Clyman Archives

Jeff Clyman, founder and creator of Cockpit USA & The American Airpower Museum- shares his collection of military and historical finds

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A B-4 iconic carry on

The B-4 Bag is a quintessentially iconic piece of luggage. Developed in 1941 and carried by US Army Airforce officers in World War II, this canvas suitcase still identifies Airforce personnel today.

Designed to fold over and open up to accommodate uniform jackets, pants, shoes, shirts and overnight accessories, the B-4 is one of the few pieces of luggage that rival the leather A-2 jacket as the archetypal representation of the dashing helmet, goggles and silk scarf era that so dominates our world today in so many subliminal ways. These days, this bag is widely copied by so called fashion designers as original luggage or carry all accessory bags.

Being the inveterate collector, scrounger and all-round antique hunter that I am, I managed to find the ultimate B-4 Bag. It was once owned by a flight officer of the 512th Bombardment Squadron and follows my prior blog in which I presented the iconic A-2 Pilot's jacket belonging to a pilot from that very same squadron.

In view of the fact that they were made of canvas, these bags lent themselves to all sorts of artistic endeavors, which in a humourous way  , in today's parlance would be called graffiti. However, back then it was the only way to personalize the few possessions routinely carried by WW II fighter and bomber pilots when they were moving in between assignments.

This particular B-4 Bag is approximately a 1942 vintage piece, as the squadron emblem and bomb group indicate that the owner was assigned to the southwest Pacific theater of operations. What I find really unique is the whimsical attachments of the squadron adornments and group emblems as well as the almost calligraphic application of the owner's rank and name on the 'open side' of the bag and the Mickey Mouse character to a pair of pilot's wings across the face.

If one turns the bag over, we see the regulation application of name, rank and serial number of the owner in its proper place. This represents the irony and paradox of war. Death lurks at every turn, every corner, behind every cloud as shown by the regulation application of 'black humour' on one side of the bag, acting as a counterpoint to the open canvas face on the other side of the bag. Of course, the traditional army air force logo decal still remains as originally applied to the vegetable oil tanned leather spine of the bag, to which the handle is attached.

In sum I view this piece as a time capsule of an era where ordinary men & women were called upon to do extraordinary things and who had not shirk their responsibility. Instead they gave willingly of themselves and their lives in a commitment to keeping the world free.

It may sound trite in today's whining, nanny state loving, 'gimme somethings for free' world, but as a piece of historically applicable sculpture, this bag signifies all those Americans and all others around the world who willingly and proudly answered to a higher calling at great personal sacrifice, defending the values and rule of law our nation lived by and sacrificed so much for.

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American Airpower Museum

My original vision for the American Airpower Museum was to create a destination in which history is brought to life, to honor those who have served our country and to educate new generations about our proud American legacy. When I heard about the astonishing story of how Guenter Bier and Erwin Salnik, a couple of volunteers at the AAM discovered that they had crossed paths once before during WWII, it really hit home. Their tale represents everything the museum stands for.

It all began 67 years ago. Guenter was a 12 year old boy living in Leipzig, Germany under Nazi rule. More afraid of the Germans than the Americans, Guenter and his family were forced to greet with the Hail Hitler salute to avoid being arrested but hid a mop and a white bed sheet as a surrender flag despite the risk of being shot if discovered.

On February 27th 1945, Guenter found himself lying flat out on the ground of his school's basement floor with fingers in his ears and his mouth wide open to prevent his eardrums from rupturing from the assault toiling overhead. Luckily, for the young student, staying in school rather than going to the normal shelter's saved his life that day. The onslaught of tons of highly explosive bombs destroyed the roof of the shelter followed by a barrage of incendiary bombs which created a firestorm reaching temperatures of 3000 degrees fahrenheit bringing all those present to their immediate and perhaps deserved end.

While Guenter was surrounded by the howl of sirens and screams of terrified people, 18 year old American pilot Erwin was right above him, up in the skies as part of a B-17 Bomber crew, freezing and risking his life with each passing moment. After 8 hours in an hellish environment of a cockpit at minus 40 degrees fahrenheit and at an altitude of oxygenless  24000 feet unconsciousness was always close at hand.

Not only that. During the bad weather and flying through black clouds on that particular day, with low visibility and German guns firing directly at Erwin's fuel and bomb laden plane, death was a constant and real threat.

Although they were both in the same place at the same time, the two were completely unaware of each other. Until they met 67 years later as volunteers at the American Airpower Museum. After attending the AAM initially for a seminar, then staying on as museum guides, the pair became friends. Upon looking over Erwin's log of all the missions he flew, Guenter discovered they had both been the same place at the same time all those years before. Now, along with the piece of shrapnel that struck his plane, missing him by a mere 5 inches which Erwin carries everyday, the two have a shared bond and friendship which somehow began on that fateful February 1945 day in Leipzig.

I would like to personally invite everyone to the non-profit American Air Power Museum to honor our Veterans and their heroic efforts for Memorial Day Weekend- Adult admission is $20, Senior/Veteran (with ID) is $15, children are $8, children three and under are free.

Jeff Clyman 

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It all begin with the A-2 USAAF...

The authenticity, history and patriotism this iconic piece of what would be an ordinary leather jacket under normal circumstances, represents is exactly the reason I started The Cockpit; to bring back icons of the past which have become monuments of heroism for future generations as well as a fashion statement in vintage clothing. It epitomizes the heights to which ordinary individuals can rise under extraordinary circumstances when called upon to defend the liberty and the independence of their home land and the entire free world.

As it was only ever issued by US Army Air Corps to the Fifth Air Force flying in the South Pacific in 1943 and in particular the 512th Bomb Squadron pilots of B-24 Heavy Bombers, this

A-2 USAAF pilot’s flight was never put on commercial sale. That meant finding one was almost impossible, particularly one ornamented with a skull, crossbones and propeller squadron patch, the emblem of the 512th.

I came across this A2 in the 70s while rummaging through mountains of bales of old clothes (in those days the word “vintage” was applied to wine and champagne, not clothing) in the cavernous basement of used clothing wholesaler Henry Matthau, brother ofHollywood actor Walter Matthau.

I found it on Broadway and Spring street, decades before anyone knew to call it Soho, the trendy shopping and bar stomping ground it is now and long preceding any “military” fashion trends.So here I am in this small office on lower Broadway trying to pay Henry for my diamond find, an original A2 with a rare squadron patch on the jacket and he’s on a three way call with his brother Walter, the actor who’s in California and their mother who lives in Brooklyn and makes chicken soup when she’s bored. The conversation goes like “Hiya ma… What’s fa dinna? Oh chicken soup, thas great!” Then to me “OK so Jeff whaddya wanna pay for this old leather jacket?” Anyway, it’s needless to say I was completely psyched when I found this jacket. I don’t remember the price or value of it back then, but I think now it is probably worth at least a few dollars more than I paid for it. I used to go in there quite a lot and I remember there was always some funny business going on.

Everything about this horsehide jacket is impressive. It was produced in 1941 by Perry Sportswear in upstate N.Y.

The amazing shape it’s still in, from the structure to the still working zipper proves the quality of USA made pieces. It is the complete originality of the jacket and the WWII pilot A2's authority to weave the belief in American exceptionalism into a piece of clothing that I admire the most.

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Tick Tock: IWC Schaffhausen

                              The history behind my vintage IWC watch begins about 30 years ago, when I had a growing urgeto seek out and find an old military watch I once owned in the late sixties.

My father in law who knew of my quest for this watch came across an ad in a Texas newspaper about a guy who was clearing out his store in Dallas. To my surprise, he not only had the USAF watch I’d been searching for, but a selection of WWII watches too! Included was my greatest find, the big pilot’s watch of the WWII German Air Force. Pilot’s usually wore these on a long leather strap around the sleeves of their flight suits and with an extended strap, this thing was so big it could literally be strapped around their legs so they only had to look down to calculate navigation and tactical time over target issues.

As a collector of all things military and aviation orientated, I set about trying to identify the watch. I soon found it was never produced for the commercial market, only the air force, the German Luftwaffe. The only identifying marks on it were the worn letters ‘RLM’ which meant Reich Luft Ministerium (German Air Ministry) and a serial number. When I wound the watch up, it just kept running, astounding me as to the workmanship put into it.

I stored this particular piece in a special box with a group of other WWII era watches in my closet for many years until I met a fellow by the name of Steve Lundin. He was an accomplished journalist who had bought a leather flight jacket from Cockpit USA. When he caught wind of my watch collection, he began asking all sorts of questions and introduced me to an article that identified the various manufacturers that had made the watches during WWII by determining subtle details in the dials, small differences on the hands and by the serial numbers on the back. To my amazement, I discovered that my extraordinary find was indeed manufactured by IWC, (International Watch Company) in Schaffhausen, Switzerland in 1940 or thereabouts.

To this day, I don’t know neither have I asked about the value of the watch as I have no intention of parting with it. However, I have read that there were only 1000 produced by IWC.

Fast forward to March 2012. My NYC based company, Cockpit USA Inc was sought out and engaged by IWC to create the finest leather flight jackets in the world for their latest retail concept, a limited series of IWC Specialty Stores showcasing their offerings. As manufacturers of USA made leather and textile flight jackets, outerwear and sports wear of the best quality, it made perfect sense for Cockpit USA to join forces with IWC, now one of the world’s premier makers of precision Swiss mechanical chronographs and other wrist mounted precision time pieces sought after by collectors all over the globe. On a more personal note, being featured in the IWC's Watch Magazine as the 'Jacket of Heroes' was a moment I will never forget. 

Of course, being at once the head of the official suppliers of aviation jackets for the USAF and Navy, and at the same time being a pilot of vintage WWII American Air Force and Navy Fighters, 60s era jet combat air crafts and director of the American Airpower Museum in Farmingdale, Long Island, this was a dream come true! It was a great honor and pleasure to be associated with a company like IWC whose time pieces I have revered for decades in the production of flight jackets for their new stores.

Be sure to visit the IWC Schaffhausen New York Flagship store located on 535 Madison Avenue, where the Cockpit collaboration hangs heroically.   

Jeff Clyman