Aircraft life rafts and distress signals

[drccustom]

Good day forum community, I am currently working on a historical study and in part it involves the integration of emergency equipment on aircraft. The principle area of interest terminates at the end of WWII but I like the genealogy from the pre-war years. Most aircraft comprised of three parts, -life raft compartments -floatation bladders in the wings and -flare pistols in the cockpit. What I'm after are images of pre-WWII and WWII aircraft highlighting these features. In cockpits, on the right hand side will be racks for storing the cartridges and the pistol. Some will have fixed racks, later with bags. For life rafts, I highlight their stowage. Subtle features to the overall design but none the less significant in their design features. The aircraft are both Navy and USAAC. I'm reaching out to those individuals here that have those image archives that illustrate those features, or at least I could get some insight in where to search.
Any help is greatly appreciated!

Regards
Dustin

[Mark Allen M]

Greetings Dustin, just noticed your post. I may be able to assist you. I’ll see what I have

Mark

[p51]

I'd contact this guy, who might have the best emergency raft/vest collection anywhere: http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ ... m/?hl=raft

[Jim MacDonald]

I thought about giving the same link as you, p51. But then I got to thinking that they might be one and the same person. The Dustin in your link has one of the best collections I've seen.

Mac

[p51]

I got to thinking that they might be one and the same person. The Dustin in your link has one of the best collections I've seen.

I didn't even notice the names. D'oh!

[drccustom]

Thanks for the replies for assistance. And yes indeed that is my Yellow collection so it won't be very helpful. A humble thank you for the compliment p51 and Jim. I came here since this community seems to be more orientated towards the specific workings of warplanes. Tapping into a different knowledge base.
To be clear I'm not after artifacts rather vintage images that may illustrate those specific features of the aircraft. I have hunted down a few but would like more for a better comprehensive look.
Mark Allen, I'd be welcoming to having a conversation in any help you can provide.

[drccustom]

Here is an example, a picture I found in one of the topics here in Grumman the workers thread. If note right in front of the control stick you'll see the M1 mount for the M8 flare gun and each one of those clips would hold a 37mm cartridge.

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