Real aircraft memorabilia

it's cool hearing about the stuff that people have, and seeing what it means to them. I myself would consider a nut or bolt or something like that a collectible...look at NASCAR- lug nuts from pit stops are collectible! It's all in what the item means to you... if it's a memory of your dad or your granddad and his flying, or a memory of another age and time, or a museum wish list fulfilled.


thanks again to all that are posting here!

My Dad brought home a buncha stuff from the war.

I have the top engine cowl of a Macchi 200 he shot down, and the joystick from an Fw-190 he shot down. We used to have the pilot's headset, but Dad sold that to a collector.

Cowl: http://www.inpayne.com/dad/cowl.jpg
Stick: http://www.inpayne.com/dad/stick.jpg

I have a small reflector gunsight Dad said was from a P-40. It still has the light bulb in it, but god only knows how to connect power to this thing.

Dad also scavenged the compass out of a Mitsubishi "Jack" the was wrecked on the beach at Okinawa. Anybody restoring a Jap plane? Aside from that, a couple of little odds and ends like a selector switch from a bomber, and the interphone handsets from an AT-6.

Stuff:http://www.inpayne.com/dad/dadsouvenirs.jpg
Key to stuff:
(1) His last issued flying helmet (with his name and S/N stamped inside)
(2) The cockpit compass salvaged from a Mitsubishi J2M Raiden ("Jack") that crashed on the beach at Okinawa
(3) An altimeter from god knows what and where
(4) A reflector gunsight that Dad said was from a P-40
(5) The very mirror Dad used to signal that PBY that picked him up out of the ocean
(6) Dad's dogtags
(7) An assortment of flying maps of the Pacific printed on silk
(8) Flexible plastic waterproof holster
(9) Combat knife
(10) A couple of bills of military scrip (occupation money?), 10 sen denomination
(11) Computer; Dead Reckoning, Type AN 5835-1
(12) A 5" folding knife/saw from his bailout survival pack
Background: A silk flying map for "Japan and South China Seas, No. C-52"

Being an aircraft mechanic I bring home lots of little "collectibles" quite often. But they usually consist of old nuts, bolts, screws etc...My wife says that she will have enough parts to build an airplane one day from all the stuff she finds in the laundry.

I don't think this counts as memorabilia. But I do pickup the occasional trinket here and there at work, but its all general aviation related. Something I bring home from the field is more valuable to me , than an item purchased on ebay.

Darren

I had'nt realized my family had a few "relics". My grandfather gave me a sextant like one he used on a B-17 and B-29. My mother has a bracelet and some other odds and ends jewelery her uncle made for her. He was on the Bataan Death March and was ordered to clear up an airfield after a bombing. He salvaged some aluminum from a bombed out Japanese plane and made jewelry from it in order to keep sane and to keep thinking about his family. The bracelet has little engravings of pictures of the countryside in it and enscriptions of his thoughts at the time. Not a true representation of the plane, but of the time.
Scott

a signed watercolour of one A Galland flying his 109E during the Battle of Britain...

I have the ground crew worksheets for the Hawker Typhoon. Also a beautiful pencil drawing of a Bristol Beaufighter signed by the pilot and dated 43. From what I could find out it took part in the straffing of the Tirpitz. Picked it up for only ten pounds at a junk shop in Liverpool.

If we are counting PE equipment, I still have several flight suits, my flight jacket, harness, "G" suit, helmet, mask, and survival vest.

I've got the usual dummy and/or drilled ammo, empty shell casings galore, a few dozen flight instruments, RBF tags (including some MX missle stuff), misc bits & pieces and a US Propellers prop; nothing too thrilling there.

Some of the more exciting stuff...

A seat kit from an F-14 as well as another which is as yet unidentified.

A prototype flight helmet which I was told was a one-of-a kind, although I dunno if that's true.

Several O2 masks, hoses, regulators, bottles, control panels and misc bits and pieces.

A portable emergency O2 unit of some type, I was told it was from an Army helo. Again, dunno for sure.

One of the more odd bits is a bundle of vent screens from the portable O2 units that U-2 & SR-71 crews carried/carry around.

Just a buncha life support bits and pieces, really, both aviation and space related, with the latter stuff dating as far back as the Apollo days. Much of it is scrap or test articles, but some of the space stuff is flown hardware.

My pride and joy, however is a full pressure suit and helmet of the type worn by U-2 & SR-71 crews in the 60's and 70's. I believe this one is a David Clarke S-1030, but I'm not totally sure. I've only done minimal research on the thing.


Fade to Black...

The story behind the 8 day clock...if it's wound up during the week, it'll never stop running on a weekend and have to be reset, even if the aircraft sits from Friday to Monday. Obviously, that wasn't too frequent during combat operations, but it makes sense.

Jeff Herne
Director, NJAHOF

Mike,

My Dad spent 38 months in the Pacific as a mechanic with the 5th AAF starting in Australia and ending in New Guinea. I think the last Unit he was attached to was 45th Service Group, Modification Center. He worked on A--20's, B-25's, and everything esle they used. I was named after his best friend that was killed in the crash of a C-47 on Mothers Day, May 13, 1945. Melvin Mollberg of Baudette, Mn. He had taken my Dad's place on the flight. Last August I went to the Mollberg Family Reunion and met Melvin's two surviving sisters and all the nieces, nephews, grand nieces and grand nephews. I aslo was abe to visit Melvin's gravesite in Jefferson Barracks, the National Cemetery in St. Louis, Mo. on the way up. I also have a picture of a P-47D Razorback that was named "Molly" in his honor. The Mollberg family was unaware of the P-47 named after Melvin and the fact he took Dad's place on the flight until one of the nephews found me 6 years ago by chance. They have welcomed me as part of their family. A lot more to the story but too long to relate.

Hey, keyworth! I too have a clock that my grandfather gave me before he passed away (i think i posted this somewhere here before) that looks like it came from an instrument panel. does your clock have a brand name? Mine says "8 Days"...

Got a couple of instruments from US bomber types, including a clock that still works!

Do scars count? I have plenty from working on aircraft.

In my whole 26 years working on fighter aircraft in the USAF, I don't have one item that came from an aircraft. At one time I had a box of 20 MM dummy rounds. Now my son has them displayed at his house.

I got the following from an F-14D Tomcat - Hook point from the tailhook, a dorsel antenna, a refueling probe tip, a "next launch" cockpit button and a "launch" button from the backseat for the AIM-54's :o) I also have a speed control indicator from either an older F-14 or a A-6E. Anyone got a smaller, full size naval tailhook for sale? Im looking for one about the size of an A-4, A-7, A-6. Let me know! flynavydan@yahoo.com

I've got the top of an F-102's control stick. I also assembled an M-61 Vulcan 20mm
cannon out of spare parts but, the museum wouldn't let me take it home with me.
I was an aircraft restoration crew chief at the Travis AFB museum in the late 80's.

For B LeCren: I was on Okinawa during the early 60's and my Brothers, friends, and I spent our time exploring lots of WWII Japanese fortifications and caves.
Like you, we played with a lot of weapons and unexploded ordnance much to the horror
of our parents and EOD.
Ray

Do whole aircraft count???[%-)

Let's see....here's what I personally own...museum stuff doesn't count.

I have a Luftwaffe PFK/M master compass from a Fw-190, working, a Luftwaffe Oil filled standby magnetic compass, and I recently sold a set of Bf-109G-6 rudder pedals with linkages.

I've got all sorts of US instruments, an 8-day clock from a F4U that saw action in the Pacific (given to me by the former pilot), a Japanese multifunction gauge, a big spar section of a Zero, a piece of aluminum from the HIndenburgh, one from Akron and one from Shenandoah. I have a piece of fabric from NC-4 (first airplane to cross the Atlantic), and a compass housing from a Japanese Emily flying boat, recovered from a wreck in the Phillipines by a buddy of mine.

That's about it...still not enough to build a complete airplane though...

Jeff

I grew up (partly) on an RCAF base in Germany that was right on the Seigfried Line; we had an exploded bunker in our back yard. This was in the late 50's, early 60's and they were still rebuilding so hadn't gotten everything cleaned up from the war yet. We used to go playing in the woods and come across old rifles, ammo, helmets, all kinds of things. We used to get lectures in school about what not to touch, but of course we did. I had to leave all my souvenirs behind when we came back to Canada.

Latterly I did some aircraft and parts retrievals for a museum and picked up a few things, but of course they went into the museum collection.

Bruce

Hey all,
First off hey kik36,I take it that you like the P-40!! LMAO. Its amazing to see what we have interms of a/c memorabilia.
This may be a lil off topic but I have an ash tray that is made out of a Japanese shell casing and some bullet casings. As the center piece, there is a P-38/P-61(not accurate) that is made out of the bullet casings. My uncle(an a/c mechanic) made it while he was stationed in New Guinea cica 1944. Pretty darn sweet if ya ask me.
I have an emergency release handle that is off a T-33. A warning label that acompanies the release handle. Mmmm, I also have the portion of the hand grip off a F-94.
An "Asmith"(sp/pronouncing)(shows the movement of the boom. Not to sure though) off a KC-135R. Some fasteners and screws off a P-39. I have a few other items but at the moment I'm drawing a blank.
At any rate these are my lil treasures that I have and proud of them.
Flaps up, Mike

I don't know if I should list all I have from the UH-1 Huey, but I can make the left front cockpit! I did pop off the Radio Call No. placard off the instrument panel of my bird in Nam as a souvenir and have a Tail Rotor control chain bracelet. Also still have my quick release pins that locks the M-60's on their mounts with my "Church Key". A set of Tail Rotor blades and hub for a Bell 206 B and a Huey. WW II aircraft I have some melted chunks of aluminum and small fittings, pieces of the engine nose case from the P-38 "Scatterbrain Kid" that crashed Oct 1974. It wasn't part of an aircraft, but my Maint. Officer had some mugs made from the brass casings of 105 canon with a handle made from a 20 mm and 2 M-60 rounds. It's engraved and has my Crewmember wings with map of Vietnam on the back.

Damn, should I list them all.....A winscreen from a CH-53E, side windscreen from a Cessna 421. Collective Stick Grip from CH-53, controllable spotlight from CH-53, Emergency Control panel from CH-53, Winch from CH-53, Antenna's from CH-53, and a Propeller from a Bonanza. Oh, and I have a P-40 Warhawk Ceiling fan.......can you tell what my favorite Aircraft is??

I have a cool beer stein with a "Thud F-105" superimposed on a map of Vietnam....

i have an undercart door from a jet provost trainer, a small access cover from a EE lightning and a fuse box cover from a B25. also i have a small model boat made from parts of a crashed spitfire, the hull is perspex and the sail and mast are brass. it was given to my mother when she was a small girl during WW2. a little off topic but i also have a pocket watch that belonged to my grandfather (on my fathers side) it saw plenty of action during WW2. in the desert wih the LRDG, the bruneval (sp?)radar station raid and during the battle for Pegasus bridge, amongst other actions. i personally think my grandfathers moto was "voulenteer for EVERYTHING!!!. " LoL
Greg

I have a box full of spent 30mm casings under my desk!

I've seen a few places now that sell repro "nose art" on aluminum, and ceiling fans that look like P-51 noses or a P-40 nose. Having a section of skin from a plane, or a prop piece, etc. would be a cool addtition to anyone's modeling space.

Thanks for the replies so far....

I know of a Sunderland wing tip float which was lying around in Shetland a few years ago and may still be there. Also, my father used to own a boat which was built for, or at least owned by, Neville Duke, and had mounted in its wheelhouse a couple of instruments from his record breaking Hawker Hunter

They have stuff on ebay all the time-- gunsights, bomb control panels, control sticks (I wish I could afford one of these!!), compasses, etc....

I have what I call a horn button from the steering column of my B29. I got it before the bird went to the boneyard. It says B29 and a Boeing insignia. I recently saw the same thing on Discovery channel when they did a show about the Russians copying one of our B29 that landed in Russia. One of the Russian guys involved held it up and said it was one of his prize possessions

There are real pieces of memorabilia out there....

My UH-1H tail rotor clock looked nice on the wall until we converted the room into my daughter's play room. And somewhere I scored a control stick from ???? I forget now.

I bet a spit prop would take a good size piece of wall

Good luck in finding something that you like.