WWI Aviators Clothing and Uniforms

[Rod_Filan]

Originally Posted by RLWP

Another possibility for your wooden construction would be a trestle to raise the tail of the 'plane. See the thread in Aircraft about pilots starting their engines Pilots start own planes? . There is a nice description in there about preparing and warming up including the use of a trestle.

http://204.83.160.230/archive/scheff...heffer1_kh.jpg

[MicroSculpt]

Greetings!

I've been following this thread with much interest. Good stuff.

I thought this might be the appropriate place to ask a question about flight gear...

What was the difference between the Sidcott and Pukka (sp?) flying suits? They look very similar to me.

Thanks.

Tom

Originally Posted by MicroSculpt

What was the difference between the Sidcott and Pukka (sp?) flying suits? They look very similar to me. Thanks. Tom

Hi Tom,

I must admit to complete ignorance on the Pukka flying suit. I've looked in my (relatively meager) library and tried to figure out what you might be referring to and the closest I can come to it is kapok, as in the flotation devices, a variety of which were worn over flying suits. If you (or anyone else) have a picture of a "Pukka" suit which you can forward, or a book reference, I would be very appreciative. Could it just be the name of a privately manufactured flying suit similar to the Sidcot?

Matt

[AAC Cadet Leader]

MicroSculpt,
I have also never heard of the Pukka or Sidcott flying suits, but google images produces an picture of a sidcot with a mention in the accompanying text that dates it around 1942.
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgu...ctive%26sa%3DN

Nothing related to flying suits comes up under a search on puca, pucca, pukka, or puka.

As for the previous quizzes:

Regarding the handsome silver cigarrette case, I'm stumped.

The wooded "ladder" - I think it's a stand for the gas jockey to get up to the top of the wing. It would be too tall to hold the fuselage level if placed under the tail.

Here's a quiz for any of you who have had the pleasure of seeing the award-winning movie about the life of Howard Hughes, "The Aviator" (if you haven't, go see it !!!)
Buttons or zippers?

[MicroSculpt]

There is a photo caption on page 51 of Osprey's American Aces of World War I that references pukka flying clothing. I believe the photo on page 52 is the same issued clothing. It looks very similar to the typical Sidcot flying suit as shown on page 37 of Osprey's British Air Forces 1914-1918 (2).

I guess the question is "what is pukka".

The only difference I can see is that the pukka collar looks less furry and the leg pockets are a bit different.

Tom

["Junior"]

I'm not sure whether this has anything to do with this but "pukka" is usually British slang for if something is genuine or if something is "topnotch". Perhaps the reference was to a genuine Sidcot suit and not one which was produced under license by another manufacturer.

Originally Posted by AAC Cadet Leader

Here's a quiz for any of you who have had the pleasure of seeing the award-winning movie about the life of Howard Hughes, "The Aviator" (if you haven't, go see it !!!)
Buttons or zippers?

Since out Cadet Leader's topic has been moved, it seems only appropriate to follow her, and it, to the new location.

Matt

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Originally Posted by Matt Witt

I haven't seen it yet (but I will!), so I don't have the foggiest idea what the question is...

In an unusual effort to stay on thread track, my reply has been hijacked to the Howard Hughes Biopic thread:

http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/sh...538#post192538

[MicroSculpt]

Junior, I believe you are right.

I found these definitions on the Web:

Pukka: Real or genuine, from Hindustani pakka ‘cooked, ripe’.

Pukka: From the Hindi pakka, meaning cooked, ripe, mature, thorough and substantial. First used in English in the sense of “solid” or “genuine” in the 1770s.

Also, the same question was asked on the WWI models forum a few years back. The input is valuable:

http://www.wwi-models.org/mail-archi...hive.2002/4302

Tom

I had put this in the memorabilia section, but received no response. I'm hoping for a little more luck over here. This French uniform is being offered on eBay. (Judging by the posts in this section of the Forum, we all definitely spend more time at eBay than is healthy.) You may have seen it: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...6507703889&rd=1

I have a pretty good handle on the British uniforms, but not so much on the French. It's hard to tell much about the pilot's badge, but it does look like it has the "B" on the reverse (if you squint). My chief concern is the collar tabs. They are not aviation. We all know that in the RFC and in the German Air Service, pilots often wore the uniforms of their previous regiments, complete with all, or most, of the prior unit's accoutrements. In going through photos of French pilots, however, I did not find a single photo in which an officer was wearing his old regimental insignia on his collar. There were some NCO's with nothing on the collars, but if an officer had anything on the collar, he seemed to always have the winged star. Likewise the kepi. I have only found one flying officer's photo in which he was wearing his former regimental number on his kepi. This guy looks like he kept his former uniform intact and just added a flying badge. I'm doubtful. Anyone have any thoughts? I had thought about bidding, but am leery.

By the way, thanks to Junior and MicroSculpt for the info on "Pukka". I had never heard the term. Now I'm trying to unobtrusively work it into conversations. I just hope I'm not mispronouncing it: Puke-a, Pook-a, Puck-a. I'll figure this out sooner or later.

Matt Witt