Army Aviator Flight Gear

[Swashplate]

[Swashplate]

[Swashplate]

[Swashplate]

[Swashplate]

A good friend of mine, and my Modeling mentor gave me his flight gear. I've added a couple of items to the display. For all the pilots out there, is this accurate for the time frame. Thanks in advance.

[Swashplate]

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[Whiskey]

Looks like my Dad’s kit during that era

[picknpluck]

Yes, it is accurate up to mid '90s or so. Around the mid-late '90s, you started seeing two-piece flight suits in woodland pattern.  Post-9-11, there was tan one-piece suits followed by the 2-piece UCP debacle, and now we're at the Multicam/OCP.

Edited January 18, 2018 by picknpluck

[Swashplate]

Thanks for the reply.

[FM-Whip]

The survival vest appears to be incorrect for the 70s timeframe.  The OD survival vests I believe came into use in the late 80s.  All the survival vests I ever saw in Army use in the late 70s/early 80s were the sage green SRU-21/P.  

[Swashplate]

Thanks for the reply FM-Whip. I can simply change the information on the display plaque.

[jabow]

In 1970 RVN, we ALL wore 'Chicken Plates'.  Armored front that had chest centered pocket for survival radio or cigarettes.  Flight jacket was sage green and inside was orange!!  Ditto for Flight Jacket stateside when I got out US Army Reserves circa 1979 or so.

 

EDIT:  IF that's a one piece flight suit, we all had two piece ones with Velcro wrist and ankle adjustments.  I'd guess this was 1980 on configuration???  I kept my old 2-piece suit to this day.  We Reservist were the last to get updated gear.

 

Circa 1970 RVN US Army Flight Suits

 

Demon 68 

Bo

Edited January 29, 2018 by jabow
update info

[hawkwrench]

Huh! That flight gear looks real familiar!!!

 

Tim

[viking73]

That's a great mannequin set up, very nice!! Where did you get the mannequin, is it a certain type/brand?  Are the vest pockets full of survival gear?  I have a similar issue 80's army aviator vest with all the survival gear in place.  The only thing missing is the PRC-90 radio.   Those seem to be a bit pricey but I'll snag one eventually. 

 

If I can make some space in my man cave/war room, I'd do a similar setup as you.  I may do a 1960's army aviator setup (K-2B flightsuit, APH-5 helmet, B-3A leather gloves, etc.), depicting an instructor from Ft. Wolters, TX also.

 

Very awesome, thanks for sharing your photos!

 

-Derek

  

[viking73]

Here's a shot of some of my 1960's flight gear I'd use for my setup.

 

-Derek

 

[Swashplate]

                         Viking73, that is some really cool flight gear you have. I love the orange instructor flight suit. Everything that you see in my pictures were given to me from a good friend who did two tours in Vietnam as a crew chief. He picked up the mannequin  from a department store near his home that was going out of business. They gave it to him. He picked it up in the early 80s. The survival vest pockets or filled with folded up newspapers to make them look full.