MA-1 Flight jacket

[TXFlyGuy]

The Chinese-made Alpha MA-1 I bought in 2010 had NOWHERE near that number of sewing errors. A few thread-ends sticking out to be cut, sure, but nothing like that sloppy stitching.

So, while quality control is clearly an issue, I wouldn't necessarily damn all Alphas as being that badly made. That one is a particularly bad example.

You are correct, this is one really bad example. Unfortunately, this is my only exposure to USA made Alphas. So they have a long ways to go before I change my mind as to their quality. This jacket should NEVER have left the manufacturing facility, and this is evidence of their complete lack of quality control.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Unfortunately, this is my only exposure to USA made Alphas. So they have a long ways to go before I change my mind as to their quality. This jacket should NEVER have left the manufacturing facility, and this is evidence of their complete lack of quality control.

Does anyone know when Alpha last sold USA made jackets? It was quite a few years ago and that means that any remaining new-wit-tags USA made jackets out there are odds and ends, and quite possibly (as in your case) "seconds" which didn't sell due to flaws, etc. That's the danger of buying discontinued and/or vintage stuff without being able to inspect it first.

 

[devilish]

I have bought a couple 'dead stock' American made Alphas and they both had the odd loose thread end but to me that looks like a factory second that Alpha itself would probably never have sold but got picked up as a job lot by someone. Mine were pretty much as crinkled up as that though and as I posted in your other thread a garment steamer did the trick and got all the creases out.

 

[TXFlyGuy]

Yes, it would appear that this jacket (s) may have been a lot of seconds that were sold off for real cheap. Ended up on the Bay. Then in my house...but not for long!

 

[Seb Lucas]

Yes, it would appear that this jacket (s) may have been a lot of seconds that were sold off for real cheap. Ended up on the Bay. Then in my house...but not for long!

Yes, so it really doesn't say much about Alphas as a brand at all since they are no longer made in USA and that one was a second. My recently made Chinese one is like a quality mall jacket. And the fit is reasonable. For $90 it's not bad.

 

[TXFlyGuy]

Yes, so it really doesn't say much about Alphas as a brand at all since they are no longer made in USA and that one was a second. My recently made Chinese one is like a quality mall jacket. And the fit is reasonable. For $90 it's not bad.

Good for you! And this is why when I go to Frankfurt next week a stop by the NATO store is on my list.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Let us remember, before we denigrate non-USA products, that Alden still makes all its footwear in the USA and all too often they sell as "firsts" shoes which other brands would reject as "seconds". It goes both ways, I'm afraid, and if some re-sellers are pumping up flawed Alpha jackets as tip-top quality, that has little to do with Alpha.

 

[Atticus Finch]

So, while quality control is clearly an issue, I wouldn't necessarily damn all Alphas as being that badly made. That one is a particularly bad example.

Yep...I have a couple of Alpha MA-1s that are now fifty years old. They've been through one long-assed war and no telling what else...and they still look sharp as a tack.

But there I go again....yammering on about originals.

AF

 

[Doctor Damage]

Some mock-ups with L2B jackets (source usmilitaria forum)

 

[Doctor Damage]

Here's a Japanese website with a lot of photos of old jackets, mostly Alpha, but it has one of those Greenbrier jackets with the vertical stitching which Atticus talked about early in this thread (i.e. the McQueen version).

http://www.cc9.ne.jp/~rin-wrg/MA-1index.htm

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Doctor Damage]

God bless the Japanese fashion people for generating hyper-detailed publications like that. No doubt in a year or two we will have Atticus's definitive work on post-war USAF flying jackets for us English speakers... right?

 

[Doctor Damage]

MA-1 repro made by Avirex. This looks like a nice repro with vertical stitching on the windflap. Looking at the Avirex website they only have these with a hundred patches all over them, which is a shame.

 

[bn1966]

The plainer the better

 

[Doctor Damage]

The plainer the better

Agreed. I'm not sure why they don't offer a plain jacket anymore, just the ones with a million patches. Oh well, another brand to keep an eye out for on e-Bay and elsewhere.

 

[Doctor Damage]

Bell's Aviation has a lot of vintage MA-1 jackets in good shape on their website with lots of photos - great reference!

http://www.bellsaviation.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=BA&Category_Code=clothjackets

 

[Doctor Damage]

 

[Doctor Damage]

Some stills from The Hunters from 1958.

 

[Smithy]

Some stills from The Hunters from 1958.

Funnily enough because of my mention of "The Hunters" in the other recent thread it made me pull out my dvd of it today and watch it. As I mentioned in the other thread it's not a patch on the book but for the Sabre and flight jacket footage it's bloody hard to beat!

 

[Doctor Damage]

Does anyone know from which movie or TV show these scenes are from? Possibly 24?



Here he is again on the set of 24, I think.