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Dambuster 617 Squadron Flying Suit (pg1 Pilot)
An opportunity to purchase a
relic from probably the most famous Bomber squadron of all
time.
Original Royal Air
Force 1945 Pattern Beardon flying suit.
This
suit was the property of
Squadron Leader R.T. Duck who
served as a Bomb Aimer and Navigator with the famous
RAF 617 ‘Dambuster’ Squadron.
He commenced
training on 22/8/42 as a Bomb Aimer and was posted to 619
Squadron for operational flying on Lancaster’s, first Op to
Manheim 23/9/43. Then on a further 16 Ops with five in a row
to Berlin.
After
a short break the entire crew transferred to 617 Sqn in
March 1944 flying sorties in support of D-Day on the 6th of
June, then on the 8th of June dropped a ‘Tallboy’ bomb on
the Samur Tunnel.
On 14th of June was
on another Tallboy raid led by Les Munro against the
Submarine pens at Le Harve. During the raid this Lancaster
was hit by flak on three occasions and received damage to
the petrol tanks, and had one bomb door blown off.
Duck was
wounded and it was later counted 27 pieces of shrapnel was
removed from his leg.
The Lancaster made an
emergency landing at West Malling on it’s return journey.
Duck flew his
last Op with 617 in December 1944 and finished the war with
8 sorties with 617 Sqn., staying with the Squadron as a
Navigator and was then posted to India. Posted from the
Squadron he joined the Staff of 1 Group HQ, before returning
to flying duties as a Navigator, flying mainly in Mosquito
aircraft OF 11 Squadron. In 1957 he was posted to the
Operation Grapple Task Force.
This was the
operation to Christmas Island to test Britain's first
Hydrogen Bomb. Most of this period was spent flying as
Navigator on Whirlwind Helicopters with a number of flights
to the island before and following the Bomb Drop.
The flying suit
is in used but overall in good condition with the exception
of a couple of wear holes as shown in the photos.
The 617 Sqn badge is original and
period at the end of WW2. There is no name in the
suit but came with his post war 1951 dated mess dress which
bears his name on the label.
These items
were sold at an auction with his logbook and other paperwork
etc but for some reason was split up.
£1200
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Click on the
picture under to enlarge
Click on the
picture under to enlarge
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WW2 BRITISH RAF PILOT OFFICERS WEB BELT/HOLSTER D 1941
(pg1 Arm)
An100%
original British WW2 RAF Pilot Officers Web Set. All came
together, as it was put together during WW2. Both holster
and belt are marked and dated 1941. The holster is clearly
marked. One of the brace attachments has the had the service
number added, so you its worthy of further research. Comes
with large cleaning rod, and a pair of shoulder straps
with brace attachments. I have added an ammo pouch which is
dated 1942 to complete the set.
Click here to see .38
Deactivated Webley Pistol
Find this on the Armaments page by
clicking here |
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Ammo Pouch (pg1 Arm)
1942 Dated Pilot Officers
ammo pouch for Pistol webbing. Superb original condition.
Find this on the Armaments page by
clicking here
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Battle of Britain Spitfire Seat (pg1 Pilot)
Spitfire
Spares
exclusively offers this superb reproduction of a pre 1940
Spitfire Pilots seat. You can see from the pictures the
quality is second to none and a credit to the team that put
these superb creations together.
Spitfires
flown in the Battle of Britain and manufactured before March
1940 were fitted with the earlier all metal version cockpit
seat. In the factories, the metal seats were fitted to Mk I
& IIs and many of those converted to Mk Vs. During the war
the metal seat variant found its way into many of the later
Mks of Spitfire and (today, some airworthy Spitfires fit the
early metal version due to its inherently stronger
design in preference to the more common later brown
'compressed paper' version.)
Picture under shows the metal
type seat attached to frame 11, ready for installation in a
Spitfire under restoration.
Using Supermarine drawings and
measurements from original items we have recently finalised
accurate Jigs to re-manufacture these Spitfire seats. We
can now manufacture new seats which are extremely accurate
and faithful to those that would have originally been
fitted to early Spitfires.
Being totally hand crafted, it has proved
hugely time consuming to make. So please be aware that due
to the labour intensive methods used these seats will be
available in very limited numbers.
The seats manufactured are all aluminium as illustrated
here.
They are manufactured from 16-18 swg Aircraft Grade
aluminium Material. For accuracy the pattern parts are
marked & cut using template dimensions from original
drawings.
The aluminium is then heat worked, hammered,
rolled, press formed folded and finally Englished
wheeled, to form all the complex curves. All surfaces and
edges are then finished. Components are then jig clamped,
riveted, and finally
*coated in aircraft oxide matt green.
This is an extremely difficult piece of the Spitfire
aircraft to get in such accurate and correct materials. The
seat offered here will obviously make completion of a
cockpit or aircraft rebuild significantly easier.
*Seats are
supplied unpainted, but can be provided coated in Oxide Matt
green on request and confirmation of order for additional
charge of £25.
£900 unpainted
£925 painted
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It is complete with
release catch and all the harness.
Please note this
item is heavy. |
Irvin Parachute (pg1 pilot)
This is an opportunity
to purchases a complete parachute, the chute is still packed inside,
there is very slight damage see last picture below and
you can clearly see the chute still inside.
It was last serviced in 1954 and is a wartime
pattern.
£1200
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C Type
Helmet named Pilot (pg1 pilot)
This is a C type
flying helmet dated 1942
with superb provenance, owned by
F/Sgt Cartwright of 842 Squadron of the
Fleet Air Arm. The helmet strangely has
Gosport tubing not
usual in the mid war period, until you discover that 842
Sdr operated Swordfish aircraft. There is a
Cartwright, Sub Lt (A) RNVR 831
Sdr mentioned in the second wave of the attack on
the
Tirpitz in 1944
Flt/Sgt A B Cartwright
could almost certainly be found by searching the
operational record books of 842Sdr in London. I can
arrange this for £50, this covers two hours research by
a professional. He sends me a CD of anything he can find
and he usually gets quite allot in two hours. The helmet
is in good shape however one of the seam's has parted,
should be a small job for a tailor .
The Squadron
first formed as a torpedo bomber reconnaissance
Swordfish squadron at
Lee-on-Solent in March 1943.
In July 1943 a fighter flight of 6
Seafire's was added and the squadron subsequently
embarked on HMS Fencer for operations during the
occupation of the Azores, and from November 4 Wildcat
from 1832 squadron were attached to 842 squadron.
On 1 December 1943 one of the Wildcat shot down and
enemy aircraft, whilst on Gibraltar convoy duties
In July 1944, most of the squadron
embarked on HMS Indefatigable and HMS Furious for
anti-submarine duties during the operation Mascot attack
against the Tirpitz. A
detachment of 6 Swordfish and 5 Wildcats embarked on HMS
Fencer for Gibraltar convoys, the Wildcats subsequently
taking part in operations off Norway from HMS Fencer and
then Campania. Meanwhile the Swordfish were attached to
RAF Coastal Command at Benbecula in September 1944,
transferring to Thorney Island from November 1944. The Squadron disbanded at Thorney
Island in January 1945.
Battle
Honours
Atlantic 1943 - 4, Norway 1944, Arctic
1944
£450
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Click on the
picture to enlarge text
Click on
the picture to enlarge text
Click on
the picture to enlarge text
£275
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Battle of Britain Aircraft recognition AP 1764 (pg1 pilot)
Dated March 1940
This is superb original
battle of Britain dated aircraft recognition book. It lists
British, French and German aircraft in use with details on
performance markings and other recognition information. A
superb rare Battle of Britain collectable.
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Lancaster drift recorder (pg1 pilot)
Drift recorder used in Lancaster Bombers.
£55
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This seat
has been removed from our Spitfire replica as we have a
replacement. You can see it fitted on our
replica page This is similar in both shape and material
of a Spitfire seat with a higher back. This seat is actually
a DH Hornet Pilot seat. It is good original condition with a
small crack in the seat pan. It is sturdy and useable in a
cockpit.
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DH Hornet Pilot Seat(pg1 Pilot)
The Hornet was a
high-performance twin-engine fighter, based on de Havilland
Mosquito experience, although it was a single-seat, and
smaller than the Mosquito. The construction incorporated
metal under wing surfaces, and it had handed engines
(rotating in opposite directions) to eliminate torque. It
was de Havilland last piston-engine operational aircraft,
being designed for the Far East war but not coming into
service until after WWII. It was used in combat only in the
uprising in Malaysia following WWII against "terrorists".
There it typically performed ground-attack missions using
rockets as there was no problem with air supremacy. A total
of 211 were built for the RAF, and they remained in service
until 1955 because the Hornet had a better range than jet
fighters. The RN adopted the aircraft as the Sea Hornet
You can click
on the pictures to enlarge them
£850
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Shown above and right a very
rare example of original Spitfire Pilots notes. They have an
additional update added and the shade and feel of paper
differs noticeably from the re prints shown under. These are
guaranteed 100% original.
Original
Dakota Pilots notes (pg1 Pilot)
Original Dakota Pilots notes (pg1 Pilot)
£85
Spitfire pilots
Notes
Reprinted Spitfire Pilots
notes under.
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Original Spitfire Pilots notes (pg1 pilot)
Original
Spitfire Pilots notes (pg1 pilot)
£125
Original Dakota
Pilots notes (pg1 Pilot)
100% guaranteed original pilots notes
for the C47 Dakota. They have the name of F/L ft Allwood on
the cover so some additional re search could be interesting.
Re Printed Pilots Notes
Pilots notes were issued to Pilots
and aircrew. These are great for identifying Cockpit, flight
engineers instruments and controls. They all contain
labelled photos. They are re printed modern reproductions.
Spitfire pilots
Notes
Reprinted spitfire Pilots
notes.
£15
Lancaster Pilots
Notes
Reprinted Lancaster Pilots
notes.
£15
Tempest Pilots
Notes
Reprinted Tempest Pilots
notes.
£15
Beaufighter Pilots Notes
Reprinted Beaufighter Pilots
notes.
£15
Halifax Pilots Notes
Reprinted Halifax Pilots
notes.
£15
Hurricane Pilots Notes
Reprinted Hurricane Pilots
notes.
£15
Meteor Pilots Notes
Reprinted Meteor Pilots
notes.
£15
Warwick Pilots Notes
Reprinted Warwick Pilots
notes.
£15
Wellington
Pilots Notes
Reprinted Wellington Pilots
notes.
£15
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Merlin XX Engine notes (pg2 pilot)
Merlin XX Engine. Schedule of spare parts. RAF Vocabulary
section No.36 DD. Air Publication 1590G(Vol.111) Lots of
drawings of engine parts, and lists of components.
Invaluable to modeller and enthusiast alike. First
generation copy. Card covers. Rapesco filing clip bound.
£60
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Click on
the picture's to enlarge them
MK III D Navigation computer
2 (pg3 pilot)
Here is a superb piece of
History It is rare for these navigation computers to carry
a date but this one is clearly dated with a
Battle of Britain 1940 date.
In addition it has the name
Cleife scribed on the back. I did a bit of googling and
found a 1947 new years honour list with an award of an
Airforce Cross to
Flight Lieutenant
K. P. H Cleife RAF VR listed. I cannot swear this is the
same chap but its certainly an unusual name. Here is a
link to the page showing the 1947 news paper article.
There is no reference to him in the Battle of Britain role
so its likely this has been used by more than one pilot.
Air Force Cross
Instituted in 1918,
the Air Force Cross (AFC) was issued for acts of
gallantry while flying on non-active operations to
warrant officers and officers of the Royal Air Force. It
was later made available to equivalent ranks in the
Royal Navy and Army for acts of gallantry in the air
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MK III Navigation computer(pg3 pilot)
This mechanical wartime
computer was used in single seat fighter aircraft such as
the Spitfire and Hurricane. It strapped to the Pilots leg
and was used to navigate the aircraft. Its in reasonable
original condition with some slight damage to the pencil
holder see picture left. The cloth scale is quite fragile.
It is marked a nice Air ministry crown.
£75
MK III D Navigation computer 2 (pg3 pilot)
It contains original hand
written notes and I think it would certainly be worth
further investigation. The previous owner thinks that Cleife served with 268 Squadron at some stage and
continued to fly post war which would tie in with the
award in the 1947 new years honours list.
The previous owner
used it for flying for the last twenty years or so.
It works fine with the printed scrolling screen still
being clear and intact and moving smoothly and freely. As
on older example, the TAS goes from 40 to 440. As well as
solving Heading/Drift problems, it can also calculate
corrections for TAS and Density Altitude etc. It's
much nicer to use in fact
than the modern rubbish, so long as you don't mind it's
greater bulk...!
N/A
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Dated
February 1943
- 1,565 hp
(1,170 kW) at 3,000 rpm at 12,250 ft (3,740 m)
- 1,390 hp (1,035 kW) at 3,000 rpm at
23,500 ft (7,170 m); fitted with a new two-speed two-stage
supercharger providing increased power at medium to high
altitudes;
- Merlin 61 used in
Spitfire F MK IX and PR MK XI
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Merlin Pilots notes (pg1 pilot)
A rare original Merlin
engine pocket book pilots notes produced by Rolls Royce at
Derby. Giving the Pilot all the essential information for
successful operation of the various Merlins listed, with
diagrams of throttle and boost settings, everything the
Spitfire pilot needs to know about the power plant.
Seen
Under
PR MK XI
Spitfire Merlin 61 Engine
£100
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Earphone Pad
Mint wartime replacement
earphone pad for flying helmets. A/M 10A/12161
£10
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Earphone Pad 2
Mint wartime replacement
earphone pad for flying helmets. A/M M 301
£10
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Pilots blue harness (pg1 pilot)
Pilot
harness keeps you in the seat, nice condition. Ideal for
those cockpits.
N/A
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Made of some sort of white
bakelite whistles which would be
attached to aircrew and pilots life jackets during WW2 an
original item.. |
Aircrew/Pilots survival whistle
Dingy Young's Lancaster the
moment when the Mohne dam was breached. The air reeks of
cordite, the night sky illuminated with the crisscross of
tracer and bursting shells as Dinghy Young's Lancaster flies
through the hail of defensive fire just a few feet above the
dam. His bomb has just exploded sending a plume of water
1000 feet into the air. Mr Young would have found a good use
for this whistle as his nick name implies he spent allot of
time in dingy's after being shot down.
£20
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Belt Lock RAF(pg1 pilot)
A really
nice early Wartime belt lock. use to keep pilots attached to their
seats.
N/A
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Liberator
in action in Burma.
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Consolidated Pilots seat(pg1 Pilot)
This seat
was removed from a Catalina,
however it is identical to a seat I supplied to
Duxford IWM
a few years ago which sits in their Liberator
seen left top. The only real
difference seems to be on the under side, this seat has a
threaded bar possibly to allow the seat to swivel. As
Consolidated made both the
Catalina and Liberator I suspect
they used the same seat design. This seat as you can see is
in very good condition. It includes
the pilots safety strap.
The
Royal Air Force were assigned 602 PBY 5s and gave
them the name later adopted by the US Navy the Catalina. The
Catalina's of RAF Coastal Command played a key role in the
Battle of the Atlantic, sinking a number of German
submarines. Beyond Europe, RAF and Commonwealth Catalina's
patrolled the Indian and Pacific Oceans and flew in support
of the Allied landings in North Africa.
Early B24
Liberators supplied to the
British RAF were judged not to be combat-ready, and
were put into service as LB-30A transports. Improvements in
defensive armament produced the RAF Liberator I, which was
employed by RAF Coastal Command with ASV radar and a fixed
battery of 20mm cannon. The RAF Liberator II (equivalent to
the US Army Air Corps' Liberator B-24C) introduced powered
gun-turrets and served as a bomber in the Middle East.
N/A
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Aircrew Europe Star Repro Medal (pg1 Pilot)
Here we have a really nice
aircrew Europe medal (reproduction)
ideal for collectors and renactors.
Air Operations over
Europe
Ribbon
A wide central stripe of light blue, flanked at the edges by
narrow stripes of yellow and black to symbolise the
continuous service of the Air Forces by night and day.
Criteria
The Air Crew Europe Star was earned almost exclusively by
RAF personnel.
Can only be awarded after the 1939-45
Star has been qualified for.
Aircrew Europe Star awarded for 60 additional days’ service
in an RAF Unit engaged in operational flying over Europe
from bases in the UK with at least one operational sortie.
£40
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RAF Aircrew survival (pg1 pilot)
This is
an early RAF Aircrew survival kit being an AM Crown
marked tin with all original contents apart from water
purifying tablets. Included is an issue signalling mirror,
a bakelite compass in good working order, a large AM
survival knife with flat and triangular blades, many
dressings and bandages inc burn & wound etc and an issue
water container with cup dated 1941 + govt arrow (two
pint) and; lastly a navigational map for use in a dinghy,
the map a canvas backed type and I believe waterproof. All
contained in a canvas pouch and most likely issue for
Bomber crews in tropical areas.
This item came from the Bomber County aviation museum at
Hemswell, which closed in 2005.
£350
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Mk VIII Goggles(pg1 Pilot)
Really not sure
what age these are, they are certainly not modern
reproductions but I do not believe they are wartime issue.
My best bet is that they were made some time during the
1950s they are the exact same style as the MK VIII flying
goggles used by wartime RAF aircrew. In mint condition with
original box.
£85
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Mannequin Display Head (pg1 Pilot)
A very realistic
mannequin head for the display of flying helmets, caps and
hats . They
look allot more realistic than glass or polystyrene heads.
£85
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Morse Key (pg1 pilot)
A/M crown used in Bombers to communicate
£45
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Urinal Tube (pg 1 pilot)
I don't think there could
be a more appropriate section of the website to list this
item than pilot equipment.
Two Visitors to this
site Michael and Andrew nave identified this as a urinal
tube, yes that's right it so the pilot can relieve himself
whilst still in the air what piece of kit could be more
important than that.
This being its function I
would say its fully operational. Have been busily washing my
hands since receiving this info, spent quite a while peering
at it and polishing it LOL. This being said its a rare item
I haven't seen one before. Maybe Douglas Bader or Standford
Tuck relieved themselves through this tube ??? LOL
£85
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Click on the
picture under to enlarge
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Oxygen mask (pg1 pilot) Here we have
a boxed oxygen mask complete with instructions. It is in
excellent condition.
A/M
6d/1913
Size is listed as small
£155
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tBKNocjv!6g~~_12.jpg) |
RFC 1914 Map Board (pg1 pilot)
Possibly a unique item certainly an extremely rare piece in
superb original condition. Designed to be worn on the arm
whilst flying. Map fits into the two rollers and can be
moved along. Undamaged and complete with leather arm strap.
Nicely personalised with two small brass plates marked, OVD
and 14/12/14. The instrument itself is also dated 1914
£499
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