PILOT PHOTOS JUNE 2012

Pilot photos from the 1940-1960s

A F-86 Sabre pilot with backpack parachute harness, K-1 flight suit, and P-1B flight helmet with visor and MS22001 oxygen mask.

B-70 Valkyrie ejection seat with a test pilot posing wearing some unknown flight suit and a Toptex flight helmet with a MS22001 oxygen mask.

F-86 Sabre pilot holding a P-3 flight helmet with MS22001 oxygen mask and wears a flight suit and backpack parachute.

A USAAF B-17 Flying Fortress bomber crew pose with their aircraft in England during WW2. They wear assorted flightgear from A-4 flight suits with QAC parachute harnesses, AN-6510/ S-2 seat parachute, B-3/4 series life preservers, Type C flight helmet, B-6 flight helmet, HS-38 headset and RAF and USAAF goggles. This photo shows just how diverse crew flightgear was AND how hard it was to maintain as using RAF and US geared mixed in required extra supply chain resources for US squadrons.

USAAF aircrew in England during WW2 at a mission briefing. They wear A-2 flight jackets, A-4 flight suits, service dress uniform, B-8 backpack parachute harnesses, A-11 flight helmets with AN-6510 goggles and A-14 oxygen masks.

US Navy Blue Angels pilot in late 1940s wearing a H-1 first generation jet flight helmet with boom microphone. He wears a nylon flight suit which was quickly replaced as these in a fire MELTED into the skin causing horrific burns side effects.

A few pilots at an airbase in the 1960s with F-101 Vodoos in background. The pilots wear garrison caps and K-2B flight suits.

F-86 Sabre pilot climbing into his aircraft with a backpack parachute harness, L-2A flight jacket and L-1A flight suit. He wears a squadron cap with unit colours.

A F-86 Sabre pilot with backpack parachute harness, K-1 flight suit, and P-1B flight helmet with visor and MS22001 oxygen mask.

A pilot wearing high altitude flight gear and a backpack parachute climbs into a F-104 Starfighter.

FLIGHTGEAR BOOK PROJECT – “PILOT GEAR – BONEDOMES AND GEAR FROM WW2 TO VIETNAM AND BEYOND”

Working title of  ” PILOT GEAR – BONEDOMES AND GEAR FROM WW2 TO VIETNAM AND BEYOND“

After a few years on and off with a fair amount already written, i have decided to restart my project which is to write a book covering my flightgear collection. A key aim of the book is to encourage a better understanding of what flightgear is, examine some of the design work which went into some of the gear and show examples with photos.

This book idea has been a big project for a while and with a few more items now acquired, i can finally begin to finish the project and enlighten a whole new era of enthusiasts to how pilots and flightgear interacted in a aircraft.

The book will examine from WW2 to post Vietnam War, the flightgear of the USAF, US  Navy, RAAF and RAF.

The book will be illustrated with reenactment photo shoots with assorted warbird aircraft in Australia, in order to faithfully recreate the various eras in a understandable format in each chapter.

I aim to cover about 13 chapters / services and explain how specific types of flightgear was chosen, how it was used in combat or training and where possible show detailed examples from my collection.

More details will be released as the project progresses.

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HARS AIRSHOW REVIEW 2012

HARS airshow 2012 – On May 6 2012 the HARS aviation museum located south of Sydney  held its annual airshow. This year saw up to 25,000 people attended on a glorious sunny autumn day and they were able to see many aircraft flying and on display along side assorted aviation exhibits.  The aircraft included warbirds, Australian military and  GA aircraft from 1940s to current modern types.

I was one of the display exhibits and was at the HARS airshow for my 5th time since 2008. The HARS airshow is nowadays one of the few shows in NSW which i attend,  due to it been relatively close to Sydney.  (On a interesting side note….not too long ago Sydney used to have a few regular airshows but over the last 10-20yrs, sadly for the aviation community in Australia,  many of the local airshows and sadly airports as well have been closed down/growing lack of interest in sustaining aviation in Sydney and people nowadays travel to the country or coastal areas where the airshows are run with passion and welcoming open arms. With this change regional, Sydney loses out and regional NSW gains the economic benefits which Sydney once had. Regional jobs are supported as regional town caters for the airshow demands).

Below is an overview of my display area showing the general setup i use.

The interest in the flightgear display at the HARS airshow has grown over the last few years and quite a few people are quite keen to see my display each year which is growing in size and items i put on show.

FLIGHT HELMETS ON DISPLAY

A close up of the 1940-1990s era flight helmets i had on show. I brought along a small selection but a wide variety of flightgear to educate the public with. The display was set up to show USAAF ANH-15 WW2 era, RAAF E type Korean War era, USAF P-1A  Korean War era , USAF HGU-2A/P Vietnam war,  US Army helicopter APH-5 Vietnam War era and USAF HGU-55/P current/modern era.

I also have on display a few photos of the flightgear reenactments i have held over the years, by been part of the Australian Warbirds Association Limited (AWAL) where i work with warbird owners around Australia to showcase warbird heritage. These events allow me to have a warbird aircraft on show with myself dressed in the correct aircraft and era flightgear. Some examples of the eras i cover include RAAF Korean War, USAF Vietnam War etc. These photos enable visitors to see what pilots wore in 1940-70s and to gain an understanding just how complex flightgear can be.

F-4 PHANTOM EJECTION SEAT ON DISPLAY

The ex USAF F-4 Phantom Martin Baker H7 ejection seat from a USAF F-4D Phantom is my main display drawcard attraction at the moment. It is the only regular and publicly displayed F-4 Phantom ejection seat in Australia and as such gains a lot of interest from kids and adults asking about the seat, what it was used in and how it was used.

The seat cost over $7,000 ($ Aus) to restore over 2years from 2010-2011. It is nearly completed except for a few pyrotechnic functions, main parachute ( for the moment absent) and main beam parts. All these parts aren’t really necessary for a static display i feel as they add totally unnecessary weight to the transportation of the seat. The seat already weighs in around 180kg at present.

Educating kids to be safety aware on an ejection seat and not pull or touch the black and yellow ejection handles is a difficult task,  as they are so keen to touch and fiddle with the display. I have built some safeguards into the seat to limit any potential damage to my asset.

I am looking at complementing the F-4 seat  one day with a extremely a rare F-86 Sabre T-4E-1 ejection seat. I did win one of the Sabre seats on ebay a few years ago but the seat was not able to be sent to me sadly.

The whole point of my display was to encourage kids and adults to learn the basics of what a pilot wears in military flying and to also show what items an aviation life support career   in the Royal Australian Air Force would be like. The F-4 Phantom ejection seat was set up to allow kids to have a sit in the seat and wear a HGU-55/P flight helmet with MBU-12/P oxygen mask, so they could for a small fee pose for a photo for their parents.

The other side to my display to allow the kids to have a photo in an ejection seat and let them brag about it later to their friends no doubt… . Here  are some of the kids enjoying themselves hamming it up for their parents..

This sitting in an ejection seat may a few years down the track inspire some of the kids to one day consider a career in the RAAF or RAN i hope……..This interest in aviation may lead some of these kids into joining the local Royal Australian Air Force – Air Cadet unit which is co located at the HARS museum. Some of the Air Cadets also tried on a flight helmet and sit in the seat. Some have never had a chance to wear a flight helmet before so were interested in having a go. Other Air Cadets at the Temora airshow last year also took interest in my ejection seat.

Coming up in the future, we may see more flightgear on show at HARS this year in July 2012, as HARS museum is looking at holding its first ever “Open Cockpit Day” to encourage visitors to come see their collection up close and to sit in some of the cockpits. I have expressed my interest to HARS to allow me to come along to this event to showcase my flightgear display again and educate people. More details will be provided when can.

The growing interest in flightgear has also seen my display encourage the HARS museum to approach me for assistance in helping to create some new flightgear displays to use on some of their static warbird aircraft for future events. I have been asked by some people to assist with making their aircraft displays more authentic with sourcing of appropriate flightgear items. I have in the last few years already helped a few aviation museums and warbird owners in Australia and around the world with such assistance.

Final shot of me wearing some flightgear. The flight suit is a 1960 contract USAF K-2B flight suit in International Orange colour which was designed for high visibility. It was mainly worn by crews in air defence fighters, air rescue, tankers and transports. I wear a L-2B flight jacket with B-17 nose art on back of it and a US Navy drone QF-4 Phantom patch on my cap. I am holding a HGU-55/P flight helmet with MBU-12/P oxygen mask.

ROYAL AUSTRALIAN NAVY (RAN) PROPELLER AND FAST JET PILOT FLIGHTGRAR REVIEW

MAY 2012 -  A rare seen and interesting insight to the flightgear as once worn by Royal Australian Navy (RAN) fighter pilots aboard the former aircraft carriers – HMAS Melbourne and HMAS Sydney. The last RAN aircraft carrier to have operational aircraft was HMAS Melbourne which was retired in 1982.Since 1984, the RAN has been a helicopter force only effectively. This could change with 2 new helicopter carriers coming into service in next few years which may have the ability for F-35 aircraft to fly off…

RAN FLIGHTGEAR

From late 1940s to mid late 1960s, the RAN flew the ultimate in British fighters from HMAS Sydney – the Hawker Sea Fury fighter bomber. RAN pilots were active in the Korean War flying from 1951-52 off the coast of Korea providing air support which saw the Sea Fury and Firefly involved heavily in the air war.

At HMAS Albatross the RAN’s flying base at Nowra, NSW is the well set up FAA museum preserving the RAN heritage which has a large collection of aircraft on display. Below on display is the Fairey Firefly and Hawker Sea Fury.

Part of this display has some flightgear, which has a Korean War era pilot wearing a rare flap type Mae West, flight suit, Type C flight helmet and H oxygen mask.

At this time they wore RAAF/RN flightgear setups for the Sea Fury  operations. The photo below supplied shows WW2 Mae West life jacket, flight suit and Type C flight helmets with Type H oxygen masks.

After the Korean War ended in 1953, the RAN’s flightgear evolved from leather helmets into hard bone dome such as the Mk.1 helmet which provided much more safer protection in a crash. The WW2 era Mae West life jacket was replaced and upgraded to a new design from Frankenstein in the UK.

The image provided below came from a unusual shootdown in 1955 of a pilot-less Auster which the RAN shot down off Sydney….shows the Mk.1 silver flight helmets and the internal G helmet liner. The pilots wear Frankenstein LPU over flight suit and service dress uniform

By the 1960s the RAN had evolved into modern jet operations and this saw the Sea Venom replace the Sea Fury and then the A-4G Skyhawk replace the Sea Venom. The A-4 Skyhawk brought a change of flightgear as well in that the flightgear was now American instead of British issue.

Here we see a RAN pilot climbing into a very snug and cosy cockpit while on HMAS Melbourne in the 1970s. He wears a APH-6B flight helmet with MS22001 oxygen mask. The helmet has a style of high visibility tape to ensure the pilot could be found if ejected or crashed at night time. The helmet has a dual visor with side sliding knobs which was preferred at this time due to centre track visors hit the top of the canopy, where as the side operating had a lower profile. He wears a US Navy issued MA-2 harness with a what seems to be a MK.3 LPU attached. He wears a Mk2 G suit over a RAN flight suit.

This photo shows a later development of the RAN flightear with APH-6 flight helmets , MS22001 oxygen masks, MA-2 harnesses, LPU-23/P LPU and nomex flight suit and gloves. This was the final version of the RAN flightgear with some variations including RAAF P type oxygen masks as well modified for RAN setup.

This is a flightgear display at the museum showing a pilot wearing APH-6 flight helmet, MS22001 oxygen mask and a Beaufort LPU. The LPU is believed to be incorrect as this was only issued to RAN helicopter pilots.

A future flightgear article will review RAN helicopter flightgear as worn by Seahawk and Sea King crews.

US NAVY AIR POWER ONBOARD AIRCRAFT CARRIER FILM

Interesting documentary about the US Navy’s USS Eisenhower aircraft carrier with much flightgear shown – HGU-55 /HGU-68/P / JHMCS  flight helmets with MBU-24/P oxygen masks, CMU-33 survival vest , flight suits and LPUs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&v=3hOB_kDXRIM&NR=1

PILOT PHOTOS APRIL 2012

APRIL 2012 – PILOT PHOTOS afew more showing a mix of WW2 to 1960s era pilots wearing flight gear

USN pilots seen gathered around a FJ-4 Fury wearing tan flight suits, garrison caps,  gun holsters and Z-3 anti g suits.

A B-26 air crew member wearing 1950s flightgear after a night mission over North Korea. He wears a A-11 flight helmet with AN-BH-1 receivers, B-8 goggles and A-14 oxygen mask with microphone. He wears a B-5 LPU along with a flight suit/boots of unknown nature.

USN pilots during WW2 in training wearing G-1 leather flight jackets and some canvas flight helmet with AN goggles between missions.

RAF WW2 era pilots around a Typhoon fighter bomber. They wear their service flight dress dark blue uniform and some wear the famous Mae West LPU over the top. Some wear 1936 leather flight boots.

Some more USN pilots during WW2 shown wearing G-1 leather flight jackets and canvas M-450 flight helmets with AN goggles.

US Navy pilot 1943 sitting in a F4U Corsair wearing a M-450 light flight helmet with AN-6510 goggles.  He wears a Mk-1 LPU.

A USAF 1950-60s era trainee pilot wearing a K-2B flight suit, P-4B flight helmet with MS22001 oxygen mask and backpack parachute harness.

USN WW2 pilot in a F4U Corsair with a ANH-15 flight helmet and AN-6510 goggles while sitting on a seat parachute harness.

US Navy pilot 1953 with a H-4 flight helmet with MS22001 oxygen mask on the Banshee canopy, while he wears a MK-2 LPU and cotton flight suit.

F9F Panther pilots wear Mk2 LPU, cotton dark green and tan flight suits and hold H-4 flight helmets.

Famous USAF pilot Paul Tibbets wearing a early generation post WW2 hard shell flight helmet – a Toptex with a A-13 oxygen mask. He wears a olive green K-2 flight suit possibly and a backpack parachute harness.

Pilot wears a M-450 flight helmet with AN goggles, MK1 LPU and tan flight / dress uniform.

A USAF trainee pilot next to a T-38 Talon wearing K-2B flight suit, L-2B flight jacket, backpack parachute harness, HGU-2A/P flight helmet with MBU-5/P oxygen mask.