Product Review: Piloti Spyder SV "Flying" shoes

Ok ok, these are not really flying shoes. What they are, is a pair of Spyder SV driving shoes by Piloti, which I have bought to use while flying. I have a soft spot in my heart for this brand of shoe because the company founder is a product designer (like myself) and so I have always wanted to "reward" him for his entreprenuerial spirit. Although he may not have meant this shoe to be used in this particular context, I hope he appreciates the purchase nonetheless.

This model comes in different color schemes, I chose stylistic black. The shoe seems very well put together in terms of stitching and materials, only time will tell about its ultimate durability inside and out of the airplane.

One of the reasons I like this shoe is the rounded heel shape, which helps keep your feet comfortable when resting on the floor, or pressed against the rudder pedals, and the grippy tread (which has a vaguely 1960's Formula 1 race tire tread feel to them) works great when your feet are active on the pedals working a crosswind correction.
A unique feature specifically meant for driving is a patch of the bottom tread than runs up the outside edge of the right shoe (but not the left) which is meant for better "heel & toe" shifting. No telling if this helps making better yaw adjustments to the right!

The shoes have one big stretchy lace than is pulled up through this spring loaded tension device. They slip on very easy with the help of a large heel pull tab. I suspect it might be bad to use these shoes as everyday footwear because of the minimal arch support, but I cannot complain as they are marketed as driving shoes.

Summary: I am glad to now have these shoes in my "flight bag", they work as well in the cockpit as they do in the pre-flight walk around. They are lightweight (every bit of useful load counts right?) as well as stylish, and have plenty of functionality to justify using them over a regular set of tennis shoes. $59.94 shipped from Amazon to your front door.