Id’d Army Air Service Pilot Group – Great Flying Helmet

An extensive and museum quality grouping, Ex-Bob Ford Collection, of Lt. Max Bacon of the Army Air Service. The group includes Bacon’s WW I officer tunic, tailored by Roos Brothers of San Francisco. The tunic bears Air Service officer collar insignia, with one “U.S.” collar device and one Lieutenant bar missing. The uniform has Bacon’s extraordinary set of bullion, pin-back Army Air Service pilot wings on the left breast. Group further includes: Bacon’s original dog tag; an original photograph, about 8 x 10, of Bacon wearing this exact pilot’s uniform; officer boots; two notebooks kept by Bacon during flight training; a World War I Victory Medal; a World War I Service Medal for Shelby County, Iowa; stencils used by Bacon to mark his equipment; and Bacon’s remarkable original pilot’s hard leather flying helmet, with full leather neck protection, the helmet exhibiting painted Air Service pilot wings as well as painted Air Service insignia on either side of the wings. The uniform has only one or two very minor moth holes, and the group overall is in a wonderful state of preservation.