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G-1 Patching help

Greg Gale

Well-Known Member
Brilliant, thank you so much! Very interesting to see that the nametag was lined up with the edge of the pocket, it's much further away from the zipper than on most pictures I've seen. On the other hand, the bottom of the nametag seems to be consistently lined up with the internal pocket - meaning they were sewn on as low as the pocket permitted. The shoulder patches are lower than 1" from the shoulder seam as seen on AAF jackets. Possibly just aligned with the chest patch?
 

Flightengineer

Well-Known Member
I noticed an interesting thing.
Nametag looks "even" when the jacket is unbuttoned. When it is buttoned - it is slightly angled.
Why is this placement chosen I do not know, the owner of the jacket died 2 years ago and this G-1 eventually came to me.
This jacket was issued to Jerry and he did not get another (this told me a man who knew him and who sold me this jacket). From the inside, I found a few tracks from his previous nametags (apparently when he getting a new title - was sewn the corresponding tag). However, they were all sewn together in one place.
I think the question about the positioning of the tag is better to ask the USN and USMC pilots , but it seems to me that super-current rules (at least in the 50's and 60's) were not very strictly implemented.
 

Phrog Driver

Well-Known Member
@Phrog Driver, thank you so much for the detailed and valuable information. The photo of the original jacket in the 1st post seems to match your description.

Do you think it would be entirely inaccurate to replace the US flag by the CVW patch on the left shoulder? Let's say, a guy has his squadron patch on the right chest, aircraft patch on the right shoulder, then becomes CAG, so he'd sew the CVW patch on the left shoulder. Would that be plausible? As you say, guidelines varied a lot.
Yes Greg, I have seen virtually every one of those combos. I have also seen guys layer squadron patches on the right breast, having the most recent squadron patch sewn on top of the last one, and slightly offset so you can see the name of the earlier outfit. I have also seen them worn completely patchless (although that was asking to have it pinched!). There were no guidelines published, which in Navy speak means you could do pretty much what you wanted. Being a SAR/Log/Utility helo puke, I was not an "Air Winger" (ie, CVW guy), but I would think CAG himself would probably put his CVW patch prominently on the right breast, as that is his major command. You pretty much cannot go wrong, unless you start doing the "Top Gun" thing where you patch it up with all kinds of non aviation related stuff which just looks dorky IMHO. Above all, have fun. These are iconic items and it is fun for me to see so many enthusiasts out there preserving and enjoying them.
 

Flightengineer

Well-Known Member
Yes Greg, I have seen virtually every one of those combos. I have also seen guys layer squadron patches on the right breast, having the most recent squadron patch sewn on top of the last one, and slightly offset so you can see the name of the earlier outfit. I have also seen them worn completely patchless (although that was asking to have it pinched!). There were no guidelines published, which in Navy speak means you could do pretty much what you wanted. Being a SAR/Log/Utility helo puke, I was not an "Air Winger" (ie, CVW guy), but I would think CAG himself would probably put his CVW patch prominently on the right breast, as that is his major command. You pretty much cannot go wrong, unless you start doing the "Top Gun" thing where you patch it up with all kinds of non aviation related stuff which just looks dorky IMHO. Above all, have fun. These are iconic items and it is fun for me to see so many enthusiasts out there preserving and enjoying them.

Phrog Driver, thank you very match for the information, for this we come here to meet interesting people and to know from first hand.
I have a question for you, maybe not quite on the topic, but still.
How did your colleagues commented patches on the jacket of Tom Cruise's character after the release of the "Top Gun" movie?
My one good friend, a veteran and a former USN F-4 pilot , told me once that it was funny to him to see the SeaBees patches and other Hollywood weirdnesses on Mavericks G-1.
 

Phrog Driver

Well-Known Member
Phrog Driver, thank you very match for the information, for this we come here to meet interesting people and to know from first hand.
I have a question for you, maybe not quite on the topic, but still.
How did your colleagues commented patches on the jacket of Tom Cruise's character after the release of the "Top Gun" movie?
My one good friend, a veteran and a former USN F-4 pilot , told me once that it was funny to him to see the SeaBees patches and other Hollywood weirdnesses on Mavericks G-1.
FE, yes, I certainly don't want to crap on anybody's jacket or their business, but Cruise's "Top Gun" jacket is considered to be somewhat over the top, as are many of the premises in the movie. It is still very entertaining. Saw an earlier post about "Bridges at Toko Ri". From what I know about Naval Aviation in the early 50's, those jacket representations and placement are accurate, and I know the squadron (VF-192, now VFA-192), CVW (CVG-19) and Task force (CTF-77) patches are dead accurate. The helicopter detachment (HU-1, later HC-1) is accurate as well, but the squadron patch never shows up in the movie. I was in that same helo squadron 40 years later and we used to watch the rescue scenes from the movie every couple of months for motivation. Fun stuff.
 

Flightengineer

Well-Known Member
I agree, the "Bridges " is more realistic.
I heard from someone that SeaBees was a "sponsorship" patch on the Maverics jacket, because they built a lot of decoration for this movie.
 
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Thomas Koehle

Well-Known Member
Did your G1 finally arrive?

I got my AVI G1 last week and I'm pretty pleased with it. Also ordered two sizes (44 and 46) and kept the larger one ...

Service of AVI was top notch
 

Greg Gale

Well-Known Member
OK, I got the patches from Gibson & Barnes and from "planecrazy enterprises". The G&B are better made, but I'm not sure about the sizing. The VF-84 seems too large, the Tomcat patch seems too small. I'm a bit clueless, will have to sleep on it and then decide which one to use...

Original jacket:

s-l1600.jpg


All of them together, G&B is on the right:

IMG_0491.JPG


VF-84

Original:

s-l1600 (1).jpg


G&B

IMG_0493.JPG


PC

IMG_0492.JPG

Tomcat:

Original

s-l1600 (2).jpg


G&B

IMG_0494.JPG


PC

IMG_0495.JPG
 

Greg Gale

Well-Known Member
As for the Tomcat patch, I think the larger size is correct. See how it reaches from the shoulder seam of the flight suit down to the pocket's top. The G&B doesn't:

vf84equip03.jpg


e5189765b2eacc647ea3f9386ad62d1b.jpg

PC:
IMG_0496.jpg

GB:
IMG_0497.JPG
 

Smithy

Well-Known Member
Definitely the larger one for the Tomcat patch. It's probably one of the most iconic patches of the fast jet era and the detail looks better on the bigger size just like on the real deal.
 

Greg Gale

Well-Known Member
Thanks, that's settled, then. As for the jolly roger flag, I played around with the positioning of the patch vs the zipper and the pockets vs the original photo, and I must say I'm leaning towards the smaller one, so PlaneCrazy got that right too.
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Strange that G&B reversed the sizes of both patches.
When you are attempting to make an accurate reproduction of a patch the correct sizing would be a must in my opinion.
 

Greg Gale

Well-Known Member
Yes, although they told me:

"We used to have a person who retired in 2011 that researched historical jackets & patches for reproduction. I am sure he thoroughly researched sizing. He always tried to base everything off originals but I can’t say I’m 100% sure."

I tried a different approach: in photoshop, I compared the size of the original patch to the pocket flaps and other parts of the jacket that don't change much with size. And that resulted in the larger one being closer to it. Hmm....
 

Phrog Driver

Well-Known Member
OK, I got the patches from Gibson & Barnes and from "planecrazy enterprises". The G&B are better made, but I'm not sure about the sizing. The VF-84 seems too large, the Tomcat patch seems too small. I'm a bit clueless, will have to sleep on it and then decide which one to use...

Original jacket:

View attachment 6274

All of them together, G&B is on the right:

View attachment 6275

VF-84

Original:

View attachment 6276

G&B

View attachment 6277

PC

View attachment 6278
Tomcat:

Original

View attachment 6279

G&B

View attachment 6280

PC

View attachment 6281
Go large Greg. Looks accurate. You won't regret it.
 

Greg Gale

Well-Known Member
I'll go for the smaller flag, here's why. I photoshopped both my patches over the original, the GB is just too wide. Also, I found a photo of an original flight suit, I have the same type here at home, and the large one just doesn't fit where it's at in the photo. Thirdly, the proportion of the Tomcat patch and the flag in the photo is exactly the same as the proportion of my PC Tomcat patch and flag. The large flag will look good on my helmet bag ;)

tuta.jpg


1.jpg
2.jpg
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Greg
That was a great way to get some perspective before you actually put the patches on. Nice!
 

Thomas Koehle

Well-Known Member
my latest thoughts:
did you also compare the size you use as example with the size of your actual jacket?
Off course the size of the flag appears different depending on the size of the jacket ...
i`d stiull go with the larger flag also but that`s just my thoughts - I'm really looking forward to the finished G1 and to see some fitpics at the end
 
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