'Black Flight' pilot uniform

[Romani]

Ricardo, I am sorry to have confused you. RCA is the spanish equivalent of RFC! oops! So no, the Canadians would have worn standard RFC clothing just like everybody else.

Attached is a picture from TIME/Life folio book "Knights of the Sky" the caption mentions that this style of coat with a chest map pocket was characteristic of the British aviator.
The fur mittens are something noteworthy as well, I think they would be worn in cold weather and/or very high altitude

There's a picture of Ernst Udet in Osprey AoA 32, page 63 that shows him wearing a "RFC flying coat, much favored by german pilots" though he's wearing normal gloves with the cuffs closed, instead of the large gauntlet gloves you see in other pictures.

For all its worh, in "20th Century Military Uniforms" by Chris McNab, the WWI British pilot entry is shown wearing this kind of coat and the date is given as 1917. In total 3 sources to give British pilots a different look even at 1/72 scale.

As for the color, bear in mind that this picture is a museum piece and perhaps faded though it seems in very good condition, in Udet picture the coat looks darker, but due to the vagaries of black and white photography, you can safely assume the color is a light brown.

Hope this helps

[BLOWHARD]

Aaarrrggghh, Not Navy Blue uniforms.

This might be a rule but I've got plenty of photos in books of RNAS guys in France in action in very dark or black looking uniforms and white hats. So regulation or no, it seems that they did wear the the blue coats and white hats from time to time at the front. Maybe for special occasions like photo shoots?

[MikeW]

Blowhard,

This might be a rule but I've got plenty of photos in books of RNAS guys in France in action in very dark or black looking uniforms and white hats.

Perhaps you could give me some examples of these books, I've always prided myself on my RNAS book, photograph and document collection which has taken me over 20 years to gather.

I had a quick scan through some likely books and other than obvious RNVR men at Dunkerque HQ (who were not pilots anyway but performing ground officer type duties for the RNAS) I could not find any pilots photographed in France or Belgium that were not wearing Khaki. This includes men being presended to both British and Belgian royalty, and two officers getting a special medal presentation from a French General.

I do have one exception in my photograph collection where the commanding officer and his three Flight Commanders were formally dressed in their "blues" but all other photographs of these particular men show them in regular khaki.




You may be mistaking RAF official photographs of former RNAS squadrons where traditionalist such as Major Collishaw posed in their formal blue RNAS uniforms. There are a number of such photographs.


Mike

[stephen]

I was honored to know Mel Alexander of Black Flight and we corresponded for some time in the late 80's before his death. Of course he sent me several photos, but most of them are close ups. The one I'm thinking of shows Mel in the cockpit of a Camel in full flight gear. Let me know if that's of any use and I can scan it for you.

[Rinahe]

It will be fantastic, Stephen. I just want to make my Tripe 'Black Flight' pilot as realistic as possible. I think that pic could give us a confirmation of the real aspect of a canadian pilot of the RNAS.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

Rinahe

[stephen]

No problem. I've already had another request for them as well. Please send me a PM with your email address.

A picture of a typical flying coat, hood helmet, mask goggles, and fug boots (just a bit, but you can see the color). Also shown is a Sidcot flying suit, though the Sidcot was used a bit later in the war than you are probably wanting to depict. I have another flying coat, the color of which is almost exactly that of the gloves on the figure wearing the Sidcot, so they do vary widely.

Matt

[Rinahe]

Thank you very much, Matt.

It's a very nice picture. I'll post a pic of my miniature progress asap.

Best regards,

Rinahe

Glad the pic helps Rinahe. I would note my understanding that the hood helmet was not favored by fighter pilots as it was felt to restrict the vision too much, though I suspect some wore them anyway. The color of the hood helmets tends to be along the lines seen in the photo, but the non hood helmets I have seen tend to be darker, closer to the color of the gloves seen on the figure wearing the Sidcot. A pic of such a helmet is attached, but the picture is awfully dark and I don't know that you will be able to see it very well. This is typical of what most fighter pilots would be wearing however. (Turns out the pic came out pretty well, not as underexposed as I had feared. This gives a good idea of the color of a typical helmet of this type.)

Matt