Famous People in Flight Jackets

[Stand By]

You're an enabler, BN !
No, I haven't seen it (is it worth watching - besides the nylon?) ... but I imagine it'd be like when I ordered a copy of The War Lover for myself - and bought my ELC B-3 later that same week !

 

[bn1966]

Quite an OK action film Stand By IMHO. Set during the Korean war with faint echoes of 'From Here to Eternity'. Great dog fights!!My nylon collection suddenly peaked, ELC will do alright out of it because I now want a vintage look B2 leather cap to wear with nylon flight jackets (like they wore in Korea). Another one for the collection is 'The Hunter' with Steve McQueen which will send you scurrying to buy a Greenbrier '76 MA1.

 

[Edward]

Those B2 caps are nice; very practicla in the Winter. I wear mine a lot with a B3. Need to get around to ordering one up in the RAF sheepskin to match the Irvin. Just don't raise your head in a high wind and let it get under the bill, or you'll end up running after it like an eedjit....

(Actually, I really fancy one of the ELC B5 helmets, but I can't imagine when I'd actually wear it, given that it'd be cold enough for the sheepskin on the body, and the two together would look absurd....).

 

[bn1966]

I had a B2 matched to my ELC Irvin, felt over whelmed by leather when I wore it out (moved it on). I quite like the image of a battered B2 (ELC 50 cal version) with a nylon B-15 & my green A4 wool mechanics cap with my USAF leathers

 

[bn1966]

The B5 helmet....great as you say but unlikely to be worn out of the house

 

[Smithy]

Have you seen 'The Hunters' Stand By?....Nylon appreciation!!!!!

Whilst "The Hunters" is brilliant for nylon and F-86 appreciation make sure you read the book BN. It contains some of the best writing about flying I have ever seen and it also puts you in the head of a Korean War fighter pilot like no other book. BTW the plot of the movie bears absolutely no resemblance to that of the book!

 

[Treetopflyer]

From the 1957 movie 'Battle Hymn"

 

[Stand By]

Have you seen 'The Hunters' Stand By?....Nylon appreciation!!!!!

I do have a copy !!! Or rather my girlfriend has a copy (I know, eh?!) and put it in a box for goodwill (!!) along with a few other old war movies from her single days that's been sitting downstairs for ages !!!
Marvellous. Will dig it out (with the others) and give that a spin ... Fantastic !

 

[Doctor Damage]

^ What's interesting about that movie is not only the nylon appreciation, but also that all of the pilots are wearing mixed and matched colours - dark blue overalls with sage jackets, and vice versa. I have no idea how historically accurate that might be, but I suspect it's realistic.

 

[nick123]

I do have a copy !!! Or rather my girlfriend has a copy (I know, eh?!) and put it in a box for goodwill (!!) along with a few other old war movies from her single days that's been sitting downstairs for ages !!!
Marvellous. Will dig it out (with the others) and give that a spin ... Fantastic !

A candlelight dinner, followed by a "movie"...how romantic!

 

[Atticus Finch]

^ What's interesting about that movie is not only the nylon appreciation, but also that all of the pilots are wearing mixed and matched colours - dark blue overalls with sage jackets, and vice versa. I have no idea how historically accurate that might be, but I suspect it's realistic.

From the period photos I've seen...and from how my father described the USAF in those days...I would say the film is very realistic with respect to how people dressed. The post WWII military wasn't exactly swimming in money...especially the Air Force. People wore what was issued to them until it was unserviceable. Within a period of six years, USAF outerwear had gone from olive, to blue to sage...and still had a healthy dose of older russet and seal mixed in. I'm sure many briefing rooms looked like rummage sales.

AF

 

[Smithy]

From the period photos I've seen...and from how my father described the USAF in those days...I would say the film is very realistic with respect to how people dressed. The post WWII military wasn't exactly swimming in money...especially the Air Force. People wore what was issued to them until it was unserviceable. Within a period of six years, USAF outerwear had gone from olive, to blue to sage...and still had a healthy dose of older russet and seal mixed in. I'm sure many briefing rooms looked like rummage sales.

AF

I reckon that's spot on AF.

The photos I've seen online and in my books from the Korean War show a real hodge-podge of matching of different colours of uniform and flight kit. "The Hunters" is very accurate in terms of what was worn.

Shame the plot wasn't the same!

 

[Stand By]

A candlelight dinner, followed by a "movie"...how romantic!

Ha!Ha!Ha! You read my mind.
I was going to write "Fantastic ... a nice bath, some wine, some candles .... and a good old war movie!" LOL

 

[Smithy]

Ha!Ha!Ha! You read my mind.
I was going to write "Fantastic ... a nice bath, some wine, some candles .... and a good old war movie!" LOL

You'll enjoy it Stand By. I love the movie as well for all the nylon and simply stunning F-86 footage but I'm biased as I read Salter's novel first so was disappointed that the plot of the flick was so far removed from the book which is in my top three favourites.

Have fun with movie night!

 

[Stand By]

The book's that good, eh? Interesting ... will check it out.
And I've already been scoping the red baseball caps at ELC ... "Reassuriungly expensive" - as the Stella Artois slogan used to go !

 

[Smithy]

The book's that good, eh? Interesting ... will check it out.

IMHO it's one of the best books about flying and the psychology of the fighter pilot ever written.

James Salter who wrote it is/was Capt James Horowitz who flew F-86 Sabres with the 335th FIS during the Korean War. It's semi-autobiographical. He left the USAF to become a writer and he is a stunningly good one.

I don't think I've ever read better evocations of flight and I've read literally hundreds of memoirs, accounts.

Pick up a copy, I can't imagine you'd regret it.

His "Gods of Tin" and "Burning the Days" are his non-fiction accounts of his Korea experiences and are equally excellent - "Gods of Tin" being a collection of pieces from "The Hunters", "Burning the Days" and a journal he wrote whilst being a fighter pilot in Korea.

 

[bn1966]

Thanks for that Smithy, going on e-bay in a minute to look for some books.

Go careful Stand By! You have the makings of a nylon freak...once it bites! Have now being looking at the ELC Ball caps too...good for the summer with the L2A on. Leather for the B-15 in the colder months.

 

[Stand By]

[QUOTE
Go careful Stand By! You have the makings of a nylon freak...once it bites! Have now being looking at the ELC Ball caps too...good for the summer with the L2A on. Leather for the B-15 in the colder months.[/QUOTE]

I love my old ELC B-6 way too much to go nylon in colder weather ... but I'm not a fan of the new finish of the ELC leathers, so if ever there came a day where I needed to replace my B-6, I wouldn't buy another B-6 for that reason - and then I'd go Buzz B-10, for sure.

 

[bn1966]

My new ELC D1 jacket has yet to be worn properly, my favourite shearling! Weather should soon be cold enough

 

[Stearmen]

The Air Force apparently used up every bit of the left over Army equipment. My neighbor joined in 1958, and he said he was issued Army clothing, even a wool OD Ike jacket. His first Good Conduct Medal was the Army version. Once out of boot, he did get a Dress Blue uniform.