Vietnam War era Navy A-4 Skyhawk pilot display

[Rooter]

Thought I would show you guys the display of an early 70’s naval aviator we have, well on display, here at the museum I work at.

 

 

The gear includes;

Most likely an APH-6A with an MS22001 dated 68-69-70, with the low- and high-pressure REDAR hoses, as well as the Robertshaw regulator,

A CS/FRP-1 flight suit dated 1970,

An MA-2 torso harness dated 1969 which was rigger cut, also has the mod to hold the strobe light,

An SV-2 survival vest dated 1970 and,

Mark 2A anti-g pants dated 1968.

 

The gear in the SV-2 includes both parts of the SEEK-1 survival kit, a Fulton flashlight, a AN/PRC-90-2 survival radio dated 1989 (indeed far too modern), and a pair of the Nomex flight gloves. We also have a pair of the brown leather flight boots, but they don’t fit on the mannequin, so they’re in the glass case next to it.

 

All the gear on the mannequin (save the radio and strobe light) is on loan to us from the Navy, being given to us when we first opened.

I was hoping to share this to get your feedback on how accurate it is for display, as it’s mostly the main topic when it comes to this area of the museum. If you have any advice on how to make it better, I would really appreciate it so I can inform the head curator to see if we can allocate the funds at some point, making sure to be as accurate as possible.

 

Thank you very much - Ryan

[adda91]

Very nice a4 skyhawk instrument panel in thé first picture ! 

Which buaer ? 

Thanks 

Regards 

Arnaud 

[boxerdogi]

This is a 1966 verified VA 164 Ghostriders helmet. Yours looks very similar.

[Rooter]

On 4/4/2026 at 7:55 AM, adda91 said:

Very nice a4 skyhawk instrument panel in thé first picture ! 

Which buaer ? 

Thanks 

Regards 

Arnaud 

 

This is the information we have on the panel, one of the members put it together and donated it for display years ago, it was his job and his hobby. If'n you like, I could send you more pictures of the panel sometime. 

[Rooter]

On 4/4/2026 at 8:45 AM, boxerdogi said:

This is a 1966 verified VA 164 Ghostriders helmet. Yours looks very similar.

 

Indeed, they do look amazingly similar! In fact ours has the letters "CO" on either sides of the back of the helmet. Do you think if it was from a commander of VA-164, it would be possible to track down his jet? It sure would be nice detail to add to the display. Since the gear is on loan from the Navy, I have been considering contacting the Naval History and Heritage Command to see if they might have any additional information on it.

[boxerdogi]

You may find a name inside the helmet or on another piece of equipment. Here is a list of CO’s.

[Armygas]

Rooter, A very nice display of VN era flight gear, not an area I collect, however well done.  I do have a question regarding the gloves.  The back story is I once had a mess dress uniform on mannequin displayed in public with all the accouterments, gloves included.  A couple came up and asked if the gloves were "correct"?  I said yes they came with the uniform from the veteran and were dated about the same as the other parts.  The couple got rather indignant and said the gloves were all wrong and stormed off!  I was stunned and absolutely perplexed as to what their outburst was all about.  So back to my question for you, how do you handle the small items for such a display?  Are the gloves dated concurrent to the major items or is any pair representative close enough?  Do you feel it is more important to have a "placeholder" that may not be perfect, than an empty space or missing item?  Have you had any similar dissatisfied patrons who took umbrage with a display or artifact?  Cheers, Armygas