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Suiting up in a B-2 and A-2, 1933

zoomer

zoomer

Well-Known Member
An 11th Bomb Squadron pilot (not recognizable from the Muroc group pix around that time) demonstrates wear of the B-2/A-2 suit over his A-2 jacket on March 2, 1933.
The suit appears to be one-piece in the first photo - the second shows the trouser suspenders and jacket hemline.

5469288606_3d7967f351_b.jpg

"March Field, California: The Latest In Flying Togs. Army fliers stationed at the March Field, California, have adopted new flying suits. Photo shows the pilot about to lace his suit."
5469364430_3f04395999_b.jpg

"Photo shows half of the suit laced with zipper."
5468771287_65fa77d2d6_b.jpg

"Photo shows the end of the operation; the whole operation requires less than 10 minutes."
 
R

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
These are great pics of the B-2 suit. The A2 looks like a 33 Werber. I can't detect pocket buttons, so it's unlikely to be a SAT but can see the lighter coloured waistband, which is typical of the first Werber A2. The A2 looks brand new.
 
zoomer

zoomer

Well-Known Member
I agree it's a Werber. They weren't easy to blouse at the waist, but if you were wiry, it could be done.

Seems to me there might have been some snap or button fittings to hold the jacket to the trouser waist. See how the trous lift up when the jacket is pulled aside?

Here's the only pic I know of the A-2 trous without the B-2 jacket. Claire Chennault and the Flying Trapeze stunt team in 1934.
5470914045_32ff516605_o.jpg
 
Falcon_52

Falcon_52

Active Member
Great pictures, zoomer. Thanks for posting. You know, I'll probably get slapped for this but from this distance the B-2 looks a lot like the Lost Worlds version - it has the same monster collar. Obviously, the leather is much thinner on the original in the pictures.

Could this be the Switlik version of the B-2? The pictures of the original Werbers that I've seen seem to have a collar of smaller proportion.

Noel
 
dujardin

dujardin

Well-Known Member
splendid photos, thankssssss

maybe this suit is more than welcome when flying at high altitude in low t° but on the californian groung; this guy is warm enough

i remember when i receive my flying suit M456b, i wear her for ten minutes (for the photos), it was a real sauna.
 
zoomer

zoomer

Well-Known Member
March in March (Northern California) can be fairly brisk and windy.
And at least according to Stu from Lost Worlds, the B-2 wasn't even very warm.
Lost Worlds said:
Derived from full length leather flight suits of the 1920s, the rare B-2 was procured for only two years by the AAC before replacement by the famed B-3. Doubtless the reasons were warmth, labor intensity and cost. The all-sheepskin B-3 was warmer, easier and cheaper to make.
Click to expand...
 
zoomer

zoomer

Well-Known Member
Very similar anyway - the one on the shorter man (Regis Toomey) has pants pockets to the sides.
These presumably had a BuAer spec and number. Calling deeb7...calling deeb7... :lol:
 
D

deeb7

Gone, but not forgotten.
zoomer said:
Very similar anyway - the one on the shorter man (Regis Toomey) has pants pockets to the sides.
These presumably had a BuAer spec and number. Calling deeb7...calling deeb7... :lol:
Click to expand...

The photo displays too dark for me to see any details, but Air Associates were making similar suits at around this time ... the S-20 two piece, and S-12 one piece.
 
zoomer

zoomer

Well-Known Member
Leroy Hill, AA's ceo, left his papers to Wichita State Univ. Therein may lie the answer...
 
zoomer

zoomer

Well-Known Member
GenBlantonWinship_MillerField_MaconGa_1232.jpg
Gen. Blanton Winship, the Army's Judge Advocate General, was not a pilot, but apparently rated a ride in an Army plane and the loan of a cold-weather suit for the trip. He is shown at Miller Field in his hometown of Macon, Ga., in December, 1932. Accompanying the JAG was his nephew, David Walker.
 
Falcon_52

Falcon_52

Active Member
That looks like the early version of the B-1/A-1 (Switlik) with the mouton-covered button closure on the throat. It must be fresh from the factory; it still has a shine on the top surface of the leather!

Nice post, zoomer.
 
R

Roughwear

Well-Known Member
It is most likely the first version of the B-1 by Switlik, contract AC 4552 from the 1932 fiscal year. It does not appear to have the collar strap seen on jackets from their second contract a year later.
 
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