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dustin
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Wow, you just saved me some bucks. Might have paid in the $45-$50 range only because it's only the second one I've seen online or military dealers in central pa. Any leads on where to buy even close to your estimated range would be very much appreciated. For that matter I sure would love to know who you think are the best sources to purchase Army Air Force items World War II online or otherwise.

 

I work at the state headquarters of the Pennsylvania Veterans of Foreign Wars as its public affairs officer and truly want to put together a very nice display of World War II Army Air Force items, thus one of the concentrations on the C1 vest, contents and fighter pilot gear. Still need a nice hey n6550, ANS 31 or k-1 khaki flight suit if you know of any places to purchase a good quality one without paying too much. Working at a nonprofit does not get one much expendable income to use on military history items.

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  • 7 months later...

So Saturday night I'm a party animal, made some revisions for varieties sake. I decided with the ever decreasing space to remove the radar reflector from my late war Navy pilot in PK-1 life raft. I bought an articulating mannequin just for a raft display, with a little time and adjustment I got him to signal a searching aircraft with the M-580A signaling mirror. I added today a VPB squadron pilot from the spring of 1945.

 

post-56-0-85890900-1508033045.jpg

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  • 10 months later...

Both the Army & Navy had jointly standardized the AN-6510, beginning in February 1941, but it was generally only procured and employed by the AAF. As Dustin noted, the Navy had a very competent parachute section, which, early on, was superior to the AAF. The Navy largely ignored joint standardization when it came to parachutes and the AN system had little impact.

When the Navy switched over to the QAS, the majority were converted from the standard Navy seat type harness. This was largely the brainchild of Joshua Miller, who went on to make many contributions to parachute development.

In the same time frame, the AAF had an overstock of AN-6510s to the tune of over 100,000 assemblies. Due to the shortage of back types, many of these were converted to B-8s and QACs. Others made their way to the Navy and were converted to the QAS configuration. While never used on the scale of the navy QAS, modified AN-6510s are discussed and depicted in period documents, and seen also in period photographs and surviving examples.

 

 

More than 100,000 AN-6510 overstock assemblies, only the AAF themselves?!?... sounds somehow like incredible to me, it's a huge quantity indeed - please did you mean 100% complete AN-6510 parachutes?

A very interesting info .. thanx !!

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WWII Parachutist

 

 

More than 100,000 AN-6510 overstock assemblies, only the AAF themselves?!?... sounds somehow like incredible to me, it's a huge quantity indeed - please did you mean 100% complete AN-6510 parachutes?

A very interesting info .. thanx !!

 

Yes, to be precise, it was an overstock of 104,478 Assemblies (Seat Type) as of July 1, 1944.

 

At the outbreak of war Seat parachutes were ordered in massive quantities. Shortly thereafter, the QAC and back types rapidly replaced the seat parachutes in many applications, leading to the massive unused stocks previously mentioned. By 1944, the AAF was short roughly 85,000 QAC and back types, and so the modification seemed very logical. Keep in mind that parachute requirements for fiscal year 1943 were well of half a million - so the numbers we are dealing with are very large!

 

Joshua

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Thanx Joshua, very interesting indeed.

 

Half a million parachute required for the FY 1943, is something fantastic... suppose (but I'm not competent of course) such numbers were wished to be in excess of what was actually the need - maybe in order to stay comfortably well within any conceivable and dire emergencies?

I do mean, if it was the request for that precise timeframe, of course they weren't out of parachutes before that FY. Or, more than 500,000 'chutes were indeed the required (but, also needed) quantity to be issued AAF's flying personnel?

Thanx. Franco.

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WWII Parachutist

The "requirements" are the quantity desired to be on hand, which includes current stock, not the new amount that must be manufactured. The shortfall was then to be made up with production orders. This number no doubt includes a small safety margin. Keep in mind the AAF also procured paratrooper chutes, which is roughly 15-20% of the total. The numbers are indeed astounding in their size.

 

But we must also remember, that the USA lost over 8,000 heavy bombers during WWII... with a crew of 10 on average, that is 80,000 parachutes lost with heavy bombers alone! Plus, parachutes have a limited life span of only a couple years, and then must be removed from active service. Thus there is a constant flow of parachutes that have hit their age limit and are then pulled from service. Although enormous, the numbers are quite reasonable compared to the size of the massive air operations.

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  • 2 weeks later...
WWII Parachutist

 

 

More than 100,000 AN-6510 overstock assemblies, only the AAF themselves?!?... sounds somehow like incredible to me, it's a huge quantity indeed - please did you mean 100% complete AN-6510 parachutes?

A very interesting info .. thanx !!

Franco, you inspired me to do some more research, and so I wrote an entire article on the subject just for you! Here is link:

 

www.theriggerdepot.com/seat-parachute-conversions

 

Now we can let the thread return to Dustin's unrivaled collection!

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  • 2 years later...
18 hours ago, TheCrustyBosun said:

I think I’ve found the site’s AAF Personal Equipment Officer. 

 

On 10/14/2020 at 11:58 PM, B-Man22 said:

Dustin

What a sweet collection you have.

I realize this post is very old, but it the first time I've seen the photos of it and its impressive.

Cheers

 

There is just as much US Navy in there too! More like survival equipment officer. Ha!

I would like more room to really spread it out and set stuff up, so for now it is a supply room.

 

Here are some images of the "yellow" survival equipment room.

 

DSC_0106c.jpg.5f1738e03723d3ed256d99a7b18676b5.jpg

 

DSC_0107c.jpg.2da039b50a4fad970937a9119715efc3.jpg

 

DSC_0108c.jpg.004fabd4e3eb6d749d78718bc487502b.jpg

 

DSC_0109c.jpg.8b820cc9d64d4d135c7494c289edd297.jpg

 

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Heavy stuff as always Dustin. I noticed some new nice items, congrats!

 

At vintage colorful survival posters makes a great addition to your room.

 

Cheers,

Jerry

 

p.s how you stored all of your life vests?

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TheCrustyBosun

So...... where do you keep your Type A-1 airborne lifeboat?? Please tell me it is slung underneath the B-17 in the backyard. Oh, and fully stocked, of course.  You certainly have the supplies to stock at least one, I’d say. Seriously though, I wonder if any A-1 boats survive today. Seems like the granddaddy of all survival kit. 

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Now you all know where the cool stuff in Dustin's books come from. Pick up a copy of each and enjoy these items in greater detail. Yes, this is a plug, but you will find they are unparalleled references for your WW2 collection, both USN and USAAF.

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On 10/17/2020 at 10:52 AM, TheCrustyBosun said:

So...... where do you keep your Type A-1 airborne lifeboat?? Please tell me it is slung underneath the B-17 in the backyard. Oh, and fully stocked, of course.  You certainly have the supplies to stock at least one, I’d say. Seriously though, I wonder if any A-1 boats survive today. Seems like the granddaddy of all survival kit. 

 

Having an A-1 lifeboat would be super cool and Not so super cool. Those boats are huge at 27 feet in length, so storage would be a bit of an issue. 

I have my doubts of any in existence today with just over 500 made. Soon after WWII it was replaced by an all aluminum type (A-3) and those A-1's were slowly transferred to the USCG and other foreign nations until they were finally surveyed in 1953. They are mostly all wood, probably all rotted away years ago. Those airborne lifeboats you see in museums are the metal A-3's, much more durable for the long run. 

I have an outline for an article on lifeboats that I will get back to work on down the road. It will cover the training and deployment for the boats and compilation of actual rescues that were conducted utilizing the boats. 

 

Thanks for the plug, Pararaft!!!

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TheCrustyBosun
12 minutes ago, dustin said:

 

Having an A-1 lifeboat would be super cool and Not so super cool. Those boats are huge at 27 feet in length, so storage would be a bit of an issue. 

I have my doubts of any in existence today with just over 500 made. Soon after WWII it was replaced by an all aluminum type (A-3) and those A-1's were slowly transferred to the USCG and other foreign nations until they were finally surveyed in 1953. They are mostly all wood, probably all rotted away years ago. Those airborne lifeboats you see in museums are the metal A-3's, much more durable for the long run. 

I have an outline for an article on lifeboats that I will get back to work on down the road. It will cover the training and deployment for the boats and compilation of actual rescues that were conducted utilizing the boats. 

 

Thanks for the plug, Pararaft!!!


As both a USAAF fan and a former Coastguardsman, those lifeboats are right up my alley. The most I’ve read about them comes from the PEO manual. Very interesting. 

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Unfortunately, I only included a short summary of it and the US Navy type in the book. Through another interaction, it prompted me to do a more extended research project. The article will include a little more on development to include the adaptation to the B-17, when they started training, how many aircraft and crews and their respective stations overseas. This will be followed by descriptions of the deployment of the boats in the forward area, though not many, but they were used. Some of those stories are a little exciting to read.  It will also have many more images.  

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