I'm curious why were you surprised that the AF tartan looked so nice as a kilt! Actually, to be honest, I've made kilts from quite a few tartans that I thought were, shall we say, "unfortunate choices", but I have rarely had a tartan that didn't look good once the tartan was made up. It's surprising, but true.

Here are a couple pics of the US Air Force Reserve pipe band looking pretty swell in their kilts:

http://www.afrc.af.mil/hq/band/Photos/BP/BP4.jpg

http://www.afrc.af.mil/hq/band/Photos/BP/BP23.jpg (you'll also recognize the gent in the center)

Cheers,

Barb