Navy B15A jacket, pleasant surprise.

[bazelot]

Just got my most likely civilian B15A today. It is actually a pleasant surprise as I did not expect much. It has a beautiful WWII conmar zipper and the construction of the jacket is extremely good. Compared to the original B-10 I used to own I would say that the quality of that jacket is on a par with it. The fabric is really thick and feels exactly like the frabric the B-10 was made of. It is in extremely good shape (except the cuffs) and the outer shell feels really sturdy.

 

[Jason]

Very nice, I like it... a lot! Good find, enjoy wearing it often...

 

[deeb7]

Glad that it worked out, Tom ... that fabric sure does look heavy duty.

Now someone should tell the other thread ....

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4751

 

[bazelot]

Thanks guys. This one is a perfect fit so it will see a lot of use. I would say it's a wartime size 42. I really wonder when it was made. The only annoying thing is that the lining feels really itchy on the arms if worn with a t-shirt.

 

[Peter Graham]

Looks good. I'm glad it worked out well for you.

 

[bazelot]

Looks good. I'm glad it worked out well for you.

Peter do you have pics of your civilian B15?

 

[Jaydee]

It would be interesting to know the story on this one. If he flew in it, why he chose to wear this flying in lnstead of a USN jacket? When I was working on the flight deck of the USS Indy, I procured a B-3 from a departing squadron mate. I wore it while working on the flight deck. Nobody ever gave me crap for wearing a USAF jacket on the deck. I was surprised as normally deck dress during flight ops is closly regulated and controlled. We even had to cut all the buttons off our stuff to avoid potential FOD hazards. I wore the B-3 will all buttons attached, and the hood up covering the required reflective tape on my cranial helmet. No complaints from safety officers, granted it was raining ice in the North Korean Sea during some of time. I wore that jacket that whole winter tour with no problems.
-JD

 

[bazelot]

It would be interesting to know the story on this one. If he flew in it, why he chose to wear this flying in lnstead of a USN jacket? When I was working on the flight deck of the USS Indy, I procured a B-3 from a departing squadron mate. I wore it while working on the flight deck. Nobody ever gave me crap for wearing a USAF jacket on the deck. I was surprised as normally deck dress during flight ops is closly regulated and controlled. We even had to cut all the buttons off our stuff to avoid potential FOD hazards. I wore the B-3 will all buttons attached, and the hood up covering the required reflective tape on my cranial helmet. No complaints from safety officers, granted it was raining ice in the North Korean Sea during some of time. I wore that jacket that whole winter tour with no problems.
-JD

He did use it in active duty i guess. the nameplate is legit USN. Also his name is stenciled on the lining of one the pockets. He used to be a LCDR and I guess he was promoted to full CDR and rubbed out the L. I really wish this jacket could talk. Do you guys know how to research Navy pilots?

 

[Peter Graham]

Peter do you have pics of your civilian B15?

Tom, this is the only photo I have of it. The jacket is long gone. I bought it in my early days of collecting thinking I was getting an issued jacket with the label removed. It ticked all the boxes. Offset WW2 zipper, colour AAF decal, pen slot etc. It turned out to be a very poorly made copy. The quality of the shell was fine and the mouton was superb but the cut was terrible and I've never seen such bad, really loose stitching. There were many other faults but the worst bit was the horrible green faux fur lining, like something off a kids toy. The white staining in the photo I was able to remove. It was perfume or something. I've learnt my lesson. I'll never buy another B-15 without the label but I'm glad that yours turned out to be a good one. Enjoy it.

 

[bazelot]

Peter do you have pics of your civilian B15?

Tom, this is the only photo I have of it. The jacket is long gone. I bought it in my early days of collecting thinking I was getting an issued jacket with the label removed. It ticked all the boxes. Offset WW2 zipper, colour AAF decal, pen slot etc. It turned out to be a very poorly made copy. The quality of the shell was fine and the mouton was superb but the cut was terrible and I've never seen such bad, really loose stitching. There were many other faults but the worst bit was the horrible green faux fur lining, like something off a kids toy. The white staining in the photo I was able to remove. It was perfume or something. I've learnt my lesson. I'll never buy another B-15 without the label but I'm glad that yours turned out to be a good one. Enjoy it.

Thanks Peter. Your old jacket really looks odly shaped. I guess a lot of manufacturers tried to re-create the b-15.

 

[deeb7]

He did use it in active duty i guess. the nameplate is legit USN.

Tom, I notice that the nameplate is USNR, so United States Naval Reserve.

Is that of no significance?

 

[bazelot]

He did use it in active duty i guess. the nameplate is legit USN.

Tom, I notice that the nameplate is USNR, so United States Naval Reserve.

Is that of no significance?

In WWII 90% of all Navy pilots were USNR. I would assume this pilot received his wings in WWII but later stayed in the Navy as this jacket is probably slightly post WWII. I need to research the pilot. Stu sent me a pretty cool site that I need to tap.

 

[dav3469]

He did use it in active duty i guess. the nameplate is legit USN.

Tom, I notice that the nameplate is USNR, so United States Naval Reserve.

Is that of no significance?

In WWII 90% of all Navy pilots were USNR.

Correct. I believe if you did not come from the Academy ( OCS, ROTC, Aviation Cadets) your were given a Reserve Commission. Some were later able to obtain Regular Commissions. I believe this came into play later during the drawdown for those who wanted to stay in on active duty. Of course many were caught up during Korea who were in the reserves (Men of the Fighting Lady and The Bridges at Toko Ri both have some interesting scenes where these type of issues of the day are discussed).

 

[Anonymous]

Today we even send into combat US coast guard,state national guard ,NYC police .I wonder whats next crossing guards maybe?

Jeff

 

[bazelot]

I was wearing the jacket today and i realized that there is an extremely faded (just a shadow) Army Air Forces shoulder decal. I would assume that the original owner rubbed it off as he was in the Navy.

 

[asiamiles]

I was wearing the jacket today and i realized that there is an extremely faded (just a shadow) Army Air Forces shoulder decal. I would assume that the original owner rubbed it off as he was in the Navy.

A couple of dry cleanings, which it's surely had considering its age, would have faded the decal.