

Some modern aircraft are relatively quiet, but others are still deceptively noisy on the flight deck. Spending up to 1000 hours every year in them can be potentially damaging to a pilot’s hearing so to guard against this, some choose to provide their own noise-cancelling headset, to dramatically reduce the impact.

Before every flight, the pilot is required to carry out a walk-around of the aircraft, essentially an inspection to ensure everything is serviceable. This means the pilot will often carry with them a high-visibility vest, a torch for night-time inspections, and another round of hearing protection for the extra noise of the airport tarmac.

Every pilot is also required by law to carry a hard copy of their pilot’s licence and a valid medical certificate and, for those pilots who have vision correction as a condition of their medical clearance, they will also carry two sets of prescription glasses – a pair and a spare. Airlines usually also require pilots to have their passports with them at all times, even domestic pilots whose chances of crossing international lines may seem remote.

You only ever forget your sunglasses once.Credit: iStock

Additionally, sunglasses are a mandatory tool of the trade given the severity of the sun glare often experienced above the clouds. You only need to forget your sunnies once to make remembering these a non-negotiable item to check before you leave home.

Sunscreen is also becoming more commonly used by pilots as the sun’s impact through the front window when cruising at 35,000 feet is significant, especially when a pilot can spend up to 1000 hours each year in that environment.

Many domestic pilots will often carry a jumper to throw over their uniform in the event flight schedules are disrupted, and crew are required to travel as passengers to another destination, sometimes referred to as “deadheading”. This rudimentary disguise also allows pilots commuting between destinations and their home cities to travel incognito as a regular passenger.

An E-6B computer, which fits neatly into a pilot’s shirt pocket.Credit: Alamy

The pilot’s bag can also carry the most essential day-to-day items. Domestic pilots are often rostered to fly a “day-trip” in which they finish where they started. However, on days when the weather forecast looks diabolical around the network they are scheduled to fly, it is not uncommon to pack a toothbrush and a change of underwear just in case they get stuck in another city that night due to disruption.

Technology has immeasurably reduced the physical number of items a pilot needs to carry with them when they go to work. It has reduced the clunky pilot briefcase to a relic of a previous age.

But for all the advancements in technology, the “whizz-wheel” gifted to me when I first obtained my pilot’s licence remains close to my heart, literally and figuratively. It still sits in my shirt pocket whenever I fly.