mulceber
Moderator
Sounds about right. One of these days I'm hoping to pick up their A-2 identification guide myself.
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Flight Jacket Books
- Thread starter London Cabbie
- Start date
Sounds about right. One of these days I'm hoping to pick up their A-2 identification guide myself.
Officer Dibley
Well-Known Member
You can end up spending a lot of money on books that have lots of pictures of painted jackets but truth be told, Eastman’s tome is the only one worth the money. It gives you photos and lots of data.
Dave
Dave
London Cabbie
Well-Known Member
Just ordered the Eastman Identification Manual. It’s expensive but I saved on the A2 is my excuse...
Are there any websites with A2 photos worth knowing about...?
Carl
Well-Known Member
Now the rot has set in !!
Officer Dibley
Well-Known Member
Good investment ! The other books are just as expensive but have no data - pure jacket porn if you will.
If you want pics, trawl this place and do Google image searches. Then save the images to your hard drive. Then you will have your catalogued archive. By type, by repro or original, by maker etc, etc. Then you will have proven your level of OCD is at the right level to be accepted on here
London Cabbie
Well-Known Member
Haha, I have a way to go and a lot of non repro jackets to try and sell on EBay. Joining this forum has made me realise I have been faffing about with a lot of rubbish...
Carl
Well-Known Member
Non repro ???
London Cabbie
Well-Known Member
Alpha Industries, Miltec, Silvermans etc reproduction but low quality...
mulceber
Moderator
If you want pics, trawl this place and do Google image searches. Then save the images to your hard drive. Then you will have your catalogued archive. By type, by repro or original, by maker etc, etc. Then you will have proven your level of OCD is at the right level to be accepted on here
Dave, just on this page you've given me two great ideas. Eastman's identification manual's now on my Christmas list, and I'll be starting a folder for different contracts soon...
MikeyB-17
Well-Known Member
I've frequently found Imai's 'Suit up!' a very useful resource. In Japanese, but pics show labels and other details, and there are charts showing contract dates and revisions. By no means a definitive work, but not just jacket porn. It's my usual go-to if I want to find out something.
Jorgeenriqueaguilera
Well-Known Member
Yes, agree on that, I’ve been checking the Suit up! If you don’t speak Japanese you can download GOOGLE TRANSLATOR APP on your smartphone, only need to do is scan the page and it will give you a translation to English... voilà
London Cabbie
Well-Known Member
Thankyou. I’ve spent a fair bit of my disposable income since entering this forum...The list of books is in the basket. Really appreciate the advice on here which has saved me time and a bit of money and has been fascinating. Google translator will be useful as my Japanese wife gets fed up translating paragraphs of flight Jacket detail for me...
Jorgeenriqueaguilera
Well-Known Member
Yes, at least gives you an idea of the reading, also the app works on real time but it’s more complicated and less accurate.
London Cabbie
Well-Known Member
Arrived today...
mulceber
Moderator
Nice! Any interesting bits of information that you've learned from it so far?
London Cabbie
Well-Known Member
There was a lot of competition between manufactures to secure a contract, which wasn’t easy. This led to protest from rejected manufacturers and in one case firebombing of one factory.
The Government were really concerned with the quality and workmanship of the A2, not so much with the aesthetic or mismatching of leather grain or various shades of wool used in hem and cuffs.
Then you had differences by each of the manufacturers some of the small details.
I asked a question earlier about the numbers of jackets made by the different contracts, the book has that information too.
Yet to find out what was regarded as the best contract A2. Maybe there is no answer as most A2’s were made to an almost exacting standard and it comes down to collectors preference in the tiny details?
The amount of detail in this book (I’ve only read the first few pages) shows the regard people have for the A2, Especially Gary Eastman and ELC.
He even had DNA analysis done on the leather...Awesome identification manual.
The Government were really concerned with the quality and workmanship of the A2, not so much with the aesthetic or mismatching of leather grain or various shades of wool used in hem and cuffs.
Then you had differences by each of the manufacturers some of the small details.
I asked a question earlier about the numbers of jackets made by the different contracts, the book has that information too.
Yet to find out what was regarded as the best contract A2. Maybe there is no answer as most A2’s were made to an almost exacting standard and it comes down to collectors preference in the tiny details?
The amount of detail in this book (I’ve only read the first few pages) shows the regard people have for the A2, Especially Gary Eastman and ELC.
He even had DNA analysis done on the leather...Awesome identification manual.
Skanstull
Member
I guess before you can start a discussion on what would be the 'best contract', I guess you need to define what 'best' means - is it the most aesthetically pleasing (and if so, on what body type?)? Is it the one that holds up best against wear and tear? Is it the most comfortable?
