Grumman Flight Test

[hink441]

Here are two Grumman Test Pilot flight suits. These are probably from the mid to late 1970s. There is also a flight helmet that was owned by this pilot, and a set of Tomcat rudder pedals. He was a Korean War era Marine pilot and eventually retired from the USMC Reserves as a Colonel.

 

[hink441]

Here is a short bio on the Colonel test pilot. A very interesting Man!!

 

[digi-shots]

Chris, very cool.... thanks for posting!

 

I used to work for a subcontractor of Grumman....Tomcat related.

 

(guess you're snowed in??

[hink441]

Thanks Linda. Did not know you worked with Grumman. I have a soft spot in my heart for the A-6 and F-14 having worked on both.

 

Snow is not too bad yet at my house, how about you?

 

Chris

[digi-shots]

Snow is not bad but still coming down and a bit heavier. Not planning on going anywhere.

 

F14 ACMS (Air Combat Maneuvering System) Simulators.

[TLeo]

Nice group of items. Those f-14 rudder pedals are scarce to get hold of for sure.

Hope you guys in Virginia don't get hit too hard with the snow. We have at least 9 inches here in NC and hasn't stopped yet but has slowed down at least and should be ending this morning

[hink441]

Snow is still falling!! Who knows when it will stop?

 

Here is a photo of a Grumman display at the Grumman Memorial Park on Long Island.

 

[HUD69]

To re-open this topic. I recently got a similar suit, but in blue. If you look around on the internet you find two blue versions:

• one with a pointy collar (the image with the F-14 pilots, dated 1972)
• and one with round collar and a flap over the pen pocket (image with Chuck Sewell on the X-29, mid 80's)

The one I picked up has. the same specs as the early orange ones so different from the two versions mentioned above.

It is also made by Flite Gear (nice info on this company on the leather jackets forum) This one came from a Florida estate sale and is a size 38R. Unfortunately no name to be found. 

 

If anyone has more information, let me know!

[hink441]

That’s a great looking flight suit!! Never realized they were also in blue. It’s a shame there isn’t a name to go with the suit. 
 

Chris

[HUD69]

Hi Chris,

 

I understood it comes from an estate sale in Jupiter FL, West Palm Beach area. There have been several Grumman test pilots in Florida. Google did not help much to narrow it down so far. Found the attached image on the web of a similar suit next to an orange one.

 

Ron

[HUD69]

As luck might have it, I stumbled upon a second example of this type of blue Grumman suit.

This one has a GMSD Flight Test patch on the front and a J-STARS patch on the sleeve. GMSD stands for Grumman Melbourne Systems Division (located in Melbourne Florida)

 

The Grumman Melbourne Systems Division (now part of Northrop Grumman) was central to developing and upgrading the E-8 Joint STARS (Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System) aircraft, installing advanced electronics, computers, and radar systems for airborne battle management, surveillance, and command & control, with its Melbourne, Florida facility handling much of the integration and testing for the powerful C2ISR platform that served the U.S. Air Force for decades. 

As the early flight tests took place during the late 1980's (dec-1988) the suit dates nicely with the one from the X-29 (also note the flap over the pen pocket)

 

Known test pilots during this initial phase where:  Royce Grones (Chief AF Test Force) and Mark Neese. Unfortunately no name (yet) and also no images to be found (Sofar)