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Question about early Korean War Flight Gear


blinky
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I'm working on putting together a set of flight gear that would be appropriate for a P-80 pilot prior to October 1951 and have several questions.....so I thought maybe I should consult the experts! I'm trying to achieve is the set up as worn by the pilot in the picture.
My first two questions:

What type of flight suit would he be wearing? I'm assuming it wouldn't be the blue L-2A (wasn't it introduced a bit later) but I could be wrong. Would it be the standard OD L-2? Or something else (K-2)?

What type of parachute would he be wearing? B-10, B-8, something else?

 

As I mentioned the time period would be between June - October 1951.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated as would any guidance. This project is for an anniversary commemoration being held late this year. It started small, of course, but now I'm interested in trying to complete the entire set.

Thank you very much!

(I know it's not the best picture but it's the one I have to work with)

Eric

post-125-0-95720700-1563155536.jpg

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I Think the flight suit could be any of the WW2 late war suits, L2, K1, L1, ANS31, there was a lot of WW2 era equipment used during the Korean War. The flight suit could also be a L1A as the blue flight suits and flight jackets came out in about 1947 when the USAF became a separate service from the US Army. You will see colored photos of Korean War era flight personal wearing a mix of blue and green jackets and flight suits.

There is a famous picture of Marilyn Monroe in Korea during the Korean War wearing a blue N2A which is a blue flight jacket .

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Thanks Navy, good information. I did find a couple of pictures today of his squadron around that same time and even though the pictures weren't the best they looked like they wore a mix of flight suits. He was in the Air National Guard before being deployed to an active duty squadron, I imagine he wore the flight suit he'd have worn in the ANG.
Anyway, I appreciate the insight!

Eric

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'd love to add one Owen but I haven't had a lot of luck....they are either mint and un-issued or have serious issues. I want one with bit of wear. The list of his gear didn't include one but he was probably wearing it when he was killed.

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  • 4 weeks later...

For this period, you can use K-1, K-2, L-1, L-1A suits in blue or green. Parachute is a B-8, B-11 or B-12. I don't know if B-10 nor B-10A was in use in Korea. Not sure...

 

Franck

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Thanks Franck. I know where I can find a B-8 which I think is dated 1947 and I have a decent L-1A.
As for boots, right now I'm going to us a pair of M-1948 army boots.

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This is the right stuff! You could also use US Army service brown shoes. Although a good pair from this era is a bit difficult to find.

 

I've written some posts about Korean war USAF pilots on the forum some years ago. You could get them searching in my profile, I guess.

 

Franck

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Thanks Franck! I've found your posts and it's cleared some things up.....beautiful collection! Hopefully if I can get this together in time it'll be on display between a T-33 Shooting Star and an F-35 ;)

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