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Help !!! CockpitUsa Top Gun II jacket

Capt

Well-Known Member
I believe some changes to the zip, waistband, wind flap, rectangle patch on back, might be a few more.
 

ZuZu

Well-Known Member
What is the difference between a Top Gun I and a Top Gun II jacket? Both have those nonsensical patches.
The back blood chit was changed to show the film in China. No more Taiwanese flag on the blood chit:



TopGunJackets900.jpg


From this:


download.png


to this:



$ty.JPG
 

Flightengineer

Well-Known Member
Looking at the insane set of patches, I immediately remembered how I once read about the filming of TG and how much CB helped and so, as a token of gratitude to them Seabees patch was placed on the pilot's jacket :)
 

Skyhawk

Well-Known Member
That new cruise patch is total fiction. It would have the carrier or air group, not just US NAVY. Also the squadron emblem, as some may know, was adopted from VAW-110. They were a training squadron in the 1980's at Top Gun Miramar, CA. I trained with them before being deployed to Atsugi, Japan.

At least the old patch looks legit.
 

ausreenactor

Well-Known Member
Double plus ungood !
That should never have left the shop floor.
Echoing Kermit and what he said. I am sure if you sourced the patches then 5☆ would sew them for you.
New descriptor for my performance appraisals next year.

Agree 100%.

Refund and patch up a decent jacket...
 

Deacon211

Member
That’s very unfortunate that you had these issues and I agree that you should probably send it back.

I understand some people’s hate for the Cockpit, but IMO it has (and particularly had) a time and place.

Back when the Cockpit first started making jackets, there wasn’t the wealth of hyper accurate jacket sources that there are today. The Cockpit business really took off on the leading edge of the leather jacket wave of the ‘80s. Most people didn’t care (or most likely know) what a proper A-2 or G-1 looked like and Mr Clyman produced jackets more inspired by these jackets than copied from them. So they were often oversized and sueded and given modern conveniences like side pockets and silk linings.

Making and selling these in the New York garment district, he also had access to the usual talented coterie of “Mad Men” to fill his glossy catalogs.

So, G-1s with side entry pockets and removed collars, which would sell to the “eww fur collar?” and, “what, no pockets?” crowd became, “just like those modified by airmen in the hot south Pacific climate”.

The claims that are more egregious are those using “mil-spec” and “official” titles liberally to imply that they are the real deal.

And of course retailers, who don’t necessarily know either history or detail, are rarely eager to point out flaws or inconsistencies…if they are even aware of them.

That’s just bad business. So, you should always take any claims by ANY seller with a grain of salt.

So it sort of is what it is, though I have often lamented the hyperbole of those ads. I have and still happily wear my Cockpit 100 Mission G-1. I just accept it for what it is.

To be fair, even the top tier makers staunchly defend their style choices as being historically based.

And yet, if you read far enough back, you’ll see those choices changed. Which sort of makes you wonder a bit…

So, my opinion is that sometimes you just need to make a choice. If you want “original” you need to buy one, with all the consequences thereof. If you choose a repro, regardless of who makes it, you are accepting their interpretation of it.

Some are more accurate than others.

And you’ve come to a great place to start. Not only do you have access to people who really know their jackets, you have people who have owned, collectively, about a thousand of them.

Just remember what opinions are like ;) . Learn as much as you can, decide what you want (and are willing to pay for), and be happy with it. No one should tell you what you should like.

That said, I think Avi or 5* makes a much more authentic jacket and will sew any of those patches on for you…

or, you know, real ones that an actual pilot would wear :D

Sorry, super long.
 
Last edited:

Kermit3D

Well-Known Member
That’s very unfortunate that you had these issues and I agree that you should probably send it back.

I understand some people’s hate for the Cockpit, but IMO it has (and particularly had) a time and place.

Back when the Cockpit first started making jackets, there wasn’t the wealth of hyper accurate jacket sources that there are today. The Cockpit business really took off on the leading edge of the leather jacket wave of the ‘80s. Most people didn’t care (or most likely know) what a proper A-2 or G-1 looked like and Mr Clyman produced jackets more inspired by these jackets than copied from them. So they were often oversized and sueded and given modern conveniences like side pockets and silk linings.

Making and selling these in the New York garment district, he also had access to the usual talented coterie of “Mad Men” to fill his glossy catalogs.

So, G-1s with side entry pockets and removed collars, which would sell to the “eww fur collar?” and, “what, no pockets?” crowd became, “just like those modified by airmen in the hot south Pacific climate”.

The claims that are more egregious are those using “mil-spec” and “official” titles liberally to imply that they are the real deal.

And of course retailers, who don’t necessarily know either history or detail, are rarely eager to point out flaws or inconsistencies…if they are even aware of them.

That’s just bad business. So, you should always take any claims by ANY seller with a grain of salt.

So it sort of is what it is, though I have often lamented the hyperbole of those ads. I have and still happily wear my Cockpit 100 Mission G-1. I just accept it for what it is.

To be fair, even the top tier makers staunchly defend their style choices as being historically based.

And yet, if you read far enough back, you’ll see those choices changed. Which sort of makes you wonder a bit…

So, my opinion is that sometimes you just need to make a choice. If you want “original” you need to buy one, with all the consequences thereof. If you choose a repro, regardless of who makes it, you are accepting their interpretation of it.

Some are more accurate than others.

And you’ve come to a great place to start. Not only do you have access to people who really know their jackets, you have people who have owned, collectively, about a thousand of them.

Just remember what opinions are like ;) . Learn as much as you can, decide what you want (and are willing to pay for), and be happy with it. No one should tell you what you should like.

That said, I think Avi or 5* makes a much more authentic jacket and will sew any of those patches on for you…

or, you know, real ones that an actual pilot would wear :D

Sorry, super long.

Well said !
 

B-Man2

Well-Known Member
Does Brad Pitt even know how to fly a plane?
Unlike Tom Cruise, I’ve never Pitt in any type of cockpit or flying anything .
 

Brettafett

Well-Known Member
Yes, but would you opt for a B, C or D? And a WW2 vintage or modern updated cockpit avionics? Would that still be authentic?
What about a P-47? Razorback are rare as fairy dust. Spitfire? Some say most beautiful, iconic and classic of all.
Will you decorate after any particular group?
Lets not start with maintenance and upkeep.
Lol
 

Brettafett

Well-Known Member
Does Brad Pitt even know how to fly a plane?
Unlike Tom Cruise, I’ve never Pitt in any type of cockpit or flying anything .
He parks his toosh in the cockpit on the weekends, wearing his GW, taking selfies he shares with Cruise, Quaid, Travolta and whomever else lol
p.s. I read Worf of Star Trek (Michael Dorn) owns and flies an F-86 Sabre. Bad ass.
 
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