Anyone have any idea as to what color RAF WW2 air crew flight suits were? I’m building a Swordfish and Tamiya says Red-Brown. Is there a stadard color?
Thanks.
this is what I have seen in my references… maybe someone more up on the RAF might help you better but as far as I have seen this is it…
The Swordfish wasn’t flown by the RAF. You should be checking out Fleet Air Arm flying suits.
oops… he’s got a point… I;ll see if I can dig something up on that…
Most of the references I’ve seen show the flight suits in either a dark Grey-Blue or a medium Tan color. Flight boots were black & helmets either black or dark brown leather. Never saw an illustration in red-brown, but there was quite a bit of variation during the war years so I suppose it’s possible.
Regards, Rick
Isn’t it possible that a Swordfish flight crew, in an open cockpit flying over the North Atlantic in the winter was covered head to toe in something like oiled leather or some other flying togs not standard with other types issued to the FAA crews, nor any other flight crews during the war, for that matter? Just curious.
And, just to be contrary, look at those old photos of the B-17 gunner wearing the helmet and the full-body flack suit OVER his full-body heated leather high-altitude suit and those huge fleece-lined gauntlets that wouldn’t fit through the spade grip of a machine gun. The entire rig was impractical and cumbersome for someone who had to sit still, let alone someone who had to load, cock, aim and fire a Ma Deuce out the window, or even the guy who had to sit there with a pencil and protractor and navigate, then be a gunner when defense was needed. Every member of every bomber crew had his own bits and pieces of various flight clothing issued to him that he combined in his own preferred way, and I would guess that would be the case with Swordfish crews, so I wouldn’t spend a lot of time worrying about getting it perfect, since it’s not likely to be possible.
I’d check the memoir of a Swordfish crewmen before I looked at a collection of drawings of uniforms, but that’s just me.
Tom
My father flew Lanc’s in the war.I can send you a large photo of my dad in full flight gear.The gear he is wearing is the cold weather flight gear for high altitudes.The blue gear shown in the photo on this page is that worn dy fighter pilots who did’nt fly at the altitudes my dad flew at…The colour is a reddy brown but often had stains on them from gun oil,burns ect,Drop me a line & i’ll send the photo on to you
merv