uprgraded cap?

[human]

Hi all

I've got these two officer airforce caps but i suspect one of them to an soldier upgraded to officer. One is in size 57 and the other is in 59. The difference of crown size is about 2.5 cm in heigth and width which could be normal considering the difference of size but i compared with a soldier 58 and it s exactly the same size crown than the 57.

The 59 has no date inside and has a rectangular white tag protected by a see through losange shaped plastic
The 58 1990 losange shaped black tag
The 57 1985 losange shaped black tag and "made in russia" stamp

the first pic is the 57

[human]

pic of the 59

[human]

pic of 57 tag

[human]

pic of 59 tag

[human]

difference of crown size between 57 and 59

[otlichnik]

Human,

This can not be an enlisted hat upgraded to an officer hat! The dark blue colour of hat (and uniform) was only ever used by officers, it was never used by enlisted personnel.

Size of peak increases mostly with date of manufacture not with rank.

Your 1985 hat, which appears to be a genuine one has a smaller crown size. The other hat is clearly later. The paper tag says 1990. This is possible but unlikely. Hats with this clear plastic sweat shield are almost always post-USSR Ukrainian manufacture from 1993 or later. Either way it is much later than the 1985 one and the crown size is bigger.

In most cases on 1970s-80s hats enlisted and officer have the same size crown.

Shawn