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cagedfalcon
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cagedfalcon

Picked up the suit & boots this weekend at an antique mall.

Colninex labeled,  didn't realize the pic was blurry but a huge pain to undress & reshoot. Leather still plyable, just the right amount of wear(to me). The lining is rip free & no noted holes in leather.

Boots in very poor condition. Hole worn/chewed in left ankle, zippers ...forget about it.  

Have had the M-3 & A-2 helmets for a while.

Will be looking for gloves, proper goggles down the road. 

Then there will be the mae west, & chute?

 

 

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What kind of a display are you putting together? I thought the Navy was the only branch that wore the all leather flight suit? I could be mistaken though. 

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For some reason those Colvenex suits show up without Navy tags. I feel some might be a civi item but not sure. The AS/AAC tested and made a lot of one-piece suits in the 1920-1930s, some of which showed up in the war, but I'm pretty sure those were labeled with "A- ", "B- ", etc. as other garments were. The documented AAC one-piece suits are pretty darned rare. At least from my observation.

You could easily convert that to a USN mannequin but either way it looks impressive in the room!

Dave

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cagedfalcon
14 minutes ago, dmar836 said:

For some reason those Colvenex suits show up without Navy tags. I feel some might be a civi item but not sure. The AS/AAC tested and made a lot of one-piece suits in the 1920-1930s, some of which showed up in the war, but I'm pretty sure those were labeled with "A- ", "B- ", etc. as other garments were. The documented AAC one-piece suits are pretty darned rare. At least from my observation.

You could easily convert that to a USN mannequin but either way it looks impressive in the room!

Dave

Are there any other tells besides the tags? Zippers, pockets & the like?

 

The note with items said boots & suit from same vet but no other info. Not named. I know, buy the item & not the story.

 

 

 

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I really don't know. I was hoping some of the USN/author guys(pararaftanr2 or Dustin) could chime in with details. It could very well be that these found military use in more than one branch. Sweating's book doesn't say anything about them that I saw but that's not gospel.

Dave

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  • 1 month later...
pararaftanr2
6 hours ago, cagedfalcon said:

Thank you.

Sorry for not responding sooner, I just saw your thread now. The suit is USN, type M-456. It was never used by the USAAF. Your suit is earlier production with brown liner and single exterior leg pocket. The nomenclature label has been removed, but would have been sewn below the woven Colvenex label. If still complete, the electrical pig-tail with plug comes out of the suit on the right hip and you will see leather tabs with snap connectors inside each wrist and ankle. These were to attach electrically heated gloves and boots. The boots they sold you with this are not electrically heated and are not USN. The correct ones have a rubber sole and rubber exterior with zipper front. The gloves are leather and five-finger. Images below. The boots and gloves are a bit tough to find, but a much more common set of Navy winter flight mittens and M-380 winter boots would be perfectly acceptable to display with the suit on your mannequin. The leather is goatskin and pretty strong. If you want to, you can use a leather dressing, such Meltonian Shoe Cream Polish, to cover the scuffs. Typically, their color "Cordovan" is a perfect match for the dye they used, but your suit looks a bit more brown and shouldn't be too hard to match. best of luck. Let me know if you have other questions.

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cagedfalcon
On 4/29/2022 at 10:28 PM, pararaftanr2 said:

Sorry for not responding sooner, I just saw your thread now. The suit is USN, type M-456. It was never used by the USAAF. Your suit is earlier production with brown liner and single exterior leg pocket. The nomenclature label has been removed, but would have been sewn below the woven Colvenex label. If still complete, the electrical pig-tail with plug comes out of the suit on the right hip and you will see leather tabs with snap connectors inside each wrist and ankle. These were to attach electrically heated gloves and boots. The boots they sold you with this are not electrically heated and a not USN. The correct ones have a rubber sole and rubber exterior with zipper front. The gloves are leather and five-finger. Images below. The boots and gloves are a bit tough to find, but a much more common set of Navy winter flight mittens and M-380 winter boots would be perfectly acceptable to display with the suit on your mannequin. The leather is goatskin and pretty strong. If you want to, you can use a leather dressing, such Meltonian Shoe Cream Polish, to cover the scuffs. Typically, their color "Cordovan" is a perfect match for the dye they used, but your suit looks a bit more brown and shouldn't be too hard to match. best of luck. Let me know if you have other questions.

elect.jpg

images.jpg

$_57kjhblji.jpg

IMG_0784a.JPG

6ebb9ad0deee4276_large.jpg

c1d19e11355af4a5_large.jpg

Buck Dungan.jpg

IMG_7704.JPG

The tabs have been cut for the electrial connections.  And the hole is above the right pocket slit.

 

Thanks for the information & the pics are a great bonus.

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