Fall 2026 Militaria and Aviation Auction
Lot 342:
Description
USAF Type K-2A "Suit, Flying, Very Light" Flight Suit in Air Force Blue Nylon Twill, Size Small Long, Great Lakes Garment Manufacturing Co., Order No. AF 33(038)29353, Korean War Period Offered here is an original and increasingly scarce example of the USAF Type K-2A lightweight flying suit, manufactured by the Great Lakes Garment Manufacturing Company under Order No. AF 33(038)29353, Drawing No. 51B3562, to Specification MIL-S-6282, USAF Stock No. 8310-785990-437. Tailored in the distinctive Air Force Blue nylon twill, this size Small Long suit represents one of the shortest-lived and most visually striking uniform experiments in early USAF history. No individual recipient or unit assignment is identified on the garment, and the story here rests entirely in the technical markings and the documented service history of the type itself. When the United States Air Force became an independent branch in 1947, its leadership sought to distinguish airmen from their Army counterparts with a uniform palette of true Air Force Blue, extending even to flight gear such as the L-2A jacket, B-15C, and this K-2A coverall. Introduced around 1950 for jet-age pilots and aircrew, the K-2A was engineered as a very lightweight, multi-pocketed flying suit suited to the tighter cockpits and higher speeds of the emerging jet fighter fleet. Combat experience over Korea, however, proved the blue shade a serious liability: aviators who bailed out or crash-landed found themselves starkly visible against the terrain, an easy mark for enemy ground forces. The Air Force moved quickly to correct the error, and by the mid-1950s the sage-green K-2B had become the standard-issue flight suit, rendering the original blue K-2A obsolete after only a few years of production and issue – a genuine transitional artifact of the Air Force’s earliest independent years. The suit itself is a one-piece coverall closing via a heavy-duty front zipper, with a diagonal chest pocket, an upper left-sleeve pocket, twin zippered thigh pockets, and lower-leg zippered pockets, all fitted with period-correct hardware and adjustable waist tabs. A leather emergency clip tab remains attached at the left thigh pocket. The left shoulder retains a painted USAF winged-star decal, showing light surface wear consistent with age and handling. The original woven maker and specification label survives inside the collar and remains fully legible, identifying the garment as the Type K-2A.
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