Flyboy.

X Wing Pilot – A pilot, sometimes called a flyboy, directly controlled the operation of a vehicle while located within the same craft. A pilot was often assisted by a copilot, navigator, astromech droid, weapons officer, or other crew members. The term “pilot” was applied across vehicles used on land or in water, air, and/or space. The military designation for a pilot was PL-1. Whether this applied to all pilots or only starfighter pilots is unknown. On smaller ships, the word pilot and captain were interchangeable, but on larger vessels, the pilots were rarely the commanders of the vessels. 

Rebel Legion web site

When I bought my X-Wing Pilot's Helmet at Disneyland, Karli suggested that it would be a great start to a costume, a sentiment that I cautiously agreed with after giving it a bit of thought. However, she immediately raised the ante by commenting that Hallowe'en was only a couple of weeks away, which added a degree of deadline pressure that I hadn't originally had in mind.

But, maybe it's more practical than I think. What's actually involved in creating a Star Wars Rebel pilot costume? How hard can it be?

The basics are easy to find through Google™ as per the reference shot above: an orange flight suit, black boots and gauntlets, the white flak vest, that Darth-Vader style chest box, and those weird belts/straps on the legs* - and the helmet, of course, which I don't have to worry about.

It would cost a bit of money, but most of it would be simple enough: orange coveralls are common, boots are boots, I'd probably make the flak vest out of foam and glue on white nylon material (I can't sew), and strapping material is easy to get at Home Depot. The little chest box would involve some construction, but nothing insurmountable, or I could buy either an Etsy duplicate or a 3D printing template if I decided to invest money rather than time.

But, as always, the devil is in the details, and if you want to pass muster with the Rebellion, there are actually a LOT of details involved in producing a flight-ready uniform that will get you admission to an X-Wing cockpit.

In this case, it's not actually the Rebellion, it's the Rebel Legion, an international organization of Star Wars Rebel, Resistance and Jedi cosplayers (as opposed - literally - to the 501st Legion, which is made up of Imperial, First Order, Sith and bounty hunter cosplayers).  In order to join the Rebel Legion, you need a professional quality film-accurate costume - and they do mean accurate.

The Rebel Legion is very specific regarding the criteria for an acceptable flight suit costume.  VERY specific.  For example, here are the specifications for the white flak vest:

The entire list of requirements can be read here.  Apparently I was wrong, boots are not just boots.

There's some variation from movie to movie: Luke's pilot's uniform from the encounter on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back is a two-piece combo, and the belts and other accessories are very different from his uniform from A New Hope. In Rogue One, General Antoc Merrick's flight suit is dark blue with ribbed white sleeve appliques, and has a modified flak vest. Regardless, the standards are equally strict.

However, to quote Terry Pratchett, what an insult to the rich and chaotic variety of human experience!**  Surely there must have been some individuality in the Rebel pilot corps - coveralls that were permanently stained by coolant leaks and singed by cockpit fires, someone refusing to give up the battered but functional life support unit that saved their life during the Battle of Yavin, Biggs always forgetting to wear his leg emergency flares, and all the other little real-world quirks that would vary from the strict specifications set out by the Legion.

The final resolution to all of this is that I'm unlikely to pull together an X-Wing pilot's costume for Hallowe'en, regardless of canon accuracy, although the resources to enable such a costume are certainly in existence.  And, ultimately, I'm somewhat inclined to agree with a comment that I read in one of the user's groups that I visited while doing the research for this posting:

"If you show up with the helmet and orange coveralls, you're 70% there."

- Sid

P.S. If anyone reading this is aware of a good source for affordable near-canon orange flight suits, please leave a comment with a link, it would be greatly appreciated.

* These are apparently ejection straps.

** Feat of Clay

Disney 2022: "I am one with the Force"

"Does that thing get smaller?"

TSA officer, LAX

It's Friday morning. We're packing up for our post-Disney flight back to Canada, and I'm facing the consequences of my actions: I have to get a light saber and an X-Wing flight helmet past airport security, onto an airplane, and through Canadian customs.

Fortunately, the flight helmet fits in my carry on bag, although it's a tight fit.  (I considered wearing it if it didn't fit in my bag - I can only wonder how that would have been received by the good people of the TSA.)  I'm more concerned about the light saber, which I have to carry loose. Logically, I should be fine.  People travel with canes all the time, it's about the same scale, it really shouldn't matter that it lights up and makes whooshing noises*, but somehow, somehow, I'm just not as confident as I'd like to be. 

The TSA agent at the airport doesn't love the fact that I want to run this thing through her scanner, but I wedge it into my bag at an angle that satisfies her concerns, and away it goes.  

It comes out the other side, and nothing happens.  I'm more than surprised - I expected that someone would at least want to look at the helmet just to see what the hell that thing was that they were just looking at.

Ironically, Karli’s bag is hand checked and run through the scanner twice - is Disney popcorn is more suspicious than a flight helmet and a light saber? It turns out that she's left her iPad in her shoulder bag, which you don’t have to pull out at YVR security.  No blood no foul, they scan her bag again and we're both through.

The next hurdle is boarding - as with so many flights, Westjet is cracking down on oversized carry-on luggage, and I’m extremely aware that my flight helmet makes my bag too wide to fit in the bag measuring device - and I can’t check it, I’m completely certain that the massed weight of the other luggage would crack the helmet like an egg. Again, I suppose I could wear it if I had to, but there would probably be some questions.  That sort of thing is charming if you’re ten, less so at 61.

To my astonished relief, the gate crew never even glances at my bag in their rush to board the flight, which is only about ten minutes behind schedule (it may help that we’re in the exit row, hard to say.) Regardless, there are times when you take the money and run, no need to question good luck.

The flight attendant waiting at our seats for the emergency exit orientation cheerfully comments, “Ah, a light saber!” To which I reply, “I hope the Force is with me and it doesn’t get broken up here!” as I put the hilt on top on Karli’s bag, with the blade over my bag. That still leaves about eight inches exposed, but the flight attendant promises to keep an eye on it, lord knows how. Fingers crossed, I settle into my seat and buckle up. At this point, I’ve done well - security and boarding are out of the way, all we need is a bit of luck and no serious turbulence on the flight.

195 uneventful minutes later, we touch down on the tarmac at YVR. The landing is a bit rough, which worrries me. The seat belt light goes off, I stand up, carefully open the bin, and all appears good. I can’t test functionality just yet, but at least nothing has shifted and broken the plastic blade. I’m actually a bit relieved that this isn’t a full length creation from Savi's Workshop at Galaxy's Edge, it must be nerve-racking to consign a $249 USD light saber to the whims of the luggage bin gods.

Canadian Customs shows no interest in our luggage - NEXUS was probably one of our best purchasing decisions in recent years. Karli's mother and stepfather pick us up and drop us off, we unlock the front door, Jaq the Cat suggests that it is dinnertime NOW, and we're home.  I release the light saber from the improvised elastic bindings on my shoulder bag, switch it on, and success, everything is in working order, and the helmet is also undamaged by its experience - apparently the Force is with me after all.

- Sid

* I used to know someone who used the word "VON" to emulate the sound of the light saber swinging through the air.  Try this at home if you'd like.

Disney 2022: TANSTAAFL.

There are times during our Disneyland visit when I'm depressed by the high cost of doing business with Disney. The assault on your wallet is relentless: very little is free at Disneyland - and all the souvenir pricing is at the low end of wincing.

I mention this to Karli and she agrees wholeheartedly.

"They could give away something simple and cheap, it would be easy.  One of the characters could just walk up to you and say, 'Here, have a balloon.'  Or popcorn, popcorn is really cheap to make, they could easily give away free popcorn."

I appreciate that Disney is a business and needs to make money, but part of me feels that Disney must have all the money in the world at this point - isn't some room in there for free popcorn?

- Sid