Original Item: Only One Available. World War II Imperial Japanese Navy pilot’s two-piece flight set, consisting of a lightweight olive drab cotton jacket and pants. The jacket is unlined, with a six button front closure. Bakelite buttons are concealed beneath a closure panel. A large pocket with a single internal button closure is present on the left side for carrying maps or weapons. The pants are also olive colored pants in identical material.

The pants have a five button fly with one button at the waist. A belt of matching material passes through three belt loops on the waist. There are 2 hip slash pockets and 2 pleated patch pockets with flaps and buttons. There are slits on each cuff with ties for fitting the trousers tightly to the leg or boot. There is also a white tag sewn to the inside waistband of the trousers. The entire set is in apparently unworn, unissued condition showing only light signs of storage wear and age. One of the finest examples we have ever encountered!

Approx. Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10”
Shoulder to sleeve: 22”
Shoulder to shoulder: 17”
Chest width: 19”
Waist width: 20.5"
Hip width: 20.5”
Front length: 26"

PANTS:
Waist:17"
Inseam:26"

The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service was the air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War.

The Japanese military acquired their first aircraft in 1910 and followed the development of air combat during World War I with great interest. They initially procured European aircraft but quickly built their own and launched themselves onto an ambitious aircraft carrier building program. They launched the world's first purpose-built aircraft carrier, Hōshō, in 1922. Afterwards they embarked on a conversion program of several excess battlecruisers and battleships into aircraft carriers. The IJN Air Service had the mission of national air defense, deep strike, naval warfare, and so forth. It retained this mission to the end.

The Japanese pilot training program was very selective and rigorous, producing a high-quality and long-serving pilot corps, who were very successful in the air during the early part of World War II in the Pacific. However, the long duration of the training program, combined with a shortage of gasoline for training, did not allow the IJN to rapidly provide qualified replacements in sufficient numbers. Moreover, Japan, unlike the U.S. or Britain, never altered its program to speed up the training process of its recruits. The resultant decrease in quantity and quality, among other factors, resulted in increasing casualties toward the end of the war.

Japanese navy aviators, like their army counterparts, preferred maneuverable aircraft, leading to lightly built but extraordinarily agile types, most famously the A6M Zero, which achieved its feats by sacrificing armor and self-sealing fuel tanks. Aircraft with armor and self-sealing fuel tanks, such as the Kawanishi N1K-J would not enter service until late 1944–1945, which was too late to have a meaningful impact. The Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service was equal in function to the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm (FAA).