WWII Pilot gear

Love it, love it! Great work putting all of this together, especially with the prices the individual components are going for nowadays...sheesh.

I'll also vouch for Bob at Vintage Parachutes. I recently received my T-5 chest pack/reserve chute from him and couldn't be happier. Great guy to deal with and the finished product looks very authentic.

I'd love to see more shots of your various impressions if you ever have the time to post 'em. :thumbsup
 
Great job Frisky. I do WWII reenacting too, and my two books on German camouflage uniforms are filled with reconstruction photos, many with orignal tanks and other vehicles in the background.

In my many years in Europe I picked up a lot of aviation gear and can make up several of the more unusual pilot uniforms. I will post some pictures of some of them when I get a chance. Some that I can make complete uniforms of include:

French Pilot 1940 (Free French Spitfire pilots wore the same).

Russian Pilot , sevice uniform plus several types of flight coats and coveralls

German, various types.

American, various types

Ironically, I never dressed up completley in any of them and posed for photos yet, but probably will start. Here's a Waffen SS Panther crewman from one of my books.....
 
My 101st 506th D-Day

l_356b5ae4f92a76f075325253b29987a9.jpg
 
Your dads flight cap must be a type A-11, I would like to know why he painted yellow on he's flight cap. What aircraft did he fly or fly in?
 
Frisky, was the 506th pic taken in Europe? Don't know if I mentioned here that my "real life" job is the director of the 101st Airborne Museum (Pratt) at Fort Campbell Kentucky.

When I was in Germany, I ran the 1st and 3d Armored Division Museums, and usually did 3d Armored Reenactment, but also 82nd Aiborne for a march every year in the "North Shoulder" of "the Bulge".

Now I mainly do 101st stuff here. Last summer we actually had a reenactment with 101st guys jumping out of a C-47 and attacking a german command post (with my Opel Funkwagen). We do this every two years at an event called "Week of the Eagles" at Fort Campbell.
 
No that photo was taken in Atlanta, GA back in 07. I started reenacting because of Indiana jones, I had a crap German I made to go with my brother as Indy, after that I started doing more and more research and did my paratrooper followed by my German feildmarshal. I always wanted to do a pilot, i am going to be wearing it to C2E2 in Chicago this weekend. It will be interesting to see the response at a comic book con.

Problem with reenacting is con and events are far and few between.
 
Friskythehutt said:
Your dads flight cap must be a type A-11, I would like to know why he painted yellow on he's flight cap. What aircraft did he fly or fly in?
Click to expand...

My dad found it at the junk yard along with a bunch of other hats, this one was in a silver box and stood out - so he took the box and a bunch of hats. It was painted like that. It's in pretty good condition for a helmet that's pushing to 70 years old. So, as to why it's painted... no idea, but we have an idea where it came from and who previously owned it, just looking for proof before I post anything.

-Tyler
 
Frisky,

Love the pilot kit. I have been reenacting various periods for years before I got into prop/movie costuming. I does seem that there are minimal WWII events out there, just expand you reenacting interests. I go from republic era Roman up to War of 1812. This give me more options. I am new to the costuming biz, and am influenced by my reenacting history when I make my costumes. I have a difficult time not making them able to handle the rigors of a trek. One reason I love my Indy gear. It serves that purpose well.

Anyway, good looking kit.

Cheers,
Sebastian
 
Friskythehutt said:
No that photo was taken in Atlanta, GA back in 07. I started reenacting because of Indiana jones, I had a crap German I made to go with my brother as Indy, after that I started doing more and more research and did my paratrooper followed by my German feildmarshal. I always wanted to do a pilot, i am going to be wearing it to C2E2 in Chicago this weekend. It will be interesting to see the response at a comic book con.

Problem with reenacting is con and events are far and few between.
Click to expand...

Actually, there are LOTS of opportunities to wear a WWII pilot uniform. It is always appreciated at air shows with old 'war birds'. Some military collector shows also let you in free, if you are in a good historical costume. Aviation unit veteran reunions are another good place. We are contacted constantly in th KY-TN area to supply people in WWII gear for all kinds of functions. This weekend alone I need to do Bossk for two different events, (charity and parade), WWII for a senior night, and Vietnam for a museum display in a city festival!
 
If anyone is looking for an insanely perfect replica of the US or UK WWII jackets, Eastman Leather is the company I would recommend. They use the same materials and processes utilized during the war to construct identical replicas of the original jackets - same tanning and dying process, etc. I own a pre-war Irvin and a B-3 - amazing stuff. Not cheap though.

The US distributor is History Preservation Associates. They sell all kinds of other gear as well.
 
I've done some WWII reenacting, myself. I absolutely love it!

A buddy of mine got me into it after he noticed that I was into Star Wars costuming. He mentioned that if I liked playing in the fantasy world (I do it for the charity work), then I should enjoy reenactments because it pays tribute to our forefathers and helps the community by teaching history by menas of a live stage.

I've only participated in a few outings, but I always had a great time. I don't have it available on line, but while at an event I had my picture taken with the nephew of Audie Murphy, who did reenactments to pay tribute to his uncle. Having met with, and reenacted with, the nephew of my dad's favorite hero of WWII, I had found it to be an extreme honor.

Murph portrayed the 82nd Airborne, while my buddy and I portray the First Infantry Division. Which was cool for me since my dad serves with 1st ID during Vietnam.

Not wanting to totally derail this thread, man. This is awesome stuff!
 
Great field marshal impression you've put together. Thanks for sharing the photo!

One small complaint though - you're not dirty, dusty or sun tanned enough. ;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

thorr97
Captain America: The First Avenger - Bucky Rescue Mission Costume
Replies
4
Views
7,094
thorr97
thorr97
jcoffman99
An RPF Open Source 5 ft Millennium Falcon Build/Reference Thread. All Are Welcome
143 144 145
Replies
2,884
Views
292,310
jcoffman99
jcoffman99
LOM
An Analysis of ANH Lightsabers Timeline, Stunt Props, and Miscellaneous Theories
2
Replies
39
Views
12,075
PadawanLoLo
PadawanLoLo
O
Quinjet Pilot Uniform
Replies
4
Views
4,227
bobatrek
bobatrek
ChaseKiefer
WWII X-wing pilot for star wars CVII Finished.
2 3
Replies
40
Views
9,069
QCWolf
QCWolf
Back
Top