History

On March 25, 1933 the DLV (Deutscher Luftsportverband = German Air Sports Association) was created as a civilian sports organisation, the umbrella organisation of all air-related sports. However, from the very beginning, the DLV was used to secretly train its members for future roles in the newly emerging Luftwaffe, a breach of the terms of the Versailles Treaty.
The organisation should not be confused with the Deutscher Luftfahrtverband (also abbreviated DLV), which was formed in 1902, but disbanded in favour of the new DLV under Third Reich rule.

The DLV was split into two groups, the civilian section and the secret military section, known as the “Fliegerschaft” (air crew). The organisation eventually became obsolete after the official unveiling of the Luftwaffe in 1935, and it was disbanded and replaced by the National Socialist Flyers Corps (NSFK or Nationalsozialistisches Fliegerkorps) in 1937.

A cap was introduced in 1934, a blue-grey wool soft-visored field cap resembling the typical RAD (Reichsarbeitsdienst, National Labour Service) cap, with the flaps fastened just above the temples. The national eagle emblem, and later additionally the DLV emblem, both either in metal or embroidered, was worn at the top front. Photographic evidence places the cap in the national glider schools, being worn by the trainees. This cap may, in fact, have been worn uniquely at these glider schools.