492 ND madhatters flight jacket

[Niki]

here is my flight jacket from the 492 nd MADHATTERS from RAF LAKENHEATH in the UK.

pick it up at the militaria show in gent belgium.

beautifull airplane the eagle with a great sound.

 

[phantomfixer]

sweet pick up with all the patches .....very nice...USAFE...the tip of the sword...

[Randy]

I can't speak to the jacket itself, but it looks put together patch wise. The 492 FS patch should be worn on the right, and the F-15E morale patch on the left. But the real kicker is that nametag. Most are on cloth, not leather with the 492. The wings would normally be pilot or navigator, maybe flight surgeon. These are chief non-rated officer wings, for a captain no less. With chief wings he would most likely be higher ranking. Additionally, I don't see any rank on the shoulders. I'm not trying to make this look bad, just putting out an opinion that it probably didn't have that set up originally.

 

Randy

[phantomfixer]

Very good points Randy...The leather tag could have come from his A-2, .but the lack of shoulder rank is a keen point

 

I am not an expert at all on wings...but a quick glance on the internet shows these style wings are CSO or Navigator wings...We called the guy in back WSO's on Phantoms...do they call the guy in back CSOs on the E model F15? If so the name tag could be legit to the Sq...

 

Still a nice 36/P

[Randy]

Very good points Randy...The leather tag could have come from his A-2, .but the lack of shoulder rank is a keen point

 

I am not an expert at all on wings...but a quick glance on the internet shows these style wings are CSO or Navigator wings...We called the guy in back WSO's on Phantoms...do they call the guy in back CSOs on the E model F15? If so the name tag could be legit to the Sq...

 

Still a nice 36/P

 

These are chief non-rated officer wings, not navigator. See the attached chart. When I worked F-15Es the backseaters were still called Weapons System Operators (WSO), most of them came off F-4Es at Seymour Johnson. A correct A-2 tag would be brown sewed onto a larger black piece, not black. That tag has all the red flags of something possibly made up, but at the very least not original to the jacket.

 

Randy

 

[Niki]

Hi Randy,

 

Thanks for the info on the jacket.

Did not know this beqause the seller sayed he bought it from the airmen itself.

The patches looked real to me but never questioned the nametag and the rank on the shoulders?

This what i find great on this forum , here you find anwsers

 

Thanks again.

 

Niki

[Randy]

You're welcome Niki. The patches look OK, 2 were put on the wrong side is all. If the jacket is good you can always try to get a real tag for it. Also get the correct rank for the shoulders as well and it should display nicely.

 

Randy

[Niki]

Oké i changed the patches five minutes ago.

Is it difficult to get a real tag for this jacket and where can i find it?

I've never seen pictures of the desert camo pilots suites with the rank on it, would that be like the vietnam era suites with ranks on the shoulders?

I want to get this jacket right maybe this summer i'm in Engeland near lakenheath,maybe i ask about them over there.

[Randy]

You might ask the squadron for a spare tag, just tell them what you're using it for. maybe send a pic, and hopefully someone might donate one. The tag should be cloth, not leather normally. You might want to wait and see what tag you get before adding rank to it, if they did wear it. These desert jackets came out after I got out, so maybe rank isn't worn, but that would be strange since it is on the desert flight suit. Most crews used the green jacket with the desert flight suit while I was over there. Rank should be on the shoulders in typical brown or black desert subdued, depending on grade. Hopefully someone else can chime in on that.

 

Randy