Flight jackets go by their designations - B-15, MA-1, L-2B, CWU-45/P, N-3B. Listed together they look impenetrable, but they only differ by when they were adopted and how cold they were built for. Put them on a timeline and it becomes a single line.
The timeline
- B-15B (1947-48) - the first USAF jacket in a composite nylon, built to specs 3220-B and 3220-C, with a fur collar
- B-15B MOD (post-war) - as the air force moved from piston aircraft to jets, the fur collar fouled the new helmets, so it was cut off by hand during production and the neckline restitched
- B-15C (adopted 1950) - the mid-weight, under a single spec, MIL-J-6251 (issued February 1951). Blue uniforms were approved in 1949 and a blue B-15C appeared in the early 1950s
- L-2B - the warm-weather type used alongside the MA-1, thinner and lighter
- MA-1 (mid-1950s) - adopted as the jet age began. The early MIL-J-8279 examples built in 1955-57 are a different animal from the later mass-production versions
- CWU-45/P (5 September 1973) - MIL-J-83388A, adopted by the USAF and U.S. Naval Aviation on the same day as successor to the MA-1 and the WEP jacket, redesignated CWU-45/P in late 1977, and in service through five generations (83388A-E) into the mid-1990s
- N-3B / N-2B - a separate, extreme-cold line: the N-3B a long parka on the 6279 specs, the N-2B its short version
Three things to look at
- The collar. Fur means B-15 (or N-3B/N-2B). A ribbed stand collar means MA-1 or later - because fur collars fouled jet helmets
- The weight. Thin and light is an L-2B; mid-weight with wadding is an MA-1 or B-15C; arctic weight is an N-3B. The CWU-45/P was built as the warmest of the post-war jackets
- Length and hood. Hooded and thigh-length is an N-3B; hooded and short is an N-2B
Choosing by temperature
- Spring and autumn - L-2B
- Autumn and winter in town - MA-1 (MIL-J-8279), B-15C Night Blue, washed MA-1
- Deep winter - CWU-45/P (sage green and black), N-3B parka
- As a layer - MA-1 flight vest
About our reproductions
Surviving original B-15B jackets are very scarce. We worked back from the first-year specification - materials, hardware, stitching - over five years, starting from the archive research. The B-15B MOD reproduces even the removed fur collar.
For the MA-1 we redrew the pattern against an original early example, doubled the stitch density, and used DOT snaps, CONMAR zips and high-gloss 66 nylon. For the CWU-45/P we did not copy the original fill: it is quilted with 120 g/m² 3M functional cotton, which is warmer than the original military jacket and lighter with it.
If you want a flight jacket in leather, there are shapes like the leather N-2B. The rest are in Flight Jackets.