RAF Flying Clothing post war colours & equipment

[TeeELL]

I produced a list of paint colours suitable for modellers to use on their model aircrew for RAF aircraft from 60’s to 00’s and published it on a sister forum. As some of you, perhaps, do not visit that particular site I thought I would copy the information onto here:

All the following are Acrylic:

Aircrew shirts:

My original issue shirts were a soft, thick and collered in the white/blue weave similar in colour to the uniform issue shirt, at the time. We also had a medium grey towelling scarf.

Flying Suits:

Green flying suits late 60’s /early 70’s olive green Tamiya XF 58.

I have about 6 sets of Nomex Mk16 flying suits (that is as shown in my avatar) and they include never worn to well used. They are all exactly the same colour!! These flying suits came in at the turn of the millennium and are only being phased out now. This is also the colour of the covers of Life Saving Jackets (LSJ) from about 2003.
Humbrol Acrylic 78 (cockpit green) is a very good match

The previous Nomex flying suit was the Mk 14, I have only one to check but I did look under the epaulettes for an non-faded colour. These flying suits were in use during the 90's.
Tamiya XF 81 is close and, if you want a faded look, add a little yellow.

The cold weather flying jacket changed from a rich green to a rather washed out green sometime in the late 90's (I think)
For earlier jackets Tamiya XF 58 would be close, otherwise Humbrol 117 is good. Back in the early 70's the jacket was issued in grey but mine was long since exchanged.

The external G-suit is of a nylon material and the same material was also used on the covers of Life saving Jackets from around 1973 to about 2003.
Humbrol Acrylic 116 is good for that. This colour has been around since the early 70’s I think.

The Immersion suit is unchanged since the first time I ever had cause to wear one in 1973! There might be minor variations, but none worth bothering about
Tamiya XF 58 is very close.

Gloves - the 'white gloves' are just off white or, quite honestly, dirty white!! issued from the late 60's to date
The black gloves are well, lets think ....... oh yes - black. issued from the mid 90's (perhaps) to date
The green gloves are close to a 50/50 mix of Humbrol Ac 226 and 117 initially produced for the Harrier force but available to all eventually (especially once the Harrier force disbanded)

Boots 1965 and later (1998?? pattern) that'll be black, sometimes scruffy.
Light weight boots - once a very scruffy tan (not supposed to be polished at all, but some aircrew used the black silicon polish on them) they are now issued in black only.

Leg Restraints: medium blue/grey with olive green being introduced with, I think, the Tornado, but not fleet wide. Ie The Hawk T1 leg restraints remained a faded blue/grey.
I will be able to put up photos with the swatch if really required but I promise you the colours suggested really are sufficiently close to work.

Flying helmets were issued in silver grey (Mk1 - pre 1970ish but continued in use on some fast jets and the V-Force - until the advent of the Mk3), White gloss (mk2A, Mk 3), Matt green (seen on some Mk1As) Mk 3 thru' Mk 10. 'Air defence' grey also used on Mk4 thru' 10. The green is a blacker version of the G-suit colour so Humbrol 116 with a little black should do the trick. I haven't seen my Green Mk 4 for 6 years and my attempts to have it returned have failed.

As soon as I can I will get a colour match for the very latest Mk of flying suit. If you have been watching the Red Arrows on Ch4 you will have seen that the latest LSJ covers are finished in the ‘new’ camouflage pattern.

[DavidWomby]

THANK YOU !

David

[TeeELL]

This is an observation on Aircrew Equipment Assemblies (AEA) from my early years in the RAF:

Whilst I remember: At this time (70's) the JP 3 oxygen mask was the H-type and was a grey colour and larger than the P/Q type. The P/Q mask was used in the JP 5 and every other pressurised 'fast jet', the P/Q had a black exoskeleton with black rubber inner but the 'medical mask' (for those allergic to the rubber, as I was) was a light flesh pink!

Moving on in the 70's, I flew the Gnat and then the Hunter, the flying helmet remained the white 2A, the flying suits were as before, although I've an idea that the heavier weight grey flying suit was withdrawn. Gloves off-white, boots black. Leg restraints blue/grey, worn just below the knees. In my day, the student wore the internal g-suit and only the instructors were issued with the external. The colour of the g-suit was a dark green, very similar to that of the stole of the LSJ; the external g-suit had provision for the 2 knee board clear pockets. The flying instructors used a mix of Mk1 (dull silver) and Mk2A (white) flying helmets. For interest, exchange instructors could wear their own 'national' flying suits, so a Luftwaffe exchange instructor would/could fly in their day-glo orange suits and USAF exchange instructors in their grey green flight suits.

I was posted to the Vulcan in 1974 and the flying kit followed the above. Most pilots and rear crew wore the Mk 1 inner (G-type In an olive green, in the 50’s and 60’s these were blue/grey) the pilots attaching the 'bone dome' to the rear of the ejection seat. The inner cloth g-cap? was dark green. The P/Q mask was worn. During late summer through to early summer all crew members would wear the immersion suit which was dark green. The material has not changed in colour in the 4 decades I was associated with it. Certainly a life saver, the immersion suit is not a popular garment! The remaining AEA was green LSJ, blue/grey leg restraints, off-white gloves, black boots. However, the tan/brown light weight flying boot would also be seen (worn by aircrew on other types as well). This boot was made with a breathable leather and was NOT supposed to be polished! These boots would end up a huge variety of brown colours, aircrew would polish them with the special black silicone polish (specifically provided for the black flying boot), water staining etc, etc.
I believe, by the mid 70's the Mk 1 helmet had been withdrawn from all fast-jet aircrew. The Mk 3 had been introduced, this helmet addressed the weight and size complaints of the Mk2 series . I elected to fly the vulcan with this helmet, I cannot remember the specific mark I used, I believe it was the version with the Mk 1 style of visor operation. The Mk 3, if I remember correctly, was the first that came in a range of colours - well green anyway!

[TeeELL]

Update. I have finally received my Mk4 flying helmet and been able to do a colour match with my swatches (from the pot painted on white backgrounds and primer grey). Humbrol 116 (US Dark Green), on white, is all but indistiguishable from the ‘helmet green’. The colour would be OK from green painted Mk 1 shells through to Mk 10’s.

[JamesPerrin]

A great resource, thanks Tony.

[PaulBradley]

Wow, very useful indeed!

[iggie]

Useful and interesting in equal measure!

[TeeELL]

Here are some images of flying clothing to go with the list.

Mk 14 (left) and Mk 16 (right)



Fast jet TAPs etc bag, made from the pockets of immersion suits


Mk 12? Flying suit and Cold weather flying jacket


External G-pants


Current flying boots and 1965 pattern.


2 designs of desert flying suits


Flying gloves

[TeeELL]

I will post a photo of my Mk4 helmet, with a P/Q mask. It finally returned to me.

[TeeELL]

My Helmet was returned to me and I have finally got around to photographing it

[DavidWomby]

Thanks for that. What's the taped cross for?

David

[iggie]

So the rear seater knows where to hit and wake him up...

[TeeELL]

The tape cross is reflective it is supposed to assist in SAR ops (at night). In wartime black ‘bodge tape’ is applied over the top. Importantly though - note that neither visor is ‘silver’ as painted on scale model ‘aircrew’.

[TeeELL]

For a treatise on RAF Flying Clothing and Equipment, see here:
https://www.aerosociety.com/media/4847/ ... othing.pdf

[TeeELL]

Flying clothing 1950’s:
Suitable for Canberra, Vampire, Meteor, Javelin, Etc crews

Mk1 Helmet introduced early 1950’s initially worn with standard goggles and then the integral, center track, visor was fitted. The helmet was worn over the F-type and then the cloth G-type inner soft helmet (which incorporated the ‘electrics’): these were light blue/grey.

(The Mk1 helmet/Type G inner were worn by many aircrew until the early/mid 70’s due to their light weight and small overall size. Iirc it took an Air Force directive to make ‘fast jet’ aircrew change to the superior protective Mk2/Mk3 helmets. The Mk1/Type G continued to be worn by Vulcan crews).

Mk1 Helmet (for use with goggles)



Mk1 Helmet with visor fitting



The inner G-type cloth helmet and the H-type mask





The Mk1 was generally a ‘silver/grey’ colour but sometimes had a ‘gold’ tint to it - no idea why.

The flying suits were grey



Life saving jackets would have been yellow/orange.

Boots black and worn outside the flying suit