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Posted

hello all,

 

just as a consequence of a friend of mine talking to me of his A-10A mask (and proposing it to me as well, but I'm not interested presently) I've got an input to try learning some more of this particular variant. Must admit I never got to search any detailed infos since the broader A-9 and A-10 families of masks had no particular appeal to me as pieces of collecting, yet they deserve some credits without any doubts.

G. Sweeting's well-known book gives a modicum of infos about the A-10A sayig it was a decidedly better mask than the A-10 (C) and A-10 (R) in some aspects, and generally well received by the flyers although not without any shortcomings, partly inherited from the earlier variants.  Officially adopted as Substitute Standard in mid-October 1943 and subsequently  '... used in decreasing quantities through the end of the war'.

Been unable to find any more of interesting details out there on the web   -    such as wich, and if, war theater saw it being used more than elsewhere, the quantity made if known, whether it saw more use in a precise type of aircraft rather than another, or the effective period of service outside the US.

 

Thanx very much in advance for any data you can provide!  Franco.

 

Posted

The historical record found in WW2 era USAAF photos of the time indicate its primary use was in high altitude heavy bombers. The photo record could be misleading as its easy to see 10 guys from a bomber crew posed next to a bomber. The ETO was well documented so that has a large assortment of photos. The 303rd BG web site gives an excellent breakdown of what gear was used when,    http://www.303rdbg.com/contact.html   go to uniforms, then flight gear. Ed Nord has it broken down by year.

Posted

hello,

yes I knew of that very nice website. The A-10A is briefly treated in regard to the flyers in the ETO, possibly prior to 1944. The fact that many a specimen show mfg. dates as late as April or June 1944 would possibly indicate a greater usage (in war theaters, I do mean) than we usually can think of? In fact the A-14 had been standardized in July 1943.

 

Aside of the 8th A.F. and more generally the ETO (among bomber crews, it seems to imply), I'm wondering of possible use by AAF fighter pilots in the Sout West Pacific still in springtime 1944. Rather unlikely, yet I didn't find confirmations of the contrary.

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