USAAC 1931: Front AND Back Patched A-1s???

[zoomer]

The photo below is one of several taken of members of the 11th Bomb Squadron visiting the Midland, Texas, airport on May 12, 1931.
The 11th, based at March Field, Calif., had flown into the area for maneuvers and were treated to genuine Texas barbeque by local mucky-mucks.

My point in posting this is that the "Jiggs" insignia of the 11th appears both on the front AND THE BACK of the A-1 jackets worn in the pic. I have never seen this before. Has anyone???

Jiggs was lead character in the comic Bringing Up Father, created by George McManus, an 11th BS veteran of WWI.

A closer look shows a kind of belt under the big patches on the backs, so they might have been flightsuits and not A-1s after all. Were big patches ever worn on flightsuits?

More pix from the 11th BS visit to Midland (starting about 1/3 of the way down the page)
Postal commemorative cover

Another great pic turned up in my Google search:

Here are Prof. Robert Millikan of Caltech, and Lieut. Charles Howard, 11th BS CO, in front of Howard's Curtiss B-2 Condor on October 27, 1932. Howard had just flown Millikan's electroscopes to 21,000' in an experiment to determine the effect of electromagnetic forces on cosmic rays.

 

[deeb7]

Re: USAAC 1931: Front AND Back Patched A-1s

My point in posting this is that the "Jiggs" insignia of the 11th appears both on the front AND THE BACK of the A-1 jackets worn in the pic. I have never seen this before. Has anyone???

Great picture Zoomer, but the insignia on the backs ... aren't they on A-4 suits?

 

[zoomer]

By George, I think you're right...Any pix of the A-4 handy?

 

[Weasel_Loader]

Love the photos. Here is another photo of Howard with 11th BS and 31st BS personnel.

 

[stubbyeighth]

Nice photo's indeed, but they are eclipsed by the new avatar.

_______________________

stubbyeighth

 

[deeb7]

By George, I think you're right...Any pix of the A-4 handy?

Nothing saved, Full Gear has pictures ... I'm so lazy, I've just googled up the WPG repro. Earlier versions had the two knee pockets.

Last time I looked, originals were relatively inexpensive on eBay. I guess you'd have to have a use for one.

 

[Atticus]

I wonder if the plane in the background is a predecessor of the Aeronca Champ. If so, I can't imagine it carrying much of a bomb load.

AF

 

[zoomer]

The lightplane appears to be a Monocoupe 22. This was a city airport in 1931, altho it later became an Army Air Field and a bombardiers' school.

Enlisted crew were not issued A-1s (or, for quite a while, A-2s) and had to fly in bags. Don't know what they did in winter or at altitude - layer up, probably.

This pic shows the crews of 3 B-10s (pilot, copilot/nav, bomb, radio) with the EMs in what look like ground crew coveralls. This was a flight of the 11th BS visiting Ft. Leavenworth, Kan., in 1935. Note too the neat (but not over-snug) fit of the first generation A-2.

click to enlarge

Thanks again for the large group pic, Weasel. I treasure that shot.
And thanks too to deeb for his help.

 

[Atticus]

So it was the predecessor of the Luscombe. Thanks, Zoomer!

AF

 

[zoomer]

Charles Howard has a page of his own at Davis-Monthan AFB History.

It says that he and the 11th BS were awarded the 1932 Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight by the Air Corps. In January, 1932, the 11th flew a relief mission to the snowbound Navajo and Hopi reservations in Arizona, dropping food, clothing and supplies.

Howard, born in Oregon in 1892, was a veteran of WWI with the Signal Corps aviation section and a close personal friend of Hap Arnold. He died in 1936 in a crash in Texas. Howard AFB, Panama, is named for him.

 

[greyhound52]

This is great stuff. I love those photos of early A2s and A1s. Thanks a bunch.