Early patched & named MA-1 with Conmar and Crown zippers

[B3guy]

Hi all,

Got this baby last year with a set of OD-107 early Vietnam-era fatigues and three flightsuits, one of them with wings and the pilot's name(Just like the jacket), and a flight bag. Tried to look up who the pilot was, but I couldn't find a thing.

Needs the "male" side of the zipper, the Crown sleeve zipper, the collar and the waistband replaced. Luckily, I have all of them except the Crown sleeve zip.

Here's some pics;

Got more flight jackets in my collection that I'll be posting soon.

B3guy

 

[Willy McCoy]

Very nice jacket for sure.
Do you have a photo of the nomenclature tag in the pocket?

The sleeve zipper will be easily found. Replacing it will be a little tricky. Sometimes you can gently crimp the slider back into square with some needle nose pliers. I have done that to my L-2 jacket with good results.

 

[oose]

Hi B3guy,

Good luck with the refurbishment, my money is on a ALPHA MIL-J-8279D (DSA-1-3607-64‐C 23 DECEMBER 1963) or SKYLINE MIL-J-8279C (DA-36-243-QM(CTM)8922-C-61), just need see a slightly better photo to be sure. I do like these crown zipped MA1, but Peter is your expert there! PM me your address and I'll send you a sleeve zipper, I've a few spare.

All the best
stu

 

[dujardin]

nice one

all the best with the little repair

 

[B3guy]

@Willie McCoy: Thanks! It does have a pocket tag, but unfortunately all the print is faded away. That's one of the reasons why I can't tell what exact year it was manufactured.

@oose: Thanks Stu! I'll try to get a better pic tonight and send it to you via PM along with my address. Thank you very, very much for the zipper!

@dujardin: Thanks! The person I sent it to to replace the cuffs did a great job, so I'll probably be going to them again.

Thanks again everyone! I'll be sure to post pics of it when it's finished aswell.

B3guy

 

[TankBuster]

Nice jacket. Congrats!

 

[Peter Graham]

Hey, nice jacket. I've never seen an orange lined MA-1 with that zipper combination. Pity the spec tag is washed out. Does the Comar zipper look like a replacement ? If it is then the jacket may well be a 64 contract Alpha.

 

[oose]

Hi,
Here are the labels from those two contracts, the text on these are very different so it may be possible for you to identify the contract.




All the best
stu

 

[B3guy]

@TankBuster: Thank you!

@Peter Graham: Thanks! Yeah, I've never seen any MA-1s with different zippers either. They don't appear to have been replaced, the leather tab on the main Conmar zipper is still there, but I'm not sure if the sleeve zip ever had a leather pull at all. The Conmar zip itself is unique in that it has both a pull on the outside and the inside(For when you reverse it), which I haven't seen before.

@oose: Thanks for the info! The only problem is that the tag on mine is really degraded. It's basically lost almost all the ink print. I'll try to get some pics of it, but I don't think you'll be able to see it too well.

Thanks again, guys!

B3guy

 

[oose]

Hi
I'll pop it in the post first thing. I think one of the differences between the B model and the C model (apart from the reversibility) was dropping of the leather tap on the arm pocket. I have a Skyline N-2b with an odd General zip on the arm pocket, when this contract should have a Conmar, and it shows no sign of ever being added later and looks original to the jacket. I just got my Dobbs MA-1 back from the dry cleaners and after a little darning I'll post some photo's tomorrow.

All the best
stu