A guy comes in with a g-suit and a helmet. He was a little disappointed to only get a thousand dollars for them. Rick’s ‘expert’, a USMC F/A-18 pilot, came in and assessed the helmet at about two grand, cost to the government, and the g-suit at about a thousand.
Rick needs to get a better ‘expert’. I have a couple of g-suits, and I probably paid about a hundred bucks apiece for them. One of them is like new. Both are functional. You can get a brand-new HGU-55 helmet for under $900, plus earphones and mask acceptors.
I’m glad you started this thread because I have a couple of questions about this episode?
There was a salvage effort several years ago in which a WW2 aircraft was dredged up from one of the Great Lakes. When it was pulled up the Navy (whose plane it had been in WW2) said “thanks, we’ll take it from here”. The salvage company was furious, but the law could not be more clear cut: planes and ships and big guns and other major items are "once the property of the U.S. military ALWAYS the property of the U.S. military.
Does this not extend to G-suits and helmets? What about sidearms? I can see it not extending to a regular uniform, but a G-suit is a bit different.
Another question: don’t G-suits hook up to the plane itself? I was curious if they had any practical value to non military pilots or if it’s strictly a collectible.
Also, I think this was the same episode as the John Wilkes Booth WANTED poster. From the looks of it even if the one the guy brought in had been authentic I can’t imagine it would have been worth more than a few thousand dollars at the most because it was in terrible condition.
I’m not familiar with any that sell airplanes or ships, but for any that do it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise since it’s been taken to court several times since the 1980s. For airplanes found outside of U.S. waters where admiralty law applies it may be murkier, but the U.S. does not ever relinquish ownership of aircraft or ships except by formal and explicit contract and I can’t even find evidence they’ve ever granted one (which is not to say they haven’t). As for more portable items surplus stores generally buy them at auction from the government or in some cases direct from the manufacturer (i.e. they’re the same or very similar to military issue but have never actually been owned by the military).
There’s no argument over how it was obtained: it belonged to the man’s brother-in-law who left the service sometime since Desert Storm. He said so on a highly rated basic cable show.
That said, my job when I worked for Ross Perot’s old company involved keeping track of everything from cars and computers down to- literally- pencil sharpeners and coffee machines bought with public monies, and that was just a civilian contractor; I would guess that military equipment over negligible value (which would certainly include a helmet worth several hundred dollars and probably the G-suit) would be tagged and inventoried as well.
What I’m interested in, more appropriate for GQ perhaps, is what a veteran is allowed to keep upon being honorably discharged from the military. I’m assuming uniforms are allowed- my understanding is that some are purchased anyway, and on Pawn Stars they’ve had naval uniforms and even the West Point cadet uniform of a WW2 era general. Are military issued sidearms or rifles allowed to be taken when one leaves service?
IIRC there was an episode that involved Soviet era police memorabilia that the Pawn Shop couldn’t buy because even though it had happened many years before and in another country it was still stolen property. I seem to remember that they’ve had a couple of other items that they could not legally purchase as well.
And with the regard to the authentic, framed poster that was valued at ~$180,000: the dude is just going to waltz into a Vegas pawn shop with that under his arm???
mmm
There are obsolete jet aircraft in civilian hands. But if you think renting a Cessna or a helicopter is expensive, these are… well, out of the reach of most people. I suspect that people who do own them probably don’t fly them as aggressively as military pilots did/do. Nevertheless, a g-suit does have practical value to a very, very limited number of non-military pilots. For the rest of us, they’re just collectibles.
Roomie woke up while I was typing the OP, so I missed the resolution of the Wanted poster. What happened with that?
Rick offered him $120,000 and was refused (the poster did not belong to the “expert” who brought it in). I think Rick’s final offer was $150,000 but the guy wouldn’t sell.
Rick passed on it. As for the real one…the experts know what they are being called in for, so they do research before they show up. Curly happened to represent a guy who had a real one for sale, so he took it in as a comparison piece. Some of these experts come in from quite a ways away, so it isn’t like they jump in their cars and drive over in a few minutes. The people with interesting stuff may have to come back days or weeks later to get the expert opinion and valuation.
What we don’t know, and is never shown, is the supply and demand side of things. If Rick gets a customer a day asking to buy a flight suit and helmet and he doesn’t ever have one to sell, than he probibly made a great deal getting this one that made it in the door. If he has ten on the shelf and hasn’t ever sold one, than he’d be over paying if he spend $1 on it.
Since the flight suit will almost certainly not be used for it’s intended purpose, it really doesn’t matter what the government paid for it new.
The helmet and g-suit (not flight suit) are specialty items. People who buy them will A) use them; B) collect them; or C) need them for a costume. If you’re going to use them, then you’re probably not going to buy them from a pawn shop. You’ll want something you’ll trust your life to. If you’re a collector, you know the going rates and would probably get a better deal at a surplus store or attend auctions. (All of my helmets came from DRMO auctions.) If you’re looking for a really authentic costume, you’re probably not going to pay a grand for a helmet that you can get for half the price on eBay.
It wasn’t exactly a counterfeit. It was a reproduction, probably dating from the 50th anniversary of the shooting (so, circa 1915-ish). Still old and historical, but not worth a bazillion dollars like the original. I can’t remember if they made an offer or not.
Yes, G-suits have an air hose that connects to the plane–or at least they did when I was in, 1988-1992.
Also, I had to turn in all of my flight gear except my helmet bag and boots. I wanted to keep my flight jacket, but was told I’d have to pay for it if I didn’t turn it in, and it cost something like $200.
:smack: I meant to answer that, but I got sidetracked looking at controller.com.
Speaking of useless (in civilian life) gear, I need to get a pair of FLU-8 automatic inflators for my LPU. I bought the LPU new and it didn’t have them. (It did come with CO[sub]2[/sub] cartridges, and I got some more from a friendly parachute fitter an a Naval Air Station.)
haha! also, aren’t they custom made for each pilot? meaning they couldn’t/shouldn’t be used by anybody else? nevermind that peoples body changes size and shape over time…
Depends. I was discharged out of BASIC and allowed to keep my socks, underwear, raincoat, and duffel bag to take 'em home. The rest of my uniform presumably went to surplus stores and my (non-functional) rifle remained in Great Lakes. My dad, however, still has his 13-button Navy uniform from WWII.
And getting the custom fitted helmet liner was a pain in the ass. Had to get this hot gel poured over my head, then sit still supporting a big ass weight, so they’d have a mold to work with.
My father kept his traditional WW2sailor uniform. I think my brother has it now. He weighed about 170 pounds at the time and weighed well over 250 by the time he was middle aged so it didn’t get a lot of wear for the last 35 years of his life.
also, aren’t they custom made for each pilot? meaning they couldn’t/shouldn’t be used by anybody else? nevermind that peoples body changes size and shape over time…