303rd Bomb Group has Great Site for Flight Gear Photos and Information

The 303rd Bomb Group, the famous "Hell's Angels", has one of the web's best bomb group sites. After posting my photos of flight gear, I surfed onto theirs, and it's a must for anyone interested in high-altitude bomber crew flight gear.

The web page for the flight gear is: http://www.303rdbg.com/uniforms-gear2.html

Here is just one example:
"Photo #12 - In the above photo can be seen the 4 lines of survival that ran from the crewman's fight gear and plugged into the airplane. The large green hose is for oxygen. One black communication line runs from his A-11 flight helmet earphones. The second black communication line runs from his push-to-talk switch. The push-to-talk switch is plugged into the internal microphone of the A-14 mask. The 4th line runs from his F-3 electric suit. The lead cord or extension cord is shown unconnected. Hanging from the sleeve of the left wrist is the connector for the gloves, and just below I've opened the glove to expose the connecting points. The flak helmet is the type M-3. This flak helmet was the same as the G.I. steel pot worn by the infantry, but altered slightly with the addition of ear flaps to fit better over the flight helmets. The M-3 did not have a separate liner that slipped in and out. When you run your hand over the top of the M-3, it feels like fur. A flocking was sprayed over them to keep the guys bare hands from freezing to them. It showed up in 1944. Much of what is displayed here can be seen in the photo of 1Lt Ted Misthal. Examples of the M-3 flak helmet and a flak vests can be seen here." --303rd BG Website

Flight Clothing for High Altitudes

A crew posing with full equipment in WWII. Note the parachute packs in foreground.

Airmen flew in extreme weather conditions. At 20,000 feet, the air could be fifty below zero, and nearly devoid of life-giving oxygen. Both the B-17 and the B-24 were unheated and unpressurized. The photos below were taken at the 390th BG Museum at the Pima Air Museum in Tucson.

Exhibit at the 390th Museum at Pima Air Museum, Tucson, shows the full flight kit of a bomber crewman. Flying in temperatures down to fifty below zero at altitudes nearly devoid of oxygen, the kit includes, top to bottom, leather flight helmet with built-in headphones, flight goggles, throat mike, oxygen mask, shearling leather flight jacket, Mae West yellow life jacket, parachute harness, shearling leather flight pants, shearling leather gunner gloves, and shearling boots. The parachute is at the feet of the airman.
A vintage shot of a crewman with much of the same gear, though he is wearing clothing for slightly warmer conditions.
This electrically-heated 'bunny suit' was used by early air crews. Plugged in to the aircraft's power supply, the suit had a tendency to overheat or short out, causing burns, and many stopped using them because of this.

This flak jacket and helmet protected airmen from the dangers of jagged, red hots shards of flak.