I've been looking to drag together some original kit where possible. Does anyone have sufficient knowledge on the subject to help on what the average pilot actually wore or a decent web site for info will do. Would there be any closely matched items from other countries that could be passable for Soviet WWII or perhaps some early post war Mig pilots kit, of which I can get fairly easily? I've got an original early leather helmet lined up so far (cheap), and missed a pair of gauntlets by a whisker. I also can get a set of head phones from Bulgaria but the guy wants £67 for them, worth it or not?

OK, I'll be doing this the hard way. No short cuts then

Most pilots late war wore standard issue army uniforms, with the addition of airforce shoulder boards in sky blue. An amount of british irvin jackets and trousers and flying boots were issued to soviet aircrew. I've seen the early post war flying helmet sets on ebay and they look right, but I'd have to see one in my hands. Post war blue airforce pilotkas are the same, However no one does a decent copy of an airforce pilots frashka
A good site if you've not seen it before is http://rkka.ru/uniform/index.htm

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Guards Serjant Yevgeni Trubetskoi 2nd Gds rifle div

Cheers for that Martin. I had seen the web site before, did'nt think of it on this occasion! From some old photos they seem to have had quite a mix of styles going back to just pre-war 1938 onwards. It's quite a task working from old black & white photos. I presume they had their own make of parachute harness, though I have seen some photos of aviators wearing what looks like the American style of the airborne para harness. I think all of the airforces are grossly under represented. It would be nice to have some decent soviet kit to display at some of the events. I do have an original set of kit for the RAF spitfire and hurricane pilot also the full kit of an USAAF B17 air gunner which no-one gets the pleasure of seeing except me; some of which I expect could be incorporated under the lend/least scenario

OK so far I have got some kit lined up. Seen a harness but the guy wants £750 for it, ouch! too much, still working on that one, and maybe able to get one made up if not too much cash. But can any aviation buffs help with a flying suit, can't find a Soviet one just yet, would a vintage sidcot or WW2 US suit be passable with some minor alterations? The sidcot looks the better alternative but costs more for a good one. All the photos I can locate show Soviet Aviators with quite a range of kit, so I maybe looking at having to expand this project just a tad

Another question. The winter flight suits; does anyone know whether these were fur lined or did they have padded lining similar to that of the telogreika. The RAF, USAAF, Luftwaffe used fur/fleece, also used for the tank suits. So I am assuming the Red Air Force would have run along these lines, or am I barking up the wrong tree?

The winter suits I've seen are fur lined, mostly in black

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Guards Serjant Yevgeni Trubetskoi 2nd Gds rifle div

Here is a 1935 VVS ID book I got for Xmas.

Cheers, Ade.

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http://www.2ndguards.com/index.html

Adrian Borisovitch Stepanov
Guards Starshina
Unit 2 I/C 2nd Guards Rifle Div.

Hi and Happy New Year Comrades!

I maybe able to help you as I have a pretty big collection of Soviet Airforces
flight uniforms and flight gear..
This unform is fully original (except boots): grey 1941 gymnastiorka with all pilot insignias,
leather helmet (copy of LW one), rare PL3M parachute, specific mapcase...
Let me know what you need

Jerome

Thanks for the photo, looks good. I'm looking for everything at the moment. The mig helmet finally arrived from the Ukraine: I'll be making some minor alterations to make it look WW2, not too much work there! The goggles; a pair of vintage British gauntlets that will fit in perfectly, yet another pair of boots; and I have started to get some fabrics together to make a flight suit, working from photos again , that's if nothing else suitable turns up. The harness is the biggest problem and probably the biggest expense Basically it is anything I can lay my hands on, finances permitting.

Nice present Ade, I wish someone would buy me something useful............Or a blank cheque would do!

Front of russia do a pilot uniform but ask for some pictures of it before you buy.

I've been looking at Front of Russia. He's pretty good for most things and not grossly over priced

Don't forget you can use some RAF or USAAF flying clothing,
or flying gear...here is an Hurricane pilot, protection of Arctic
Convoys: basic m40 uniform, PL3 harness, RAF life Vest...

jerome

Another Lend Lease item: a Redskin B3 jacket...made
by Eastman...My wife has painted 2 orders of the Red
Banner like seen on the B3 jacket of pilot V. A. Stepanov.

Any orders can be made if needed.

Jerome

Thanks again for photos. This project is coming along slowly and on a tight budget! Parachute harness will have to wait, unless one turns up unexpectedly as things do. Also, can anyone clarify the actual colour of the Red Army Airforce winter/artic flight suit, was it a brown or the mustard/khaki colour as in the standard army uniform? Photos don't show a true image; and did these button up or did they have zippers??? When I get this together I'll post up some photos for you all to see

Hi,

Here is a complete answer about flying suit (winter and summer)
i've tryed to make some repros but never find nor the right cloth, nor the right fur...
The back is the same for all pattern. Color may vary from grey-black to sand or olive green.


Jerome

Here is the back

Cheers,those photos are better to work with. The two winter suits are fleece; white fleece goes darker with age anyway and looks quite brown the older it is. I'm working on using a heavy weight calico or mid weight canvas un-dyed and dye it myself as near to the correct shade. You can get Italian made fake fur and fleece, its amazingly authentic and hard to tell from the real thing, but darned expensive, average cost about £65 metre and more, but I got hold of 2 metres brown bear fur at a quarter of the retail price! Still shopping for some more fleece and wolf fur. Oh my this is going to be fun

OK! Here is the up date. I've decided to use a medium weight canvas for weight and durability. I've had to mix the dye myself and made 9 different samplers before deciding on this one; OK or not? The camera does't give a true colour image, but it's as close as it gets. Comments please, if this shade is ok it will become a flying suit, if not, then its going to be re-dyed! Evenso I'm making good headway on this, I've also managed to get most of the other items from various traders.The parachute harness is a problem. I missed one but another has come up for sale, the seller wants £850 for it, ouch. toooo much. Anyone got any suggestions where I might get one at a sensible price?

Looks Ok to me.

Cheers, Ade.

_________________
http://www.2ndguards.com/index.html

Adrian Borisovitch Stepanov
Guards Starshina
Unit 2 I/C 2nd Guards Rifle Div.