A little information on MA-1 jackets.......

[Flightpath]

Hi,

I was given some money for a new jacket and wanted an MA-1, my wife insisted on a blue (I like the colour too), the money went as far as a blue Alpha MA-1 in large size plus post to Norway.

I believe the original MA-1 colour was blue, I'd like to know when the MA-1 was introduced and when was the colour changed to green?

cheers & thanks in advance.........

-John

 

[Atticus]

Interesting question that has been debated here from time to time. I also like blue jackets, but I do not believe that the issued MA-1 was ever blue. The B-15C Mod was blue and so was the L-2A....but not the MA-1. If I am ever shown an original, blue MA-1 with a military tag, I will happily stand corrected, but so far I'm sticking to my guns.

By the way, I think the MA-1 was introduced in 1954. It was basically the B-15D Mod with a new specification and number.

AF

 

[watchmanjimg]

Hi John!

Haven't seen you around in a while. The blue jacket you refer to is actually the B-15C Modified, although it's very similar to the original MA-1. By most accounts the MA-1 came into being in the mid-1950s, although I tend to consider 1957 to be the first verifiable year of its existence. The color was sage green, which had been introduced previously in the B-15D. I believe 1957 is also the year that the USAF called for the predecessor jackets still in use to be modified by replacing their mouton collars with knit versions. Thus, for at least a short time one could see USAF personnel wearing intermediate jackets in OD, blue, and the sage green of the new MA-1 and earlier B-15D.

Hope this helps. Congrats on your new jacket!

 

[deeb7]

By most accounts the MA-1 came into being in the mid-1950s, although I tend to consider 1957 to be the first verifiable year of its existence.

We've probably had this discussion before.

But if the last B-15D contract was fiscal year 1953, wouldn't that be leaving a long gap before the first MIL-J-8279 MA-1 contracts?

 

[watchmanjimg]

We have had this discussion before, and I was actually relying on information you posted in an earlier thread. Doesn't your research date most of the original MA-1 contracts to 1955-56? See below:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=1744&p=18146&hilit=+1955#p18146

Admittedly I'm not 100% sure of the exact year MA-1s actually made it onto the backs of USAF personnel, but it seems to be sometime in the later 1950s. The year of the original contract only tells part of the story as there would likely have been some lag between the issuance of the contract and the manufacture and distribution of the jacket. Regarding the B-15D, are you claiming this sage green jacket was old news by the end of the Korean War? This seems inconsistent with every other account I've heard, and certainly anything that's been discussed here.

Again, this is only my understanding and I can be mistaken. It seems there's a lot more concrete information available on leather than nylon.

 

[rich]

I looked in Suit-up! and it has an MA-1 experimental test sample in there - the label says

Aero Medical Laboratory Clothing Branch MA1

Date 4-15-54

I know it's easy to draw very wrong conclusions but this seems to tie in well with the timeframes you've been discussing.

 

[Flightpath]

Thanks for the information fellas!

I'm guessing the the other MA-1 (the much more expensive one) that Alpha make is more like the original MA-1 when introduced?

I'm thinking of putting just one patch on it but will be VERY carefull in my choice, something fairly small and nice looking, maybe even a current RAAF one!

cheers & thanks,

-John

 

[deeb7]

We have had this discussion before, and I was actually relying on information you posted in an earlier thread. Doesn't your research date most of the original MA-1 contracts to 1955-56? See below:

http://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/vi ... 955#p18146

Exactly ... along with the earlier Lion Uniform contract. These are fiscal year dates, which at that time ran from July of the preceding year.

That's why I questioned "I tend to consider 1957 to be the first verifiable year of its existence".

I don't believe there would have been much of a time lag in
manufacturing the first of the new jackets. It was, after all, merely a change in labelling.

Regarding the B-15D, are you claiming this sage green jacket was old news by the end of the Korean War? This seems inconsistent with every other account I've heard, and certainly anything that's been discussed here.

Not at all ... just that no new contracts were awarded after this time. Existing stocks would still have been issued, and continued in use.

 

[watchmanjimg]

David, I'm not trying to joust with you here as your information is helpful. If I'm wrong about the dates then so be it. However, if I read your last post correctly you appear to state that the last B-15D contract was awarded in the same year the Korean War ended. This suggests that prior B-15D contracts were awarded earlier, opening up the possibility that these sage green jackets existed during the Korean War. Is this the case? If so, you're the first person I've ever heard make such a claim. Did the USAF simply not bother to send the new jackets to Korea? Is the notion that sage green items are post-Korea merely a fallacy?

 

[deeb7]

... you appear to state that the last B-15D contract was awarded in the same year the Korean War ended. This suggests that prior B-15D contracts were awarded earlier ...

Thanks Jim ....

Actually, all the B-15D contracts were from that same 1953 fiscal year ...
Full Gear.

... and I was saying that the MA-1 would have followed on, without a gap of several years ...

The MA-1 series of jackets (begun some time around 1954) were made as a replacement for the B-15D (MOD).
United States Flight Jackets - John Chapman.

Did the USAF simply not bother to send the new jackets to Korea? Is the notion that sage green items are post-Korea merely a fallacy?

The war seems to have ended a little prematurely.

 

[watchmanjimg]

Wow, what an era! Imagine the incredible spectrum of flight gear in the Korean War. I guess The Hunters was a bit more accurate than some of us imagined, featuring everything from sheepskin to sage green!

Thanks again for the clarification, Dave. You shed some light on an area that remains all too bare of information on the forum. In the meantime, I'm counting down the minutes until my Buzz Rickson L-2A arrives (hopefully tomorrow) . . .

 

[greyhound52]

Jim,
The B-15B mod I have was worn in Korea. The former owner of this jacket also had a first edition MA-1 which he did not wear cause he like the B-15B better. I have a L-2A that saw service in Korea but the former owner also had an issue L-2B (which was never dry cleaned as the paper inspector tag was still in the side pocket on the sleeve and the paper size tag in the pocket (these things disappear once you dry clean a jacket). Don't know if he liked the L-2A better but that had more wear. So you are right the Korean war was very interesting time for flight jackets.

 

[Peter Graham]

Yes, Korea must have been a real mish mash of jackets. A-2's, B-15's, B-15A's, the odd WW2 shearling and the new generation of nylon jackets.