Tuesday, November 3, 2009

The Return of Flying Electric Trousers

About a year and a half ago I did a post about Flying Electric Trousers, the heated flight suits that astronomers used to wear on cold nights while observing at Prime Focus. The flight suits were surplus F3-A electrically heated flying suits used by the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II.

In addition to having some of the old flight suits hanging around (one is on public display now) we also have one original F3-A manual. The flight suits are a unique piece of astronomical and aviation history. By request, I am posting scans of the entire manual.

The front cover:

Pages 2 & 3:
Pages 4 & 5:
Pages 6 & 7:
The back cover:
The images are posted in full resolution, just click on them to embiggen and read the text.

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