Thanks for the well-reasoned replies, gents - I meant
no insult. It's not something that rankles me too much, my time in the USAF was on the enlisted side of things. As an airline pilot that works with them, I
can tell you that graduates of UPT or primary flight training do not take the wearing of their wings outside the community lightly.
I was at the museum of flight recently, one of the docents was wearing a G-1 with wings and an A-6 patch.
"Whidby Island?"
I asked. He was confused until I asked him if he had flown Intruders. He then sheepishly admitted he wore the jacket as a tribute to his friend who had. I made him look very silly, like he was a poser.
YMMV.
Now returning your thread to its regularly scheduled program. Here I am getting a Stearman checkout in a Sporty's AN-J-3. (I know, not that great of a repro, but it's both humbling and a ton of fun to get to use it as a flight jacket.) I'm still looking for the perfect G-1/M-422A/AN-J-3 to replace this one with.
Sorry about the pic quality.
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