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Items needed for a B17/24 gunner impression?


garrettbragg12
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garrettbragg12

I’ve started volunteering with a local B-17 “Texas Raiders” and would love to be able to dress up as a WWII gunner would, late war (1944-1945). What items would I need to put together a quick impression?

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I would start with the following

b15 flight jacket

A11 trousers

a11 flight helmet

A14 oxygen mask

A9a mittens or a11 gloves

F3 electrically heater suit complete with top, pants and boots

B8 goggles

A6a flight boots

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Hello ,

I'm accluding some shots of a waist gunner mannequinn as re-created by my brother last year. Hope they might be useful to you.

Impression is after May/June 1944, when the color (red or yellow) applied on the 'chute harness became standard.

 

post-151851-0-57861500-1569084516_thumb.jpg

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As a last shot (if not too out of place, should it be - mods please remove it w/o any problem),

here the B-17 gunner and his enemy, the Me-262 pilot of late 1944.

 

Regards - Franco.

 

post-151851-0-15942700-1569086029_thumb.jpg

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If you go full out with the suggestions, I hope you will only be wearing all of this indoors in a nice air-conditioned building. Otherwise, we will miss you on the forum after you die of a heat stroke in the Texas heat.

 

If you want a bit less, maybe an A-4 flight suit, regular period boots/shoes, the light rayon gloves, AN-H-15 helmet and B-8 goggles. Mae West and parachute harness would look good too but add to weight, heat and discomfort.

 

You could wear the flight suit over an accurate uniform too.

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A brief list of the items in addition to the photos:

 

A-11 helmet, A-14 oxy. mask, M-1065 goggles, civilian sunglasses patterned after the AN-6531, A-9A gloves, B-15 jacket + A-11 trousers, A-6A boots, B-4 Life Vest, A-3 'yellow group' harness + 'chute pack, proper extensions for comm. wires, A-4 oxy. portable bottle, H-1 bailout bottle, M-1936 waist belt + pistol holster.

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garrettbragg12

Thank you guys for the help! Y’all are awesome! Are reproductions available for most of the essential items? I’d hate to wear out period items. The trousers, masks, and flight helmets seem to be pretty easy to find!

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garrettbragg12

If you go full out with the suggestions, I hope you will only be wearing all of this indoors in a nice air-conditioned building.  Otherwise, we will miss you on the forum after you die of a heat stroke in the Texas heat.

 

If you want a bit less, maybe an A-4 flight suit, regular period boots/shoes, the light rayon gloves, AN-H-15 helmet and B-8 goggles.  Mae West and parachute harness would look good too but add to weight, heat and discomfort.

 

You could wear the flight suit over an accurate uniform too.

I got a good laugh out of this. I’m glad you mentioned this because this is a key concern of mine as most of the airshow circuits begin in May and continue till November. Houston heat is very unforgiving! I think you loadout will be a good start!

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garrettbragg12

As a last shot (if not too out of place, should it be   -  mods please remove it w/o any problem),

here the B-17 gunner and his enemy, the Me-262 pilot of late 1944.

 

Regards  -  Franco.

 

{style_image_url}/attachicon.gif 20180813_190551 - Copia (2).jpg

What an AWESOME display! Love the ME-262 uniform. Thank you for taking time to post those!

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Thanx for appreciating... I'll steer your compliments to my brother !! At the moment in his collection there are this B-17 waist gunner vs. the Me-262 pilot, and the RAF Spitfire pilot of summer 1940 vs. the Me-109 pilot.

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I agree with 5th wing..

there are several repro companys that you can get flight suits or uniforms to wear around the plane and look the part...you can spend thousands of dollars on these lists...or few hundred to get started

a good flight suit or mechanic coveralls, a mae west life preserver...flight jacket and good boots...and top it off with a cap of choice

post-155518-0-80294500-1569111576_thumb.jpg

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To beat the Texas heat and stay cool on the ground the heated flight suit with coverall's like Phantomfixer mentioned would be corret for a gunner. This pic is in march of 1944. The guy in the middle bottom row is my friend Phil. He told me that he wore the AN-H-!5 helmet with the coveralls over the blue bunny suit ,under that he wore his uniform with thermal underware under that.

Phil was the left waist gunner. Now that's my uncle Joe(Tail Gunner) to the right of Phil, But that would be a hot setup.

post-11740-0-33542300-1569214442_thumb.jpg

 

 

Semper Fi

Phil

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garrettbragg12

To beat the Texas heat and stay cool on the ground the heated flight suit with coverall's like Phantomfixer mentioned would be corret for a gunner. This pic is in march of 1944. The guy in the middle bottom row is my friend Phil. He told me that he wore the AN-H-!5 helmet with the coveralls over the blue bunny suit ,under that he wore his uniform with thermal underware under that.

Phil was the left waist gunner. Now that's my uncle Joe(Tail Gunner) to the right of Phil, But that would be a hot setup.

{style_image_url}/attachicon.gif Fiorette Crew Damned YankeeII colorized.jpg

 

 

Semper Fi

Phil

What an awesome photo! I’m glad to hear both men made it through the war. Thank you for sharing that!

 

My great uncle is bottom left, kneeling.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190924/b1334920f4af676329e3938d009c89e0.jpg

 

He appears to be wearing some form of overalls?

 

Also, are there any substitutes for A-6 boots? They seem to be pretty rare with no reproductions.

 

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What an awesome photo! I’m glad to hear both men made it through the war. Thank you for sharing that!

 

My great uncle is bottom left, kneeling.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190924/b1334920f4af676329e3938d009c89e0.jpg

 

He appears to be wearing some form of overalls?

 

Also, are there any substitutes for A-6 boots? They seem to be pretty rare with no reproductions.

That is a great pic of your Uncle. It looks like he might be wear the A-4 flight suit that was mentioned above..

They make a repro of those for $175 on the WPG site. Hope that helps..

 

Make sure you show a pic of your set up when you get all this put together!!

 

Semper Fi

Phil

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That is a great pic of your Uncle. It looks like he might be wear the A-4 flight suit that was mentioned above..

They make a repro of those for $175 on the WPG site. Hope that helps..

 

Make sure you show a pic of your set up when you get all this put together!!

 

Semper Fi

Phil

In the photo linked in post #18 of this thread, the man kneeling at left front, and the man standing second from right, are wearing the khaki AN-6550 (AN-S-31) summer flight suit. Note the pocket with flap on the left chest. This suit also was made in olive drab gaberdine. The man standing third from right is wearing an A-4 suit.

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  • 4 weeks later...
garrettbragg12

Didn’t want to leave y’all hanging, so here’s a quick update! Due to work, I ran out of time to throw the impression together like I wanted to, so excuse the poor excuse of an impression I threw together and hopefully enjoy the warbirds! âTexas Raidersâ is the aircraft I work with, and we were lucky enough to have LSFMâs B-17 âThunderbirdâ at the show as well!

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not a bad impression to start with...dig the A2...Eastman? and what a great way to spend your time...surrounded by vintage aluminum...what is the story with the vents on Thunderbird? above the chin turret

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