VF(N)-55 AN-J-3A

[Stony]

Picked up this F6F Hellcat night fighter AN-J-3A at the Pomona military show last weekend. Nice VF(N)-55 squadron patch and really nice embossed name plate. This unit was only active from March-December of 1945 and flew off of the USS Enterprise. I also got his flight school document, his night fighter syllabus, bible, Pal survival knife, stamped signature thank you letter from Forrestal (Secretary of the Navy during WWII) and some other flight school books. I also found a book of matches in one of the front pockets and you can tell it's old by the five digit phone number.

 

[a2jacketpatches]

Super nice jacket that displays beautifully. I love that large patch

 

[Treetopflyer]

The jacket along with all of the other material is simply fantastic. The service garage that is advertised on the match book is now a dry cleaners, but you can tell by the building that it used to be a gas station.

The Collings Foundation is restoring an F6F-3N Hellcat to flying condition. It was a night fighter flown by VF(N)-76.

 

[Silver Surfer]

aw, datsa nice, boss.

 

[Stony]

The jacket along with all of the other material is simply fantastic. The service garage that is advertised on the match book is now a dry cleaners, but you can tell by the building that it used to be a gas station.

The Collings Foundation is restoring an F6F-3N Hellcat to flying condition. It was a night fighter flown by VF(N)-76.

Thanks for the info on the garage. I'm thinking that the match book is at least from the early sixties based on the phone number. I'll also have to check out the Collings Foundation website and see how the Hellcat is progressing.

The person I bought the group from has other items and I'm going to get those soon.

 

[dujardin]

splendid jacket
the patch is a beauty
congratssssssss

is it possible to have a scan of the cover of the VFN training syllabus ? thanks in advance

 

[bazelot]

Fantastic jacket. I should have gone to the show

 

[Stony]

Fantastic jacket. I should have gone to the show

There was actually a lot of flight jackets for sale at the show. I sold a M-422a and M-421a when I was setting up the day before the show. There was everything under the sun there for flight jackets. A B-6, a size 44 B-10, B-15, nylon, some nice painted and patched A-2s and several Navy flight jackets. There was even a WWI fur collared flying coat. Unfortunately, I couldn't buy them all, lol.

 

[bazelot]

In hindsight maybe it was not such a good idea for me to go there

 

[YoungMedic]

Great grouping and especially that wonderful jacket.