Unknown flight suit

[jpnelson82]

We have this flight suit in the squadron supply room, it's not blue or green or orange anything, it's really dark gray and some kind of denim material, is it legal wear?

[SarDragon]

Nope. It's probably 60s era, not fire-proof/resistant, and is not the right color.

COVERALL, FLYING, MAN'S, VERY LIGHT K-2B
MIL-C-6265E (USAF)

Mine is from the mid-60s.

[Duke Dillio]

Isn't that the same flight suit that they were in the F-117's and B-2's now?  I thought they wore grey flight suits.

[Hawk200]

Isn't that the same flight suit that they were in the F-117's and B-2's now?  I thought they wore grey flight suits.

No. The standard issue is the sage green. It's impractical and unnecessary to issue anything else.

[MIKE]

Tan? 

[Hawk200]

Tan? 

Point taken, many crews in the desert get tan.

But, grey is not an issued color. At least not for the US.

[flyerthom]

Could be an old Mechanic's coverall that a member might have left.

[O-Rex]

K2B's in exc. condition are collector's items: they harken back to the golden-age of USAF Century-series fighters, and during the early years in VN.

Nomex CWU-27's came out in the late 60's, and I believe there was something before that, circa 66-67 (history buffs/trivia-geeks: help me out here...)

If you're not going to do anything with it, why not post it on ebay and put the proceeds into your unit funds (?)

[davedove]

Isn't that the same flight suit that they were in the F-117's and B-2's now?  I thought they wore grey flight suits.

No. The standard issue is the sage green. It's impractical and unnecessary to issue anything else.

Maybe somebody left a sage green suit out in the sun too long.

[isuhawkeye]

It's impractical and unnecessary to issue anything els

Um black

[dogden]

It could be the same type of flight suit that the CAF (Confederate Commemorative air force) wears. We have quite a few around here and they have a grey jumpsuit.

[Hawk200]

It's impractical and unnecessary to issue anything els

Um black

Not a standard issue. Special teams and such are the exception, not the rule.

The standard issue flightsuit in CONUS is sage. In the desert, and in some units where desert operations are the primary mission of the unit, the flighsuits are tan.

Also, those flightsuits shown are probably not black. I've seen the T-bird demonstration teams before, and their flightsuits are a very dark blue. The ones shown above are most likely Navy, due to the undershirts and the accoutrements.

[Al Sayre]

I've seen a few Enlisted Aircrew in the Navy wearing grey flight suits, but it was usually the result of someone washing the flight suit with a new pair of dungarees, the result is a greenish grey.

[SarDragon]

I've seen a few Enlisted Aircrew in the Navy wearing grey flight suits, but it was usually the result of someone washing the flight suit with a new pair of dungarees, the result is a greenish grey.

Must have been AWs. 

[jpnelson82]

might be right about the CAF flight suit, either way the thing is gone now and it doesn't matter.

[O-Rex]

On that recent "Carrier" miniseries on PBS, some of the pilots were wearing black flightsuits.

(?)

[AlphaSigOU]

On that recent "Carrier" miniseries on PBS, some of the pilots were wearing black flightsuits.

Squiddies have some very quirky traditions, especially in the naval aviation community. It's not unusual for aircrew to have standard issue nomex flight suits with directly-embroidered name, rank and squadron emblem (not sure if it's done with colored nomex thread). These are generally private-purchase items and worn only by mission-qualified aircrew. Other bag colors are probably custom-made and definitely a private-purchase item, usually worn for homecoming or as 'party suits'.

[smj58501]

I have seen servicemembers in certain joint and combined positions wear grey flight suits. Not saying this is the one that the poster is referring to, but they do exist in a military capacity

[Smokey]

The AF Thunderbirds also had a gray flightsuit in the laaate 90's early 2000 era.  I think they used it on the days they did the parctice show at a showsite.

[SarDragon]

On that recent "Carrier" miniseries on PBS, some of the pilots were wearing black flightsuits.

Squiddies have some very quirky traditions, especially in the naval aviation community. It's not unusual for aircrew to have standard issue nomex flight suits with directly-embroidered name, rank and squadron emblem (not sure if it's done with colored nomex thread). These are generally private-purchase items and worn only by mission-qualified aircrew. Other bag colors are probably custom-made and definitely a private-purchase item, usually worn for homecoming or as 'party suits'.

AFAIK, the direct embroidery went away in the 90s. There were too many folks needing new bags when they went to the box. The thread was not Nomex, either. All the fancy stuff has been relegated to the party suit category, Which, BTW, seems to be a lot more of an AF thing than Navy.