Patch location Question about USAF Flight Jackets, '50s-60s.

[JohnB]

I posted this a week ago on the Re-enactors forum without luck, so I thought I'd move it here.

I'm restoring a 1955 M38A1 Jeep in my dad's unit markings of the period (62TCW, 8TCS).

I thought I would wear an MA-1 flight jacket while driving it.
I'm not a reenactor, just some fun and I guess a way to remember him and his colleagues from long ago.
We are talking C-124-era here...

What I know...
The round AAF Emblem (star & circle) goes on the left shoulder (not a patch, printed on material).

What I don't know, the locations of:
Squadron patch (my guess right front)
Wing emblem patch...(lower left below nametag?)
MATS (MAJCOM) patch (my guess right shoulder).

UPDATE: I ended up buying a modern CWU-36P flying jacket.
Yes, it is not period correct since it came out in the '70s, but I could not find an affordable quality MA-1.
The best American made ones are $270+ but are not Nomex.
I want a Nomex jacket since I occasionally fly in various warbirds.
I found a very nice, just lightly worn surplus 36P for $80...A good deal since a bottom range Chinese MA-1 is that much. It even came with my correct rank stop the shoulder.

BTW...
One online retailer sells new AF spec Nonex 36P jackets for $850...but I contacted the manufacturer (Allied Apparel) and they will sell you a AF spec Nomex jacket direct for $410.
It pays to shop around.
The CWU-36 is a nice jacket and warm, though it is designated as a Summer jacket.

Last edited by JohnB on Wed May 25, 2022 5:45 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[Saville]

I posted this a week ago on the Re-enactors forum without luck, so I thought I'd move it here.

I'm restoring a 1955 M38A1 Jeep in my dad's unit markings of the period (62TCW, 8TCS).

I thought I would wear an MA-1 flight jacket while driving it.
I'm not a reenactor, just some fun and I guess a way to remember him and his colleagues from long ago.
We are talking C-124-era here...

What I know...
The round AAF Emblem (star & circle) goes on the left shoulder (not a patch, printed on material).

What I don't know, the locations of:
Squadron patch (my guess right front)
Wing emblem patch...(lower left below nametag?)
MATS (MAJCOM) patch (my guess right shoulder).

UPDATE: I ended up buying a modern CWU-36P flying jacket.
Yes, it is not period correct since it came out in the '70s, but I could not find an affordable quality MA-1.
The best American made ones are $270+ but are not Nomex.
I want a Nomex jacket since I occasionally fly in various warbirds.
I found a very nice, just lightly worn surplus 36P for $80...A good deal since a bottom range Chinese MA-1 is that much. It even came with my correct rank stop the shoulder.

BTW...
One online retailer sells new AF spec Nonex 36P jackets for $850...but I contacted the manufacturer (Allied Apparel) and they will sell you a AF spec Nomex jacket direct for $410.
It pays to shop around.
The CWU-36 is a nice jacket and warm, though it is designated as a Summer jacket.

It may be that if you want period correct you're not going to get Nomex.

You might consider an L2 or an L2-A Jacket. Has the printed shoulder patch. Used during the Korean War. $150 at Bronson

[JohnB]

It may be that if you want period correct you're not going to get Nomex.

You might consider an L2 or an L2-A Jacket. Has the printed shoulder patch. Used during the Korean War. $150 at Bronson

I ended up buying a modern CWU-36P flying jacket.
Yes, it is not period correct since it came out in the '70s, but I could not find an affordable quality MA-1.
After all, how many people, even in the aviation community are going to know the jacket isn't period correct?
What it lacks in age correctness, it makes up for by being the genuine article.

I want a Nomex jacket since I occasionally fly in various warbirds.