B-Man2
Well-Known Member
And …. The correct answer is …..YES!
Awww Hell !!
There’s nothing like blowing up your own thread!!
-
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Tell Us About Your First Flight Jacket And How It Met It’s Demise. ( Or Where It Is Now)
- Thread starter B-Man2
- Start date
Awww Hell !!
There’s nothing like blowing up your own thread!!
Good man, see you understand hahaAnd …. The correct answer is …..YES!
Awww Hell !!
There’s nothing like blowing up your own thread!!
PilatusPilot
Well-Known Member
What an interesting question!! Love it.
My very first flight jacket had a short life, id say about 1 week? Maybe less? Back in the days when I got that jacket, I just started my flight training, maybe one month in, just had my first solo and was living the student pilot dream. I never was particularly into flight jackets until that one day. I went shopping with a friend and found a very beautiful cowhide g-1 made by avirex. The smell of the leather and the shine really got me... And then when I tried it on.. oh damn.. all of a sudden I felt like I had large shoulders and big arms, made my young "pilot" ego grow through the roof (I know, I know, listen I was 18). The jacket was 700$ plus tax Canadian. Quite a lot of roubles for a student to spend on a jacket, but I did without hesitation. Brought it home, extremely proud of it too. And that's when the story ended... When my dad learned how much I spent on the jacket he made me return it asap hahaha, so I did. He really wasn't happy about that purchase. In hindsight he was right and I'm glad he made me return it, especially that now I know much more about those jackets. And let's be honest, this wasn't the brightest financial decision.
So yeah, that's pretty much how I got into it, have been dreaming about those jackets ever since, and slowly am growing my collection right now
My very first flight jacket had a short life, id say about 1 week? Maybe less? Back in the days when I got that jacket, I just started my flight training, maybe one month in, just had my first solo and was living the student pilot dream. I never was particularly into flight jackets until that one day. I went shopping with a friend and found a very beautiful cowhide g-1 made by avirex. The smell of the leather and the shine really got me... And then when I tried it on.. oh damn.. all of a sudden I felt like I had large shoulders and big arms, made my young "pilot" ego grow through the roof (I know, I know, listen I was 18). The jacket was 700$ plus tax Canadian. Quite a lot of roubles for a student to spend on a jacket, but I did without hesitation. Brought it home, extremely proud of it too. And that's when the story ended... When my dad learned how much I spent on the jacket he made me return it asap hahaha, so I did. He really wasn't happy about that purchase. In hindsight he was right and I'm glad he made me return it, especially that now I know much more about those jackets. And let's be honest, this wasn't the brightest financial decision.
So yeah, that's pretty much how I got into it, have been dreaming about those jackets ever since, and slowly am growing my collection right now
PilatusPilot
Well-Known Member
Couldn't you just say "aw dang... I lost it sir"?
And silently hide it into your suitcase as you're leaving the base.
Silver Surfer
Well-Known Member
as written here oh so many years ago, my first a-2 was an original given to me by my next door neighbor.[circa late '50s] he was a small guy [bomber pilot in wwll], but I was smaller, being 10-11 years old. the cuffs were already frayed, and I turned them into shreds. mom than cut the cuffs off.. I would wear it 24-7, except to go to school. not allowed. in time the zipper blew out,, but I still wore it. at some point I kinda out grew my jacket infatuation as my attention turned to baseball, and girls, and it made its way into the hall closet. my younger brother wore it a little, too. best as I can remember, it just disappeared, ie: mom shit canned it.
Small guy, wonder if he was a ball gunner, nice story though
Silver Surfer
Well-Known Member
nope, b-17 pilot in the eto
Duh sorry I missed in brackets, bomber pilot, my bad, lucky guys to survive all that, like British aircrew
warguy
Well-Known Member
My first was like so many others, an Avirex in Russet horsehide. I think I purchased it in the late 1980’s maybe 1990 or so. It had beuatiful grain and I bought a repro silk escape map that my Grandmother sewed inside the lining for me. I grew out of it, and after five years or so didnt wear it much as it was too snug. I ended up selling it about 15 years or so ago. It’s “demise” is not as exciting as leaving it at a girls house, and I should have kept it just for sentimental reasons. After my Grandmother passed, the map inside would mean more than the jacket.
Adding my story here. During my first year of university, I happened to flip through a Popular Mechanics magazine and this ad jumped out at me.
I cut the bottom of the ad, wrote a check (yeah, the good ol' days) and mailed it. I received my jacket in about 2 weeks. I proceeded to wear that thing everywhere. My uniform was a t-shirt, jeans, and that jacket. When it got really cold, I would still have only a t-shirt but I added a scarf to close up the collar area. That jacket was really bullet-proof. Unfortunately, I outgrew it and it didn't fit any more. I gave it to a friend and never saw it again.
Fast forward a few years, I'm in my first job after school and since I was getting a steady paycheck, why not buy another jacket? This time I called Willabee Ward and ordered their Cooper G-1 in a size 44. There was a magazine ad for that G-1 but Google can't seem to find it. Anyway, it was a much better jacket than the A-2. As fait would have it, I went to a bar, put my car keys in the outer pocket and hung it while playing pool. When it was time to leave, my jacket was GONE along with my car keys. My car was still outside, but I had to call a locksmith to open it since the f'ers took my keys. Moral of the story, never leave your car keys in your jacket!!!
I cut the bottom of the ad, wrote a check (yeah, the good ol' days) and mailed it. I received my jacket in about 2 weeks. I proceeded to wear that thing everywhere. My uniform was a t-shirt, jeans, and that jacket. When it got really cold, I would still have only a t-shirt but I added a scarf to close up the collar area. That jacket was really bullet-proof. Unfortunately, I outgrew it and it didn't fit any more. I gave it to a friend and never saw it again.
Fast forward a few years, I'm in my first job after school and since I was getting a steady paycheck, why not buy another jacket? This time I called Willabee Ward and ordered their Cooper G-1 in a size 44. There was a magazine ad for that G-1 but Google can't seem to find it. Anyway, it was a much better jacket than the A-2. As fait would have it, I went to a bar, put my car keys in the outer pocket and hung it while playing pool. When it was time to leave, my jacket was GONE along with my car keys. My car was still outside, but I had to call a locksmith to open it since the f'ers took my keys. Moral of the story, never leave your car keys in your jacket!!!
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B-Man2
Well-Known Member
Seems like there are a lot of interesting stories in this thread. One of the more consistent themes seems to be about the flight jackets we bought when we were younger that just sought of shrunk up on us over the years….. musta been the way the leather was tanned back in those days that caused the shrinkage
And a bit of body expansion too hahaSeems like there are a lot of interesting stories in this thread. One of the more consistent themes seems to be about the flight jackets we bought when we were younger that just sought of shrunk up on us over the years….. musta been the way the leather was tanned back in those days that caused the shrinkage
Chandler
Well-Known Member
Got a not-so crisp image of my first three FJs. All still in my possession -- one that I actually wear now and again.
L to R: 1979 Schott in a bull-weight steerhide (40), 1985 Flight Apparel Industries in a paper-thin steerhide (42), and the 1990 Avirex "MacArthur" in a medium-weight, highly grainy (and scarred) horsehide (44).
L to R: 1979 Schott in a bull-weight steerhide (40), 1985 Flight Apparel Industries in a paper-thin steerhide (42), and the 1990 Avirex "MacArthur" in a medium-weight, highly grainy (and scarred) horsehide (44).
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Spitfireace
Well-Known Member
Which one do you wear? I bought a FAI A-2 just a while ago on eBay. Why do you think it's a 1985? To my understanding the owner of the company died in a plane crash in 1983 and they stopped production that year. My example is incorrectly labelled as a G-1 made in 1982. I believe this is because they ran out of A-2 labels and used a G-1 label to get the last of production out the door when they closed the doors in 1983. Here's a post from Fedora Lounge that explains some of that.Got a not-so crisp image of my first three FJs. All still in my possession -- one that I actually wear now and again.
L to R: 1979 Schott in a bull-weight steerhide (40), 1985 Flight Apparel Industries in a paper-thin steerhide (42), and the 1990 Avirex "MacArthur" in a medium-weight, highly grainy (and scarred) horsehide (44).
Flight Apparel Industries
Hey guys; anybody know about these jackets? I thought it was Gibson and Barnes, then realized that they were Flight suits inc. Thanks Omar
Chandler
Well-Known Member
@Spitfireace -- I wear the Avirex now and again. Fits okay over a lighter shirt.
I say the FAI A-2 is '85 because that's when I bought it (though it could have been '84) from Kropp in New Jersey -- just as some have mentioned, from an ad in the back of a flying magazine.
And it does have an A-2 label, but I won't vouch for the "correctness."
I say the FAI A-2 is '85 because that's when I bought it (though it could have been '84) from Kropp in New Jersey -- just as some have mentioned, from an ad in the back of a flying magazine.
And it does have an A-2 label, but I won't vouch for the "correctness."
Spitfireace
Well-Known Member
It's not too bad of a jacket for when it was made, before the more recent trying to be as correct as possible era. One thing I like is that the thin lightweight steerhide is closer to originals than a lot of the heavier current reproductions. The one original I have is noticeably more lightweight than the Aero repro I have.@Spitfireace -- I wear the Avirex now and again. Fits okay over a lighter shirt.
I say the FAI A-2 is '85 because that's when I bought it (though it could have been '84) from Kropp in New Jersey -- just as some have mentioned, from an ad in the back of a flying magazine.
And it does have an A-2 label, but I won't vouch for the "correctness."
Chandler
Well-Known Member
@Spitfireace -- my FAI is crap. The knits are awful, the cut is weird, and the hide is, literally, paper thin -- much more thin than any original I've handled, and the tanning is plastic. I have mall jackets with nicer leather.
Don't know, maybe toward the end of their production they started cutting corners, but this one only made me hunt for something better before long.
Don't know, maybe toward the end of their production they started cutting corners, but this one only made me hunt for something better before long.
Chandler
Well-Known Member
I found a picture of the Kropp Enterprises ad I took when I found my old magazines. Kropp was in Florida, not NJ (probably thinking of FAI itself). $195 in the mid 80s.
I'll clean up the snap and post it later -- the marketing is worth studying.
