Original Item: One-of-a-kind. Fantastic WWII USN G-1 flight jacket with custom hand painted art. Brown leather goatskin jacket with brown shearling collar and brown blanket lining/ brown knit cuffs and waistband/ two flap, patch pockets on the front with buttons. Embossed name leather name tag on left chest with Naval Aviator Wings and T.A. WILLIAMSON JR.

In the center back is painted a Goat Head with Aviator wings and HOGANS GOATS VPB-210.

In the November 2000 issue of Aviation History Magazine. It detailed a 30 minute running gun battle (May 17, 1945) between two PB4Y2's of VPB-109 and 12 Japanese fighters. After a patrol near Korea and sinking a ship with a BAT, Crew 7 in Hogans Goat and crew 12 flying in Blind Bomber were returning home. Their path took them across the southern tip of Kyushu where they unknowingly flew over a Japanese fighter base. They were attacked by 12 fighters that were identified as J2M "Jacks" and Ki44 "Tojos" by the Americans. (Later research has identified them as N1K2-J "Georges", the Japanese Navy's best late model fighters.) Upon spotting the attackers the Privateers dropped to a few hundred feet of altitude to protect their undersides and headed for the open sea. Any direction that the attackers tried they were in the line of fire from at least 8 machine guns. The Japanese aircraft attacked the heavily armed Privateers many times in a battle that continued for 100 miles out to sea and the Japanese aircraft broke off as they ran low on fuel. One of the Japanese aircraft was shot down and near the end of the attack Hogans Goat sustained heavy damage from a frontal assault by one of the enemy fighters wounding several of the crew members. The aircraft was able to continue home and fly again. VPB-109 was decommissioned Oct. 19, 1845 and was credited with shooting down 6 enemy aircraft, destroying 118 ships and made strikes on many land installations. Along with a brief history of VPB-109 the article covered the changes that were made to the PB4Y-1 (B-24)Liberator to come up with the PB4Y-2 Privateer, one of the most heavily defended and potent aircraft of it's day. Hats off to VPB-109..."

The art found on flight jackets usually incorporated common themes and symbolism, like the name of the pilot, squadron, and bomb group, the plane's nickname, and bombs representing the number of missions flown. Images from pop culture, like Walt Dsney and Looney Tunes characters, as well as pin-up girls were also common. Most personnel hired someone in their squadron to paint their jacket, but some did it themselves or hired European street artists who had turned painting flight jackets into a cottage industry.

Jacket is in overall good condition with replaced liner and original functional zipper.

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 9”
Shoulder to sleeve: 24”
Shoulder to shoulder: 17”
Chest width: 18”
Waist width: 17”
Hip width: 17”
Front length: 28"

The "G-1" military flight jacket is the commonly accepted name for the fur-lined-collar World War II-era flight jacket of the United States Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. The G-1 remains a current uniform-issue item in naval aviation for officer and enlisted aviation personnel on flying status in the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Coast Guard (i.e., Naval Aviator, Naval Flight Officer, Naval Flight Surgeon, Naval Aircrewman, etc.) and is arguably best known as the leather flight jacket as worn by Tom Cruise in the film Top Gun.

VPB-210 was a Patrol Bombing Squadron of the U.S. Navy. The squadron was established as Patrol Squadron Two Hundred Ten (VP-210) on 15 January 1943, redesignated Patrol Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Ten (VPB-210) on 1 October 1944 and disestablished on 10 July 1945.

15 January 1943: VP-210 was established at NAS Norfolk, Virginia, as a medium seaplane squadron flying the PBM-3C Mariner under the operational control of FAW-5. Ground training for the squadron continued through April, with aircraft familiarization training given with crews alternating at NAAS Banana River, Florida. Ground and flight training was completed in August, and the squadron was transferred to NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island, on 9 August for advanced Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training. Training was completed with shakedown at NAAS Harvey Point, North Carolina, from 25 August through 10 September 1943.

11 August 1943: The first section of six VP-210 aircraft was transferred to NAS Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Duties consisted of convoy coverage, antisubmarine sweeps and rescue missions. The squadron’s first casualties occurred on the 18th, when Lieutenant (jg) Joseph P. Willetts and his crew crashed while training with a friendly submarine 12 miles (19 km) south of Montauk Point, Long Island. All hands were lost.

12 October 1943: Lieutenant (jg) Daniel T. Felix Jr., and the crew of P-9 made a radar contact at night with a surface target during coverage of the Guantanamo-Trinidad convoy. The U-boat submerged after flares were dropped, but reappeared a second time. Lieutenant Felix and his crew were opposed by intense anti-aircraft fire from the submarine, which submerged again before a bombing attack could be made.

October–December 1943: A three-aircraft detachment of USAAF 23d Antisubmarine Squadron (Heavy) was attached to VP-210 for ASW operations in the Caribbean. This detachment flew the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber equipped with 75-mm cannon. The PBM aircraft of VP-210 were to locate the U-boats and illuminate them with flares for the B-25s. Unfortunately, no enemy contacts developed to test the effectiveness of this unique tactic.

1 November 1943: A five-aircraft detachment was based at Great Exuma, British West Indies, remaining until relieved by VP-32 in December. The detachment relieved VP-32 again from 30 June through 23 August 1944.

26 May 1944: Lieutenant J. F. Slavic and his crew made a forced landing during patrol due to a loose engine cowling. After landing safely and securing the cowl, the aircraft lost one engine during the takeoff. In the subsequent crash, the crew safely exited the sinking aircraft. All hands were rescued after 11 hours.

1 July 1944: Lieutenant Francis Gerli collided with the crash boat during takeoff at Great Exuma, resulting in an explosion which destroyed the boat and the aircraft. Six personnel in the aircraft were killed in the accident, with five more seriously injured.

4 October 1944: The squadron was reduced from 12 aircraft to 9 aircraft, with 14 combat aircrews. Personnel and aircraft detached from the squadron were sent to VPB-99.
November 1944: Two VPB-210 Mariners were fitted with two L8 searchlights apiece. Four of the squadron’s crews were given training in use of the lights.

17 June–10 July 1945: Operations were discontinued at NAS Guantanamo Bay and preparations were begun for disestablishment of the squadron. Aircraft were flown to NS San Juan, Puerto Rico, and turned over to HEDRON-11. On 2 July 1945, the entire squadron boarded USS Rehoboth for transportation to NAS Norfolk. On 10 July 1945, the squadron was disestablished.