Want to buy or sell something? Check the classifieds
  • The Fedora Lounge is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

C3 Vest Any Experience Of?

Stand By

One Too Many
Messages
1,741
Location
Canada
Hi Stand By, got accused of looking like an outlaw biker today wearing C3 & Levi's (Taking it as a compliment). I'm the same regarding tattoos, jacket paint is the closest I'll come to a tattoo (not that I dislike them...some look great...just not for me).

I love looking at the old patches, especially those that relate to squadrons that flew out of England during the war. Plan to visit places where they flew from, some time. Watching films like 'Way To The Stars' always brings a lump to my throat.

An outlaw biker ? Cool ! :)

Yep, some people just can't rock tattoos properly. "A man has to know his limitations" as "Dirty" Harry Callaghan said. That would be me then.

Thanks for the tip on "Way To The Stars". I'd not heard of it - I looked it up on Amazon.co.uk and it looks just like my kind of film! I'll definitely order it in. I'm looking forward to that.
And like you, I want to make a journey to the former RAF Chelveston on my next trip back Northampton. I know there's nothing to see these days and it's best viewed from the air, really - there's just a plaque somewhere and they probably want to build starter homes on it - but I want to go nevertheless and leave a poppy. The fellas deserve someone to show up and remember them, knowing who the 305th BS once were and what they did ....

And fyi, my favourite "war" film is Sole Survivor (1970). You're around my age and from the UK too, so I suspect you may have seen it as a kid. It was a made-for-TV film and hasn't been shown on terrestrial TV since the early 80s and is one of those rare films that was never commercially released on DVD- and is clouded in the memory of those who saw it after all these years.
But if you can recall watching a bunch of USAAF guys playing baseball in a desert around a crashed B-25 - and they're all ghosts - you're remembering the right film! I love it and have done since I saw it the few times I saw it in the late 70s and early 80s. It has one of those endings that just stays with you, y'know?
 

bn1966

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,111
Location
UK
Can't recall 'Sole Survivor' (just looked it up), have ordered a DVD copy (archival tape transfer) from E-bay (cheers for the tip). One of my all time favs would have to be 'Appointment in London', another would be 'Angels One Five'.
 

IXL

One Too Many
Messages
1,284
Location
Oklahoma
"Gilet." I learn something new around this joint every day! I going to go see if I can impress some much less-refined Okies.
 

bn1966

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,111
Location
UK
Gilet. indeed...C3 vest being more accurate..waistcoat...not a bad description. Unfortunately when you say vest over here (UK) this is what springs to mind with most people:

images.jpg
 
Last edited:

Stand By

One Too Many
Messages
1,741
Location
Canada
Can't recall 'Sole Survivor' (just looked it up), have ordered a DVD copy (archival tape transfer) from E-bay (cheers for the tip). One of my all time favs would have to be 'Appointment in London', another would be 'Angels One Five'.

Another one I've not heard of (Appt. In London) ! Will add to my Amazon.co.uk wish list ! And I've not seen Angels One Five since was a nipper, so I reckon I'll have another look at that one too. Thank you! :)

I hope you like Sole Survivor.
It was made in 1970 - and has a similar storyline as the Twilight Zone episode "King Nine Will Not Return" - and both are inspired by the discovery of the B-24 "Lady Be Good" in the Libyan desert in 1958 (an incredible and tragic story and well worth looking up if you aren't familiar with it).
As I said, the film was broadcast a few times in the US and UK - and was not released on VHS or DVD as Paramount held the copyright and sat on it for some reason. So people recorded it on VHS at home - and the TV stations edited it as the years went by - sometimes slightly, sometimes to a great degree and spoiling the flow completely.
Suffice to say, a guy in Quebec over here has spent 2 years recompiling the full version from VHS recordings and putting it on DVD. It's quite expensive but, if you love the film, it's worth it. It's VHS quality of course and it shows on a big plasma, but there it is - and is best viewed as 4:3 on your telly. Apparently people copy his version ....

And it has John's Wayne son as the captain of the B-25 and William Shatner too as a supporting actor - his first post-Star Trek role !
I hope you like it. (and DO NOT look it up on its Wikipedia page. It'll spoil the ending for you!)
 

Stand By

One Too Many
Messages
1,741
Location
Canada
Just to show you - this is my Aero C3 over my ELC RW B3 which is for those ridiculously cold pre-dawn dog walks when the wind-chill is below -25C.
To me, this feels like the next best thing to still being in bed!
 

Attachments

  • B3-C3.jpg
    B3-C3.jpg
    95.8 KB · Views: 1,936
  • B3-C3#2.jpg
    B3-C3#2.jpg
    95.8 KB · Views: 1,454

bn1966

My Mail is Forwarded Here
Messages
3,111
Location
UK
Wow that's some combination (B3 & C3), love the skins contrast. Tried the C3 over my ELC A2 (very slim fitting) & it worked.

IMG_0100.jpg

Still breaking C3 in, lots of wear & a large dollop of Eastman's leather conditioner. My hound is staying well away from the smell of the conditioner. Making the most of the current warm weather here. What's Canada doing at the moment?
 
Last edited:

Stand By

One Too Many
Messages
1,741
Location
Canada
Wow that's some combination (B3 & C3), love the skins contrast. Tried the C3 over my ELC A2 (very slim fitting) & it worked.

View attachment 1119

Still breaking C3 in, lots of wear & a large dollop of Eastman's leather conditioner. My hound is staying well away from the smell of the conditioner. Making the most of the current warm weather here. What's Canada doing at the moment?

I know - a C3 over an A2 is a surprisingly good combo, isn't it ? It'll give you more wear from your faithful A2 come the colder Autumn days ... Good for you.

The weather here ?
Well, three weeks ago I was happily wearing my B3 on the morning dog walks.
Spring was perfect for my ANJ-3 - but it only lasted 3 weeks !!!
As is increasingly typical for over here, we've now lurched directly in to Summer - it was glorious sunshine all last week around 23C with a high UV index and will be again all this week and I've been in shorts and a T ever since. My legs are so white that they're almost silver/blue! I fear I'm burning peoples' retinas as I pass by. I'm sure people wince from the flash and think a nuke has gone off in the distance - and then they realise with relief that it was just the Brit with the shorts on and the glare off his legs.
So all too suddenly, it's too warm for the ANJ-3! :(
I'm heading down to Nashville, TN on Wednesday for the rest of the week to present at a conference and I see that the forecast there is for hot and humid (bleah!) - but I'm still taking the ANJ-3 as it'll be chillin' in the hotel with the A/C cranked ! :)
 

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
109,280
Messages
3,077,850
Members
54,238
Latest member
LeonardasDream
Top