Hey Fransie...at last some Flight Jackets for you, pal!!

[JJ Irani]

Hi Frans,

Hope you like them. They are very old...all of them dating back to World War II. Some of them were in a very sorry state of neglect and deterioation before we carried out some restoration work on them. Enjoy!!

[Goodwatch]

Thanks JJ. I see ONE flght jacket, a B-3. The rest are uniform jackets. It that all the museum has? (Not sarcastic, just a question).

[Earl]

JJ, what is the half wings about on the last and 3rd to last pictures, where the owners of these jackets "Half Aviators" (went along for the ride!) since 1 wing only? The 2nd to last picture I guess the B-3(?) is sweet, pure fleece(?) on the inside and very warm too I bet!

[Goodwatch]

Originally Posted by Earl

JJ, what is the half wings about on the last and 3rd to last pictures, where the owners of these jackets "Half Aviators" (went along for the ride!) since 1 wing only? The 2nd to last picture I guess the B-3(?) is sweet, pure fleece(?) on the inside and very warm too I bet!

Pure shearling sheepskin, you'd be wearing a sheep Plus horsehide patches on the sleeve too.

[C.J.]

The B-3 looks great But, not the jacket directly above the B-3, rather the two above that, they look like they may be some type of flight jacket. Are they?

Originally Posted by Earl

JJ, what is the half wings about on the last and 3rd to last pictures, where the owners of these jackets "Half Aviators" (went along for the ride!) since 1 wing only? The 2nd to last picture I guess the B-3(?) is sweet, pure fleece(?) on the inside and very warm too I bet!

Earl, only pilots got to wear full wings. The half-wings are worn by commonwealth flight crew. RO in the center of the wreath is Radio Operator, O is Observer and (not shown) N would be navigator, etc.

BTW, that B-3 jacket would be nice to slice up and make into Panerai straps..

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by Atomic

Earl, only pilots got to wear full wings. The half-wings are worn by commonwealth flight crew. RO in the center of the wreath is Radio Operator, O is Observer and (not shown) N would be navigator, etc.

BTW, that B-3 jacket would be nice to slice up and make into Panerai straps..

Spot-on, John!!

Frans, we did have many flight jackets, but they are in such a dilapidated and neglected state of affairs, that they are not worth posting.

Our museum has gone through some very bad patches in the past and was run mostly by volunteers who didn't give a rat's ass about the artefacts. All that neglect is now having an effect on us and we are having a nightmare of a time straightening things out.

Even the solid artefacts were neglected. However, things are now slowly slowly getting back on track....but it's a very large museum...and these things take time.

Sorry, that's all I could come up with for now. I know they are not much, but if I come across some better ones, I'll post them for sure.

Cheers - JJ

Originally Posted by JJ Irani

Spot-on, John!!

Hey, my dad has his N wings on his RCAF tunics and I was also in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, so I know my wings.

I was just a step away from getting my glider wings before I dropped out of RCAC when I realized my glasses were permanent (now, that's a different story).

BTW JJ, you'd love the national museums we have in Ottawa. We have the Canadian Aviation Museum, the Museum of Civilization, the Museum of Nature, the Museum of Science and Technology, the Museum of Agriculture (which is a working farm in central Ottawa) and the National War Museum... all no more than 10 minutes from my house.

[mailman]

Originally Posted by Atomic

BTW JJ, you'd love the national museums we have in Ottawa. We have the Canadian Aviation Museum, the Museum of Civilization, the Museum of Nature, the Museum of Science and Technology, the Museum of Agriculture (which is a working farm in central Ottawa) and the National War Museum... all no more than 10 minutes from my house.

To me the best museum I was ever at was the Smithsonian Museum of American History. It's amazing how they have old blacksmith and woodworking shops set up there right inside. Old tractors, locomotives, cars and motorcycles. They even had Fonzie's leather jacket. It's amazing how this stuff is kept in new condition.

[RogerF]

Ok I'll admit to being the stupid one here, but which one is the B3 and what is the diff between all the pics shown? What are the different types of jackets shown besides the flight one?

[JJ Irani]

Originally Posted by RogerF

Ok I'll admit to being the stupid one here, but which one is the B3 and what is the diff between all the pics shown? What are the different types of jackets shown besides the flight one?

The B3 is the second one from the bottom...made of brown leather and lined with fleece. The rest are uniform jackets or tunics if you perfer.

JJ