Original Item: Only One Available. This is a very nice, service worn USAAF WW2 era type seat parachute model type AN-6510 that was also inspected, re-packed and issued for use in the Korean War. The seat parachute was ideally suited for fighter pilots, but not for aircrew who required freedom to move, such as on large bomber aircraft. This particular seat pack was utilized by Liaison Aircraft Pilots.
 
A liaison aircraft (also called an army cooperation aircraft) is a small, usually unarmed aircraft primarily used by military forces for artillery observation or transporting commanders and messages. The concept developed before World War II and also included battlefield reconnaissance, air ambulance, column control, light cargo delivery and similar duties. Able to operate from small, unimproved fields under primitive conditions, with STOL capabilities, most liaison aircraft were developed from, or were later used as general aviation aircraft. Both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters can perform liaison duties.
 
The improved designs of the newest chest and back type parachutes quickly rendered the seat type obsolete. As soon as the Quick Attachable Chest (QAC) and back types became available, the old seat types would be exchanged and returned to stock. Consequently, when production of seat parachutes ceased in late 1943, the surplus stocks lasted to the end of the war. By July 1943, AAF stocks boasted an excess stock of 104,478 seat parachutes assemblies.
 
This AN-6510 parachute was manufactured in January 1943by the Severin Manufacturing Company. We have seen this company name before in the past, but have not been able to find any information on them. All we know is that they had contracts to supply the US Military with the much needed equipment during WW2.
 
The bag, back rigging, “seat” and canopy bag are all in beautiful condition, with indications of being used, giving it that highly sought after “service worn” look. All buckles and snaps present are still in working condition, as well as the thick white harness/rigging and all the stitching. The canopy is still tightly packed inside the bag, something rarely seen.
 
There are still stamps highly visible on the outside of the seat pack/cushion:
This is a wonderful opportunity to add a genuine fighter pilot seat parachute to your collection! Comes ready to display!
 
A liaison pilot was a World War II United States enlisted pilot, whose wings bore an "L" in the center. They flew light single engine liaison aircraft. Included were many enlisted aviation students who washed out of pilot training after having soloed and were given the opportunity to become liaison pilots. Flight training consisted of about 60 hours of flying time and stressed such procedures as short field landings and takeoffs over obstacles, low altitude navigation, first aid, day and night reconnaissance, aerial photography, and aircraft maintenance. Unarmored and unarmed—except perhaps for a .45 pistol or .30 carbine—these men in 28 different squadrons flew low and slow with wheels, skis, or floats. They flew varied and often hazardous missions in nearly every theater—medical evacuation from forward areas; delivering munitions, blood plasma, mail, and other supplies to front lines; ferrying personnel; flying photographic or intelligence missions; serving as air observers for fighters or bombers; and other critical yet often unpublicized missions.
 
During the campaign to recapture the Philippines, pilots of the 25th Liaison Squadron flew a dozen Stinson L-5 Sentinel aircraft in short 30-minute flights (December 10–25, 1944) delivering supplies (including a 300-bed hospital) to the 6,000 men of the 11th Airborne Division isolated in the mountains of Leyte. In another mission, an Army officer wounded in the chest in New Guinea was evacuated in a liaison aircraft as the pilot pumped a portable respirator with one hand while he flew the aircraft with the other. In the northwestern U.S., some liaison pilots flew forest patrols (Project Firefly) watching for fires ignited by incendiary bombs carried across the Pacific beneath unmanned Japanese high altitude balloons.