OT: Stiffy, you commented on my WWI French pilot's uniform, so...

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Here are some updated photos of said uniform project, still standing proudly in the corner of my flying room. Also a photo of two other tunics I've added to the collection. The US Sergeant's tunic is the real deal and is sporting the badge of the 185th Aero, the first 'night' squadron in the US Air Service. The British Flying Sergeant's tunic, while quite old, is actually a theatre/motion picture costume item. BTW, if you right-click on any of the photos and open them in a new window you can view them full-sized.







And here are just a few more photos showing other views of my flying room:







And a couple showing close-ups on some of my bling collection. With the exception of the Prussian Pilot's Badge and the PlM neck ribbon, everything on those shelves is original.





Forgive me, but I love sharing this stuff with those who have similar interests and passions.



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Hey, I remember seeing that uniform years ago! Good to know you still have it. Looks great!

You have a very nice collection there Lou, and some rare books too!

Here's an original Prussian Militär-Flugzeugführer-Abzeichen from my collection:



I'm sorry about the bad photo - the badge and its case look better in real life. But I'm no photographer, I don't have good equipment, and I don't know much about editing photos.

Olham suggested once that I should take my collection of German militaria outside on a table when it's a sunny summer day and photograph them there. The photos would look better! But it would take a big table to fit them all.

WOW Lou

That is a heck of a flying room and a mini museum to boot!

Does it have a nick name?


Hasse, that's beautiful.
Is that a taube shown on the medal?

edit; it is a taube. I went and google searced and educated myself some
http://www.kaisersbunker.com/flieger/f31.htm

One day I'll get another RFC uniform together Lou, at the moment the new baby insists she needs all of my money!

For those who weren't about 4 years ago when me and Lou were comparing notes on uniform production, here are a couple of shots of my RFC costume "build"... I'm sure I have better pics somewhere!

Lou where did the throttle made from the half of a pair of pliers go to. I remember you posting a picture of it some time a go.
John

Great Collection Lou. Well Done.

Yeah, it's a Taube. The German naval air service had their own badges for both seaplane and landplane pilots. The observers of both air services also had their own badges.

IMO, the naval versions of the badges are more beautiful. They were typically made of gilt bronze. Alas, they are rarer than the Luftstreitkräfte badges, so their prices are also much higher now.



Naval pilot's badge for landplanes (this is the badge that my DID pilot, Oberflugmeister Niemann, would have had!)



Naval pilot's badge for seaplanes (the rarest badge of them all)



Naval observer's badge

The photos are not from my collection!

Stiffy, that's a nice looking British uniform!

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Hasse, that Prussian pilot’s badge is indeed a beauty and in the original case no less. Is it the solid type or the hollow variety? I agree about the naval versions of the badge being the prettier.

MudWasp, no nickname other than ‘The Flying Room’ although my better half does on occasion refer to it as “keep the door closed”.

Stiffy, too bad about having to let that outfit go though I totally understand about babies demanding all your available money. I had a ’65 Mustang convertible once, and then my youngest daughter was born.

John, my old throttle control left when my old JS died. However, when I bought the new one I promptly relocated both the throttle and mixture potentiometers and built the dual-lever controller to house them. You can see my handiwork just to the left of the main keyboard.

Carrick, thanks for the thumbs up on my collection, much appreciated. Nice to know you and others here enjoy seeing these old things I've pulled together.

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Lou, could you show a close-up of that badge above the stripes on the US Sergeant's right arm? It looks like a four-bladed propellor. I used to wear one of them on each arm in the RAF

It's the solid type. In my humble opinion, it's one of the privately purchased variants that many pilots ordered from a goldsmith after receiving the official award certificate for the badge from the Luftstreitkräfte.

Cases are indeed rare. Unfortunately most of them have been lost in the decades following the end of the war. Not only does a case make the set complete and increase its value, but it also protects the badge from wear and tear. Many pilot's badges are in poor condition, especially if somebody has incompetently polished them, thereby hoping to increase the value. Unfortunately it often happens that such polishing does the exact opposite and lowers the value!

A free tip to all newbie collectors possibly reading this: NEVER polish your medals!

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Hasse, I agree completely about not polishing the medals. But there are two schools of thought on that as you are no doubt aware and some collectors do shine up the bling in their collections using a non-abrasive liquid that chemically reverses the tarnishing process.

Jim, here you go, a close-up of the badge along with the collar and cap brass for good measure. It wouldn't surprise me a bit if the USAS took the idea for the four-bladed prop badge directly from the RFC/RAF examples.





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