Few more of B-36 from Lockheed

[oose]

Hi all,

only few there pics but there are plenty more on the site.









stu

 

[Hunter57]

What are those flight suits in the first picture? No offense intended, but they look like something from a Saturday morning cartoon!

 

[dujardin]

What are those flight suits in the first picture? No offense intended, but they look like something from a Saturday morning cartoon!

unable to say exactly the model but for sure high altitude flying suit and helmet

 

[flightmac]

I believe those are K-1 early full pressure helmets along with (again very early) S-2 partial pressure suit. If cabin pressure was lost, the tubes running along the sides would inflate and pull tight the tapes wrapped around the tubes and tighten the fabric against the skin. This would help prevent the blood from "boiling" (at altitudes where the boiling point is body temperature :shock: ) or other pressure injuries similar to a diver surfacing too quickly. Movement was restrictive and the partial pressure suits were a life-saving (until you can descend) device. You can see some in the movies like the Right Stuff.

I was wondering about the white flightsuits and caps.

 

[Hunter57]

The white ones are curious as well. For a moment, I thought the fleet had taken over a B-36.

 

[USMC_GAU-21]

The white ones could be for "anti-static". They could have been testing some sensitive ordnance or something else that needed reduced static electricity around the aircraft. When we worked on open fuel cells in the Marine Corps we had to wear a white thick cotton jump suit to reduce static electricity around the open cell.

A little farther out of the realm of possibility but might be, was the fact the airplane was being delivered and they wanted to make sure it looked good for the USAF????? :lol:

But, I think they were wearing them for "anit-static".

Just a thought.

R- Gy Dan

 

[Hunter57]

I ran a section of the white suit photo through an image processing filter to see what was written on the glove of the man at far left. Doesn't tell me anything, but in case anyone's interested, it APPEARS to be "KT0N23". Gibberish to me, but maybe it rings a bell somewhere?