Test pilot/astronaut jacket by Fruhauf Southwest

[watchmanjimg]

Well, thanks to our own Willy McCoy I'm now the proud owner of this rare jacket. As stated in Willy's post, it's in excellent condition with no significant damage or stains to the shell. The paper tag underneath the black-and-gold manufacturer's label reads Large Regular. The fabric on both sides appears to be the tightly woven cotton poplin used in the K-2B flightsuit. The main zipper is a plain brass Conmatic and the pocket zippers are typical blackened Conmars on the green side, orange-finished Conmars on the orange side. The knits are the regulation wool type and mothy as hell, but given the rarity and overall condition of this jacket I can't complain. Unlike the similar jacket worn by astronaut Fred Hause in this photo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fredhause.jpg mine has oxygen-mask tabs on both sides, but lacks the handwarmer pockets seen on Hause's jacket.

Fit is good albeit a bit trim for a Large, and the body length was clearly meant for wear with a one-piece flight coverall. Again, no complaints.

I'm aware of Fruhauf Southwest having produced N-3A parkas and M-1951 field jackets under government contract, but I'm not sure what other garments they made for Uncle Sam.

In any case I'm very grateful for the opportunity to add this extremely rare piece to my jacket collection. Enjoy the pics!

 

[deeb7]

I'm aware of Fruhauf Southwest having produced N-3A parkas and M-1951 field jackets under government contract, but I'm not sure what other garments they made for Uncle Sam.

They also had a contract for the K-2B suit, so that might explain some of the similarities.

 

[watchmanjimg]

Indeed it might, David. After looking at this jacket I'm actually contemplating a custom project starting with a flightsuit. Could be nice if it's done properly.

PS: Evidently Fruhauf still exists in some form. No more flight gear, though:

http://www.fruhauf.com/

 

[deeb7]

Yes, I'd just Googled, and found them alive, and well ... now makers of Marching Band uniforms.

Other military contracts include the AN-S-31 flightsuit circa 1943, and the sage E-1B trousers 1954.

 

[watchmanjimg]

My impression was that they were no longer producing garments under contract with the US Government prior to the manufacture of this jacket, which I estimate was made around 1960 or so. Do you have any insight on this? I understand the contracts you just mentioned are only two examples, but perhaps you know of others.

 

[deeb7]

Three contracts for K-1 suits 1944-45, and that's about it for flying clothing, so nothing after the mid-1950's.

I don't know if they had any other government contracts.

 

[Weasel_Loader]

Love it Jim. Until Willy McCoy talked about his, I never knew anyone here had one of these elusive jackets.

 

[deeb7]

UI#279 - Fruhauf Pilot's Jacket Issued by the USAF in early-1960s, reversible from Sage Green to Orange (CONMATIC double-Pull zipper), material is similar to a cotton K-2B, anyone know if a Label (i.e., L-2B, MA-1, K-2B, or etc.) was assigned to this style Jacket? (recently a General's Jacket similar to this has surfaced)

http://www.ljmilitaria.com/identify_patch_item.htm

 

[greyhound52]

Very nice and rare well done.

 

[kevlarg]

UI#279 - Fruhauf Pilot's Jacket Issued by the USAF in early-1960s, reversible from Sage Green to Orange (CONMATIC double-Pull zipper), material is similar to a cotton K-2B, anyone know if a Label (i.e., L-2B, MA-1, K-2B, or etc.) was assigned to this style Jacket? (recently a General's Jacket similar to this has surfaced)

http://www.ljmilitaria.com/identify_patch_item.htm

Ok David I followed your link and found this rather interesting patch on there.

 

[oose]

Hi,
Amazing Jacket, congratulation on your purchase. Makes me wan't one even more now I've seen better pictures. I'm still hoping one day BuzzRickson will do a version as its got some lovely unique detail on it, and being such a rarity I'm sure I'll never own an original one myself

feeling very jealous

stu

 

[Willy McCoy]

I have seen pictures of the Hustler #1 rolling out in 1956 for testing. Hustler #1 was the only Hustler to wear Convair livery and I don't think it stayed in that paint scheme very long. One of the photos of this type of jacket is seen being worn by the Convair crew members in front of Hustler #1. That picture, the lack of a zip code on the nomenclature tag and the O2 pads would date this jacket to the mid to late 50s. I have a mint Haise jacket and here are some observations :
Addition of hand warmer pockets
Light blue and a bit thicker poplin
Also a true reversible, small toothed Conmar double sided main zipper, Scovill (6) pocket zippers
Black & Gold mil. spec. nomenclature tag : Flite Wear by LAND MFG. CO. WICHITA, KANSAS. white tag below Medium Long
Raglan sleeve style construction (different than the Hustler jacket I sold)
No bullets in pen slots.
I would entertain selling this jacket too to another known member here. Same validation requirements as before. Due to it's Hyper Rareness the cost will be reflected. These jackets were not offered to civilian test pilots, but rather to NASA Pilots to keep their flight hours current. PM me for further details.

 

[Peter Graham]

Very impressive Jim. Lovely, unusual jacket. Can you describe what colour it is ? On my monitor it looks about the same as a cloth B-15.

 

[watchmanjimg]

Thanks, Peter! The exterior fabric is identical in color and texture to a typical sage green K-2B summer flying suit, so essentially it's a grey-green. The interior is identical to the orange variant of the K-2B. I can't imagine this was a coincidence.

Every cloth B-15 I've seen has a stronger OD shade as opposed to the greyish hue of the Fruhauf jacket. The B-15 shell fabric is also a bit heavier. Hope this helps!

 

[watchmanjimg]

I have seen pictures of the Hustler #1 rolling out in 1956 for testing. Hustler #1 was the only Hustler to wear Convair livery and I don't think it stayed in that paint scheme very long. One of the photos of this type of jacket is seen being worn by the Convair crew members in front of Hustler #1. That picture, the lack of a zip code on the nomenclature tag and the O2 pads would date this jacket to the mid to late 50s. I have a mint Haise jacket and here are some observations :
Addition of hand warmer pockets
Light blue and a bit thicker poplin
Also a true reversible, small toothed Conmar double sided main zipper, Scovill (6) pocket zippers
Black & Gold mil. spec. nomenclature tag : Flite Wear by LAND MFG. CO. WICHITA, KANSAS. white tag below Medium Long
Raglan sleeve style construction (different than the Hustler jacket I sold)
No bullets in pen slots.
I would entertain selling this jacket too to another known member here. Same validation requirements as before. Due to it's Hyper Rareness the cost will be reflected. These jackets were not offered to civilian test pilots, but rather to NASA Pilots to keep their flight hours current. PM me for further details.

Just an observation . . .

As far as I know Conmar and Scovill were the same company, and military-issued jackets didn't start getting Scovill-marked zippers until 1968. Issued '68 L-2B and MA-1 jackets are often found bearing zippers with a mix of Conmar- and Scovill-marked components, while garments dated '69 and subsequent are pure Scovill. This has been very consistent in my experience and can be seen in nylon flight jackets, G-1s, M-65s, and just about anything else that was produced with zippers.

I'm not saying this means that your Haise jacket could not have been produced before 1968, but if so I would be very interested in hearing an explanation of why the situation described above is exclusive to military jackets. Anyone?

 

[Willy McCoy]

The Haise jacket would be from the mid to late 60s or to simplify, the Apollo era. I can believe that a merger with Scovill & Conmar did take place, but as to an exact date I was unable to find.

 

[lfruhauf]

Hello,
My name is Landon Fruhauf. I am the 5th generation of Fruhauf's to work for the company. You may have seen our apparel under "Fruhauf Flying Apparel" and "Fruhauf Southwest Garment Co". We are now known as Fruhauf Uniforms. Over the years some of our files from our participation in WWII, Korea, and Vietnam have been lost or damaged. Where did you all find the information about which contracts my family's business was awarded to make garments for the military? We would love to have a full understanding of what we did in the war. Currently we are periodically checking Ebay for our products. I just received an Army Field Officer Overcoat today.

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

Hi Landon,
Wow, you are another cool addition to this site. I’ve been collecting flight test jackets for some time and all I can say is that Fruhauf was one of the leaders in that industry next to Land Mfg. I would suggest you to contact @Joe Land, he is the son of the founder of Land Mfg, who worked with Fruhauf before opening his own company. Also you will find some interesting info about Fruhauf here: https://www.vintageleatherjackets.o...lite-wear-jacket-from-apollo-era.24392/page-2

 

[Jorgeenriqueaguilera]

By the way, these are some of my Fruhauf flight suits.

 

[Silver Surfer]

well how 'bout that. wonder is a 5th generation mr-ms dubow is around?