Some of the 4th FG and a lot of A-2s

[B-Man2]

Too big in our modern view Burt. I wonder if any of their buddies kept taking the pi55 over the jackets being too big or sleeve half an inch too long/short.

I think the vast majority of the aircrews were just young, unsophisticated lads for whom "fashion" was something hot "broads" were occupied with but was unmanly for all but the rich dandies.

We'll never be able to check but i wonder how many that wore A-2's the way some now like were the better heeled and sophisticated ones.....

But what do i know. I treated some great kit i was issued with with utter contempt as it was free issue.

Dave
As I posted once before, the only people who were concerned about the fit and trim look of their clothing and A2's were the high ranking officers, who posed for the cameras, but were never supposed to be wearing them.. General McArthur ….Patton with his B-3, Montgomery with his Irvin and on and so forth.​

 

[Brettafett]

I think they were well aware of the status of wearing a leather flying jacket... I recall reading in Starr Smith's Jimmy Stewart Bomber Pilot, how one pilot saw Stewart for the first time when he walked in wearing his 'old' 'worn' flying jacket, and he just looked 'the business' (or some words to that effect)...
I recon they were just real glad and proud to have a leather flying jacket, the symbol of a dapper US aviator, didn't care much for the contract, stitch counts, sleeve lengths, etc...

 

[B-Man2]

I think they were well aware of the status of wearing a leather flying jacket... I recall reading in Starr Smith's Jimmy Stewart Bomber Pilot, how one pilot saw Stewart for the first time when he walked in wearing his 'old' 'worn' flying jacket, and he just looked 'the business' (or some words to that effect)...
I recon they were just real glad and proud to have a leather flying jacket, the symbol of a dapper US aviator, didn't care much for the contract, stitch counts, sleeve lengths, etc...

The jacket in its most basic use was a piece of survival kit. Once it became the mark of distinction of an aviator, it was the hottest item in the inventory. I can only imagine how many German Lugar's or P.38's a grunt infantryman would have to hand over to the supply Sargent to get his hands on an A2 jacket.

 

[Officer Dibley]

Oddly a lot of flyers couldn't wait to swap their A-2's for the warmer but less robust tanker jackets. So they weren't that great to all of them.
Or did the ones who felt they hadn't nailed "the look" swapped out the leather to take themselves off the combat catwalk

 

[Brettafett]

Who knows.. I know most of the pics of Don Gentile and James Goodson showed them wearing their B-10s... Then again, surviving photos today are just a snapshot in time... They were there for years and maybe wore either depending on the weather... B-10 certainly is a luxurious and comfortable jacket, not to mention warm. My ELC B-10 is the bomb!

 

[Smithy]

Dude of the Day...

Mac McKennon.

 

[Brettafett]

Yes, that is a dude!

 

[B-Man2]

The guy looks like he came right out of Hollywood casting!
Tim:
Do you have any information about him?
If you know, did he survive the war?

 

[Smithy]

The guy looks like he came right out of Hollywood casting!
Tim:
Do you have any information about him?
If you know, did he survive the war?

He survived the war Burt but was sadly killed instructing in an AT-6 in Texas in 1947 with a student pilot at the controls.

He certainly had that Hollywood film star look! There's a small chapter on him in Troy White's brilliant, "Adventures of the 4th Fighter Group".

 

[B-Man2]

He survived the war Burt but was sadly killed instructing in an AT-6 in Texas in 1947 with a student pilot at the controls

I’m starting to get depressed! The next “Dude of the Day”, needs to have lived to a ripe old age with lots of grand kids and lived on a farm some place.

 

[Smithy]

Here you go Burt, just for you...

Today's Dude of the Day, Carp Carpenter of 335 Sqn, lived to 88 and practiced medicine right up until his death. He used to wear his pinks and greens to 4th FG reunions as they still fit!

 

[B-Man2]

Tim
I would have given you a couple of likes on that one, if I could. I like the “and he lived happily ever after” ending . Thanks

 

[Flightengineer]

I’m starting to get depressed! The next “Dude of the Day”, needs to have lived to a ripe old age with lots of grand kids and lived on a farm some place.

How about fighter pilot from 363d Sqn Mr. Chuck Yeager? He is 95 and not so long ago even flying

 

[Smithy]

How about fighter pilot from 363d Sqn Mr. Chuck Yeager? He is 95 and not so long ago even flying

Sadly Dmitry, great as Chuck is, he wasn't in the 4th FG

 

[Brettafett]

Still deserves a little bit of love... How about an impromptu guest dude...
Ol' Chuck was 357FG... A fantastic biography if you have not read it already. Him and Bud Anderson.

Yeager and his Monarch A-2...

Yeager wore his Monarch when he broke the Sound Barrier...

 

[Smithy]

There's no A2s in this, actually no flight jackets at all but I really love this shot. A few of the boys relaxing in the summer sun at Debden with Duke keen to be a part of what's going on

 

[johnwayne]

Anyone in the UK want Yeager's autobiography in paperback? I'll post it free of charge to the first who PM's me!

 

[Brettafett]

What a gift!!! I own it, its a fantastic bio... Should be made in to a film.
(I know all about The Right Stuff, but a film about Yeager into WW2, getting shot down early on and his adventures back into the squadron, when he should not have been allowed to return to an active combat unit. Subsequently becoming ace and then after the war, THE test pilot who broke the sound barrier).

 

[Smithy]

Anyone in the UK want Yeager's autobiography in paperback? I'll post it free of charge to the first who PM's me!

You should have done a quiz!

 

[Smithy]

I prefer a looser cut for comfort as well Tim, and this does present challenges when buying Japanese ‘workwear’ e.g. my Freewheelers Brakeman and Journeyman coats, particularly where sleeves are concerned.

One of the posters (Big J) on FL is based in Japan and made the following well observed comment (about a very trim/too trim? fitting FW Caboose with longer sleeves). Thanks

‘When I saw the OP's jacket, I knew straight away what the problem was;
It's a Japanese idea of an interpretation of an simulacra of western vintage workwear.
With that in mind, it's based on a pattern cut for the dominant Japanese (Asian) male physique demographic; very thin.
Because any Japanese guy with a 42 or 40 inch chest would be pretty tall by Japanese standards, the jacket has wide shoulders and long sleeves.’

I've never owned a Japanese repro Ian but that would appear to be a fair assesssment. It makes sense that the Japanese would pattern their clothes for the Japanese market and therefore the dominant domestic physique first and foremost.

The super trim/tight thing seems to be waning a bit now which is good to see as it looked daft as well as being impractical.