Jacket Flying 7823C with 3rd Pursuit Sqr. logo

[Frenchy]

Hello Friends,
My name is Pierre, I'm a new user in your forum and I'm French, I live in south of france (Avignon with his famous bridge) and my english is not very good .So, sorry for that.
I recently acquired in an auction room of Normandy, a Jacket made by Irvin B.Foster in the 60's. As you can see on the picture, there is a logo painted on the front.
One of my questions is to know if this logo is a genuine one ? The second question is about the 3 letters painted behind the collar "USN", what is the meaning ?
Any help from you would be valuable.
Thank you in advance and God bless America.
Pierre

 

[DiamondDave]

Hello Friends,
My name is Pierre, I'm a new user in your forum and I'm French, I live in south of france (Avignon with his famous bridge) and my english is not very good .So, sorry for that.
I recently acquired in an auction room of Normandy, a Jacket made by Irvin B.Foster in the 60's. As you can see on the picture, there is a logo painted on the front.
One of my questions is to know if this logo is a genuine one ? The second question is about the 3 letters painted behind the collar "USN", what is the meaning ?
Any help from you would be valuable.
Thank you in advance and God bless America.
Pierre

Welcome aboard!

the jacket you have is made in the 1960’s by Foster. But that said, the squadron patch is from a much earlier time, around 1940. The squadron patch is for the 3rd Pursuit Squadron. This unit was one of the three squadrons of the famous Flying Tigers.

the USN stand for “United States Navy” and is marked on all of their durable goods. Such as flight jackets and gear.

DD

 

[B-Man2]

Hi Frenchy
Welcome to the forum.
Just what Diamond Dave said.

 

[Whatsit]

Cool jacket! Welcome

 

[Lorenzo_l]

Welcome aboard, Frenchy. That's a nice C-series G-1 jacket you've got there. As Dave mentioned, the patch is of a unit that was no longer active when the jacket was manufactured. The "USN" stencilled on the collar was no longer being applied to these series jackets either. Instead, USN perforations should be found on the inner flap.

 

[Silver Surfer]

all of the above, frenchy...and welcome to the abusement park. this where things happen....sort of.

 

[Saint-ex]

Bienvenue ici !

Were the flight jackets worn by the AVG really marked USN?

Et Pierre, fuis tant qu’il est encore temps, ce forum est dangereux !!!

 

[DiamondDave]

Bienvenue ici !

Were the flight jackets worn by the AVG really marked USN?

Et Pierre, fuis tant qu’il est encore temps, ce forum est dangereux !!!

Some were and some weren’t. Many of the pilots left their careers in the Navy, with permission from D.C., and went and joined the Flying Tigers. Thus many of them had their gear from the Navy still. Also Willis & Geiger outfitted many who didn’t already have flight gear so most of the Tigers had new gear as well.

DD

 

[Smithy]

Welcome aboard Pierre!

 

[ausreenactor]

G'day and Welcome mate!

 

[Brettafett]

Welcome! As above... The AVG (American Volunteer Group) were composed of both USN and Army pilots. The 3rd Pursuit Squadron, 'Hell's Angels', was made up entirely of USN pilots. USN pilots were issued with the fur-collared M422 (and possibly M422A) jackets. Army pilots were issued with the A-2.
Its entirely possible as Dave says, that some pilots got their hands on W&G M422s, that were not officially issued them.
Not long after the US entered the war officially, the original AVG were 'disbanded', and the few remaining pilots were re-enlisted back into the USAF, becoming the nucleus of 23 FG.
The 23FG are still known by many as the Flying Tigers, but as interesting and incredible their exploits are, they are not to be confused with the original 100 or so AVG 'Flying Tigers'...

 

[Brettafett]

Some interesting bits here...

Finding leather blood chits for an A2 flight jacket

Hey everyone, I decided to buy a cooper a2 flight jacket on ebay and I want to make it into a chine Burma flight jacket from ww2. I'm having trouble finding a good leather blood chit for the jacket, and I am wondering fi any of you happen to know where I can find a good priced leather blood chit...

www.thefedoralounge.com

 

[MikeyB-17]

Bienvenue, Pierre. Good to have you with us. I had an Irvin B. Foster C series, one of my favourites of the numerous G-1’s I’ve owned. Looks like somebody has been trying to dress yours up as a WWII jacket with the USN and the artwork, but a great jacket nonetheless.

 

[Frenchy]

Thanks very much everybody. So, the USN mention behind the collar would have been stencilled later ? Therefore, there are USN perforations. So, if I understand correctly, this jacket was made in 1962-65, the flying tigers painting made after that date, USN painted also (or not). Point taken.
And after all, we don't care, as MickeyB-17 said, it's a great jacket comfortable to wear.

 

[Brettafett]

The perforations and the stencilled USN would be original to the jacket. A previous owner must have had an interest in the AVG's 3rd PG and had the Hells Angels emblem painted, so yes, that's a later addition.
It is a great jacket.