CWU 36 P Sizing by Maker? Breaking In? Bi Swing Backs'?

[GARY WELLS]

I actually built a model of Gulf Spirit back in the late 80s. Had forgotten all about it until I just saw the pic.

Col. “Speedy” Martin shot down 3 Iraqi Mig-29’s during Desert Storm in Jan.-Feb. 1991.

 

[GARY WELLS]

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Col. “Speedy” Martin shot down 3 Iraqi Mig-29’s during Desert Storm in Jan.-Feb. 1991.

58th Fighter Squadron “Gorillas”/33rd Tactical Fighter Wing/#AF 85-102 at Eglin Air Base, Florida.

 

[GARY WELLS]

Goretex in my experience fails eventually anyhow, and I hate the velcro cuffs, but maybe I'm not being practical enough.

Same here, I don’t like velcro cuff straps, they bind. I prefer the soft knit cuffs on the CWU-36/P & CWU-45/P Flight Jackets

 

[GARY WELLS]

I'd like to see some numbers on the statement that Propper has denser/heavier/tighter weave Nomex. My guess is that the material is according to mil norm with tolerances.

I know that a 1987 dated CWU-36/P Jacket I have, made by Alpha Industries, Inc. & Summit Apparel Ind. (Mfg) is definitely a heavier, better grade of Nomex material. The sage green knit wool Waistband and Cuffs are a heavier weave and tighter fiting. It fits me much trimmer than the CWU-36/P Propper, Inc. Jackets made in 2000 and the Valley Apparel Jackets made in 2005 & 2010. I have (2) of the CWU-36/P Jackets, dated 1991, made by Creative Apparel Associates, and while the Nomex is good quality, the fit is good and trim, there is some thick, really stiff material all around the base of the collar that keeps it from laying down right. The collar fits weirdly if worn partially zipped up. The collar only looks right if the jacket is worn completely zipped up. The 1980’s jackets and the late 1997 jackets into the 2000’s the collars lay down fine when worn partially zipped up.

 

[GARY WELLS]

US Navy F-14B and F-14D Tomcat Squadrons Pilot Wings Name Tags & NFO (RIO) Wings Name Tags. These were worn on the left chest velcro of CWU-36/P Flight Jackets, CWU-45/P Flight Jackets, & CWU-27/P Flight Suits. (Bottom to Top, L to R):
VF-2 Bounty Hunters Fighter Squadron
VF-11 Red Rippers Fighter Squadron
VF-14 Tophatters Fighter Squadron
VF-21 Freelancers Fighter Squadron (Disestablished Jan-1996)
VF-31 Felix Fighter Squadron
VF-32 Swordsmen Fighter Squadron

The hardest F-14 Squadron Name Tags to find are most of the Squadrons Disestablished by the Bill Clinton budget from 1993-1996, after the Desrt Storm War Combat, VF-1 Wolfpack, VF-24 Renegades, VF-51 Screaming Eagles are rare, but out there. VF-33 Starfighters, VF-114 Aardvarks & VF-142 Ghostriders are very rare and practically impossible to find now. These 4 Squadrons can still be found, VF-21 Freelancers, VF-74 BeDevilers, VF-103 Sluggers & VF-111 Sundowners.

 

[Flamebo]

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The hardest F-14 Squadron Name Tags to find are most of the Squadrons Disestablished by the Bill Clinton budget from 1993-1996, after the Desrt Storm War Combat, VF-1 Wolfpack, VF-24 Renegades, VF-51 Screaming Eagles are rare, but out there. VF-33 Starfighters, VF-114 Aardvarks & VF-142 Ghostriders are very rare and practically impossible to find now. These 4 Squadrons can still be found, VF-21 Freelancers, VF-74 BeDevilers, VF-103 Sluggers & VF-111 Sundowners.

Hi Gary,

I recently made a purchase of a Creative Apparel Assoc. 97 CWU36/P Jacket. This is my very first for my collection. I'm trying to do some research so that I can try to purchase the appropriate patches to put on the jacket. At this stage I'm looking to get confirmation whether or not the VFA-31 would've had this jacket or rather I should try to source for the VF-31 Patches instead. Was hoping to get some advice from you.

Cheers,
Gabe

 

[GARY WELLS]

VF-31 Felix was the Squadron Name in WWII and Vietnam War flying F-4 Phantom II's. At some point during the F-14A and F-14B era they became VF-31 Tomcatters Squadron. VF-31 flew Tomcat F-14D's in Afghanistan 2002 & the 2nd Iraq War 2003 and Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Cruises through July 2006 on the USS Roosevelt or the USS Stennis.. They changed over to F/A-18E Super Hornets in late 2006 and became VFA-31 Tomcatters Attack-Fighter Squadron. Your 1997 dated CWU-36/P Jacket would have VF-31 Tomcatters F-14 Tomcat Squadron Patches. VF-31 Tomcatters & VF-213 Black Lions were the last 2 Navy Squadrons to fly a Tomcat Combat Cruise in 2006.

 

[Flamebo]

VF-31 Felix was the Squadron Name in WWII and Vietnam War flying F-4 Phantom II's. At some point during the F-14A and F-14B era they became VF-31 Tomcatters Squadron. VF-31 flew Tomcat F-14D's in Afghanistan 2002 & the 2nd Iraq War 2003 and Operation Iraqi Freedom Combat Cruises through July 2006 on the USS Roosevelt or the USS Stennis.. They changed over to F/A-18E Super Hornets in late 2006 and became VFA-31 Tomcatters Attack-Fighter Squadron. Your 1997 dated CWU-36/P Jacket would have VF-31 Tomcatters F-14 Tomcat Squadron Patches. VF-31 Tomcatters & VF-213 Black Lions were the last 2 Navy Squadrons to fly a Tomcat Combat Cruise in 2006.

Appreciate you getting back to me with this. Looks like I'll try to source for the VF-31 patches while flying the F-14 instead of the VFA.

Would you happen to have any photo samples of what a typical (CWU-36/P)jacket would look like out of a VF31 Tomcatters Squadron. I found one online via google image search. Would you say this is a pretty good representation of what one would look like out of the VF31 CWU-36/P Jacket? The name badge, I am not sure about as it looks different from the one you posted. But I am sure you can confirm with me whether this is accurate or not. (Not sure if this is a VFA31 name badge instead of VF31's)