The MA-1 Flight Jacket’s lightweight construction, comfortable non-bulky warmth and natural good looks made this style an instant success with jet jockeys at bases around the world, as well as anyone who could beg, borrow or steal one of these coveted gems.  It was intended for wear in climates between 25 degrees and 55 degrees Fahrenheit, thus ideally suited for early spring, late fall and winter. Those early MA-1 Flight Jackets that were made from a grayish shade of sage green in heavy-weight nylon twill, warmly lined with woolen fiber filling sandwiched between the outer nylon shell and the sage green inner nylon lining were, and likely will remain, the nylon flight jacket of greatest desire by both aviators and collectors.  

Buzz Rickson brand takes extraordinary steps to recreate this classic jacket style in the exact, same manner of original production.  The nylon twill used in the lining of the original garments is a lighter type from that used on the exterior (because the USAF reasoned that the lining would be subject to less wear and tear), and indeed Buzz Rickson has recreated both weights of nylon twill for their reproduction, but supreme, museum-grade authenticity does not stop there.  The original nylon twill, being produced in large runs by various manufacturers, would also reflect slight color shifts in each dye lot produced - nothing outlandish, mind you, but noticeable enough when you hold one roll of fabric against another from a different dye lot or different manufacturer.  To counter this unavoidable color deviation, the USAF specs. stipulated that a jacket had to me made from fabric that was entirely from the same dye lot, except for small pieces of the jacket such as the interior pocket welting.  Astute observers of the original garments are aware of this detail, and so are the jacket masters at Buzz Rickson, thus Buzz Rickson brand goes the extraordinary extra mile and expense and has two purposely different shades of nylon twill produced (albeit subtly different shades), so that the interior pocket welting does indeed appear to be subtly different in shade from the rest of the jacket lining, exactly duplicating a normal result of true, mass production in a reproduction garment that has nothing in common with mass production and is crafted in small batches with love.

The popularity of MA-1 Flight Jacket series produced one of the longest continued service careers of any flight jacket in the history of the USAF. Buzz Rickson has reproduced the 1953 first-model originally produced by LION UNIFORM INC.  MA-1 Flight Jacket in exacting detail.  Buzz Rickson’s heavy nylon twill fabric is never to be confused with the cheap, flimsy flight satin used by lesser manufacturers to produce so-called vintage reproduction USAF flight jackets.  In fact, the only other flying jackets in the world today made from this nylon are those vintage examples of the USAF!  This Buzz Rickson’s MA-1 Flight Jacket is a Special Edition, correctly capturing all the nuances found on MA-1 Flight Jackets once produced by the renowned Lion Uniform Company, making this product virtually indistinguishable from an original vintage example of the USAF.  Take note of these authentic features:  

• Copy of original maker’s label design produced on a vintage shuttle loom

• Custom manufacturing of the correct weight and weave nylon outer and inner lining shell to precisely match 1953 USAF specs. and treated to repel water

• Correct USAF-spec. inner lining of warm wool fiber filling sandwiched between the outer and inner shell lining

• Two snap-down exterior pockets lined with warm 80/20 wool-rayon fabric precisely matching 1957 USAF specs.

• Two snap-down interior pockets lined with heavy all-cotton twill fabric precisely matching 1957 USAF specs.

• Exact copy of the heavy-duty 1953 Crown zippers on sleeve pocket and jacket front, with zip tape made of all-cotton HBT fabric, not incorrect poly-cotton

• Heavy all-cotton zipper pull tab as found on Lion Uniform MA-1s, designed for easy functioning with gloves

• Heavy wind flap protector located behind zipper closure

• Correct USAF-spec. leather pull tab on sleeve pocket

• Custom manufacturing of the correct, two-ply, 100% worsted-wool knit collar, cuffs and waist skirt in sage green

• Heavy-weight parachute harness nylon in sage green, correctly sewn to left front chest for attaching oxygen mask retainer clip

• Two snap-down tabs (one on each breast) for retaining headset and microphone wiring leads, exactly as on original 1957 MA-1s

• USAF insignia transfer on left sleeve and under maker label in lining, exactly as found on early MA-1s

• Zippered pocket on left sleeve outfitted with four pen/pencil slots and two anti-puncture pencil caps made of USAF-spec. brass