Only for RP purposes for the scene. Your loadout will not necessarily change, but also be aware that doing so does give up bonuses available to you depending on what you picked up in the scene.

Also as long as your gear is back to normal at the end I guess.

As for riding and flying, both are separate. They both like heavy armor and weapons can also be mastered. They do have points. Primarily you will be using in-camp training to learn or master them.