Recent content by usafwso

My view on Alpha flight jackets has and will always be, the older the better if you can find one. After the mid 1980's or so, they cheaped out on the MA-1 and L-2B jackets with the three stripes on the label denoting the "civilian" versions. Personally, if I needed another one to add to the...

The American flag on the flight jacket or flight suit is an AMC type thing. ACC does not wear a flag on their flight suits or jackets, at least in my own experience. Furthermore, the patches are sewn on rather than attached with velcro. The exception to that rule are the rank insignia. A brown...

Not sure about "earning" patches. At least in my years in the USAF, 1980-2005, when you process into a squadron, they hand out patches to put on your flight suit/jacket and utility uniforms. Mandatory wear and for rank, well, you do earn that but would never, ever under any circumstances wear my...

Absolutely not, in my opinion. On occasion I will wear my old CWU-36, CWU-45 jackets but with the rank insignia removed and no patches on the velcro. After I retired, that was it - done. It is in bad taste to wear a patched jacket. These days wearing some of my reproduction Buzz Rickson's L-2B...

I have a massive flight jacket and flight gear collection that I want to start thinning way, way down. Too many things can become a burden and complicate life. Probably 200+ jackets; a lot of high altitude flight gear and such. Wish I could sell it as a lot instead of piecemeal. Took 30+ years...

Pretty accurate and obtained several way back in the 1990's and are somewhere in my flight gear closet. An L-2b and and L-2a. The only real complaints is that the "U.S. Air Force" is not in the Futura font and the front little zipper flap at the bottom is a bit off. Other than that a pretty nice...

Does it have to be a flight jacket and not another piece of flight gear? If so, a David Clark S-1023 full pressure suit/helmet ensemble. Now for jackets, probably the A-2 issues to me in the Air Force in which I hate wearing because it is so uncomfortable to wear and has 0% insulating value. It...

Cutting out the carbohydrates will do wonders in that department. Keep them below 20g per day and watch the excess weight drop off.

Fire, or melt resistance is part of the nomex fiber. It can't be washed out or dry-cleaned out. Unlike the older nylon stuff which will in fact burn, keep burning and melt. Nomex will burn but at that point the wearer won't live to talk about it. In a flash fire situation it will char, won't...

The stamp that you see is typical USAF: The letter N is the the first letter of the owner last name, the for numbers are the last four numbers of that persons social security number. Think of it as a laundry mark or in this case a laundry mark. At one time when you sent your uniforms off to the...

These are really common on eBay in both green and orange. If one keeps looking, an essentially mint garment can be had. Medium regular is the most typical size.

Then your jacket is good to go. Wear it and enjoy flying with it- it is a great garment and in warmer weather a CWU-36 is also great to use. :-)