Famous People in Flight Jackets

[Brettafett]

Theres also a cool old A-2 worn by John Stockwell in that 1985 Sci Fi 'My Science Project'... Can't find any decent pics.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

It used to be, if you saw some one my age on a motorcycle, you knew he was a grizzly old rider! I have been riding since the 60s, only a short time off to learn to fly. I have four Harley's 1930 to 2002 and the bottom end to a 38 Knucklehead. I also have a bunch more, from a 1912 Indian through a 72 CB750, and three Triumphs. I just meant a father son team on their full dress Harley's, in the midst of a 10,000 mile trip to hit up every Capital, they joked, they have not figure out how to ride to Hawaii yet! The father had just traded his former Harley in with over 80,000 miles. It is my experience that most riders, regardless of bike make, are nothing but posers. Don't even get me started on the new breed of British bike collectors. Pushing your Norton on and off a trailer doesn't count, neither does riding to the pub once a week!

Hmm..well..I put quite a few miles on my bike per year..but at my leisure...my type of enjoyment. Don't care to ride only from pub to pub or around town much..but do like the open road or back roads traveling and stopping in small towns along the way. Don't care to trailer anywhere and don't consider myself posing to an excess...but I also have no desire to be an endurance rider either. However..many riders enjoy riding the way they do it..and fun & enjoyment is still there no matter your style. I've been riding since the 60's as well and been involved in or seen many riding styles over the years. At one time I would ride for many miles with friends and even sleep on the ground in a tent. Ah..but no more..not that hardcore. Gimme a room with AC and maybe even a pool to cool off. Nothing to prove here anymore. Most often I'd rather have the Wife on the back whether anyone else tags along or not. All I need is one dependable bike that performs with the character that I enjoy more than all others. What counts to many of us out here is just enjoying it..the way we like to do it. Everyone else's mileage may vary.
HD

 

[thor]

Actor James Levine in the Michael J. Fox movie "Teen Wolf" (1985) wearing what looks like an original A-2.

 

[Stearmen]

Hmm..well..I put quite a few miles on my bike per year..but at my leisure...my type of enjoyment. Don't care to ride only from pub to pub or around town much..but do like the open road or back roads traveling and stopping in small towns along the way. Don't care to trailer anywhere and don't consider myself posing to an excess...but I also have no desire to be an endurance rider either. However..many riders enjoy riding the way they do it..and fun & enjoyment is still there no matter your style. I've been riding since the 60's as well and been involved in or seen many riding styles over the years. At one time I would ride for many miles with friends and even sleep on the ground in a tent. Ah..but no more..not that hardcore. Gimme a room with AC and maybe even a pool to cool off. Nothing to prove here anymore. Most often I'd rather have the Wife on the back whether anyone else tags along or not. All I need is one dependable bike that performs with the character that I enjoy more than all others. What counts to many of us out here is just enjoying it..the way we like to do it. Everyone else's mileage may vary.
HD

You missed my point. I am agreeing with you. Not all Harley riders are posers, like some of the above comments stated. Some of us ride ours!

 

[Big J]

From reading these posts, I've come to the realization that I'm an anti-social biker. I live for the Sunday morning blast through the mountain tunnels, cackling with joy at the noise of my exhaust.
My bad.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

You missed my point. I am agreeing with you. Not all Harley riders are posers, like some of the above comments stated. Some of us ride ours!

Maybe not really missing it. I've had friends who work all week yet manage to enjoy just a short ride to have dinner or a drink after changing out of a suit and tie into something more casual or bike appropriate. At least they allow themselves that certain freedom from the rat race on occasion. Then some feel a patched vest..boots..and maybe even a doo-rag offer them more relief from the daily grind..and what they are expected to wear every work day is really the 'costume'. Even if it's only 'Born To Be Wild' some evenings or on the weekend. I don't begrudge much of anyone's riding style....unless it would be the racer cadet rocketeer whose only interest is screaming from stoplight to stoplight and darting in and out of traffic for his macho-ness fix. That's the posers that standout to me. The street is their race track even if it's most often only a lucky act. I remember once pulling in a local gas station..filling up as about 8 or 10 rocketeers where congregating on the corner. I nodded my head and gave a slight wave of acknowledgement as I walked in to pay. They all turned their heads away from my Harley existence as I passed. As I was leaving the station they all started their bikes and screamed up behind me. When the light changed they all flew around me(some on one wheel) flying down the street until one rocketeer's ride started to wobble as his front wheel was in the air and he went tumbling into a ditch. The others were so far down the street (and racing to the next stoplight)that they didn't even noticed what had happened to their buddy. I pulled over and noticed that he had an obvious dislocated shoulder and a wrecked crotchrocket. Finally two of his buddies returned to observe the damage and still didn't bother to speak. I threw a leg over Loudmouth and rode off into the sunset..shaking my head. Yup..just don't get it...most likely never will...[huh]
HD

 

[Plumbline]

The BAB ( Born Again Biker) is not a new concept .... although it maybe new for some on her as it originated in the 70's

I don't care what you ride, or how you ride .... I try not to judge ..... your model/map/style may not be my model/map/style, but you're on two wheel;s and that's enough for you to get my attention and aknowledgement. Wether you choose to return that aknowledgement is your stuff not mine.

Equally I will stop and try to help if your stuck ... but as with all things in life " as ye reap so shall ye sow". Normal rules of civillity apply .. courtesy and manners cost nothing ... I treat others as I expect to be treated.

Ride safe chaps .... now back to the good folks in flight jackets

 

[nick123]

I don't want to derail the thread, but I do want to respond to your comment.

There is nothing wrong with discovering biking at a later stage in life at all. I think if everyone tried riding a motorbike, they would be much more considerate car drivers.
I'm just taking a pop at a certain type of man who hits 'around forty', buys a heavy Harley as his first bike, and a load of shiny new leather, and then teeters around town, with no confidence or safety awareness, until the first time he drops it, scuffs his leathers, sells the bike, and spends the rest of his life saying 'when I was a biker'.
These guys are posers, who want to buy into the lifestyle, so that they can park outside Starbucks and drink lattes whilst imagining that 20 something chicks dig their 'bad boy' image.
Oh, and they are snobs, because they never nod or wave to sportsbike riders.

Sounds like how I'd go about if I ever purchased a bike.

 

[Matt Deckard]

View attachment 18586
Actor James Levine in the Michael J. Fox movie "Teen Wolf" (1985) wearing what looks like an original A-2.

Original or at least Korean War era.

looking at how well the cuffs are holding up, they might not be wool, and what's with the seam near the cuff on his right arm?

Love the scalloped pockets.

 

[gtdean48]

I've been riding bikes "again" now for 20 years. Sold mine when I moved to the big city, took awhile to get the funds to get back into once I moved out in the rural areas.
I wave at all 2 & 3 wheelers, give waves, don't expect 1 back...
I ride one mainly because my horse can't do highway speeds.
Not about lifestyle but about mental therapy for me...ride to work, ride after work, ride most weekends, year round.
Don't do rallies but do charity rides. To each their own...Live & Let Live....

 

[Edward]

There's more than 13 of em'

lol

It is a shame Harley Davidson or Indian dont make replicas of these vintage shirts and sweaters, or at least licence one of the enthusiast replica vintage clothing makers to produce something worth buying.

I agree. I baulk at the idea of wearing Harley stuff owing to certain negative associations, but I'm quite shameless in wearing bike jackets and even branded motorcycle sweaters when I don't currently ride. It's simply a matter of location to me... I'd love something like those black cats sweaters. I'd never wear something pertaqining to a modern club, of course, in particular something resembling colours one has to earn. Partly out of self preservation, partly out of... well, I'm no Mitty.

TBH, if I had a big enough house, I'd buy a Royal Enfield Bullet, just the little 350cc model, and keep it on display in my lounge even if I never rode it. Old bikes to me are like old cars: works of artistic beauty. I have no call for my own transportation here in London. I'm relieved not to need to run a car (though I have my licence: it was the only way to get to a lot of places in the old country), as they're a total money pit. If they banned cars from zone one and/or had a proper cycle network here I'd cycle and quite possibly motorcycle in London, but sadly it's just not safe enough (there are plenty who do it, but it's not worth the hassle to me). Shame... I've wanted a bike forever.... though not quite enough to take up my dad's offer of treaching me to ride if I move back, ha...

I think Johnson Motors does 13 Rebels shirts and sweaters.

Might look into that. I love the stunt riders one, really, though... I wodner if that could be put together with the right patch-maker...

HD is all about selling a lifestyle/image/whatever to overweight overpaid baby boomers. These people have no interest in heritage stuff.

I think that came in in the eighties when the company was bought out. They're the gibson Guitars of motorcycles in that sense. Fair play to them for making it succeed as a business, though.

We always called them "Hell's Accountants."

lol

There is nothing wrong with someone discovering a great hobby later in life. Riding is a fantastic past-time. Trying something new in your late 30s to 50s does not a mid-life crisis make.

Here's hoping... if ever I cam into money and had somewhere in the country where it was realistic for me to ride, I'd definitely keep a bike there. I'm fancying Rye, actually... the dream is a small house there with a garage big enough for a couple of RE Bullets and a Morgan...

Cuba Gooding JR and Terrence Howard In "Red Tails"

Still not seen that. Great jackets, though - and I love the pipe.

Maybe not really missing it. I've had friends who work all week yet manage to enjoy just a short ride to have dinner or a drink after changing out of a suit and tie into something more casual or bike appropriate. At least they allow themselves that certain freedom from the rat race on occasion. Then some feel a patched vest..boots..and maybe even a doo-rag offer them more relief from the daily grind..and what they are expected to wear every work day is really the 'costume'.

I think that's where the negative stereotype starts to come in... when people are buying into a "costume" that is perceived as "not really them". Me, well... if that's how they feel comfortable, good luck to them - go for it. It's the few who want to pretend to be bad boys and who form their own little gangs with mocked-up versions of colours and such. I can completely see how insulting that would be to anyone who has ever had to 'earn' their own (I'm seeing echoes here of the debate over whether it's "permissible" to wear rank / medal ribbons / et cetera on repro jackets). I'm reminded of that film Wild Hogs; for a mainstream, Hollywood, safe, family-film type affair, it actually dealt quite intelligently with a lot of these sort of questions of identity and didn't, as memory serves, fall into easy, twee solutions.

 

[rocketeer]

I think that's where the negative stereotype starts to come in... when people are buying into a "costume" that is perceived as "not really them". Me, well... if that's how they feel comfortable, good luck to them - go for it. It's the few who want to pretend to be bad boys and who form their own little gangs with mocked-up versions of colours and such. I can completely see how insulting that would be to anyone who has ever had to 'earn' their own (I'm seeing echoes here of the debate over whether it's "permissible" to wear rank / medal ribbons / et cetera on repro jackets). I'm reminded of that film Wild Hogs; for a mainstream, Hollywood, safe, family-film type affair, it actually dealt quite intelligently with a lot of these sort of questions of identity and didn't, as memory serves, fall into easy, twee solutions.

I just love Wild Hogs. Reminds me of so many riders I see at bike shows

 

[Monitor]

Still not seen that. Great jackets, though - and I love the pipe.

Don't. It's not a movie. I've seen movies, and Red Tails isn't it.

 

[Big J]

Don't. It's not a movie. I've seen movies, and Red Tails isn't it.

Yeah, I'd agree with that.
They took a story that had the potential to show how these guys had to fight to gain acceptance due to color, and the discrimination they faced at home, but overcame it to demonstrate why the very ideas of American society were better than the Nazi's (and in the end, we won because our ideology was better), and turned it into a kid's movie lacking any depth.

Or, if that really is the level of movie that adults watch, I am seriously culturally isolated these days.

 

[nick123]

I haven't seen Red Tails. But if it's anything like Pearl Harbor and is loaded with computer generated imagery, count me out. Cheapens the movies IMO.
As a kid, I used to love watching the Black Sheep Squadron tv series. They used stock WWII flying footage for their dogfight scenes. Or any old war flick, where I knew the cockpit scene was shot from the ground, but it was in good taste and there was an art to it. I much prefer that to anything generated by a computer. It's not authentic in the least.

 

[Smithy]

I haven't seen Red Tails. But if it's anything like Pearl Harbor and is loaded with computer generated imagery, count me out. Cheapens the movies IMO.
As a kid, I used to love watching the Black Sheep Squadron tv series. They used stock WWII flying footage for their dogfight scenes. Or any old war flick, where I knew the cockpit scene was shot from the ground, but it was in good taste and there was an art to it. I much prefer that to anything generated by a computer. It's not authentic in the least.

I haven't seen it either but from the trailer the flying scenes looked like complete crap.

Like Pearl Harbor it seemed to be another one where the real problem was the CGI flight modelling where the aircraft are flying like, at best jet aircraft, at worst, tie-fighters and x-wings (funny that ).

It's a shame when they spend so much time on the aircraft modelling itself but then bugger the whole thing up by throwing the physics out the window with the flight characteristics.

But I'll agree you can't really go past the real thing, case in point "Battle of Britain" - loads of the real deal flying around.

 

[Stand By]

Red Tails is quite simply the worst war movie ever made IMHO. Utterly deplorable. And that's coming from someone who enjoyed Pearl Harbor ! I know.
But for anyone around here, I'd say it really should be seen for its one and only redeeming feature, namely the costuming, which is fantastic. The jackets and patches, etc are brilliant.
But alas, you'll need a peg for your nose for the rest of the film …

 

[nick123]

I enjoyed Pearl Harbor too. But it doesn't hold a candle to the oldies!

 

[Smithy]

No, no, no! Say it ain't so! "Pearl Harbor" was absolute pap. The costumes, sets were great but the script was gag-worthy, the acting wooden and the action overdone.

Ben Affleck's character turning up at an RAF station in full US military uniform combined with his shouting "hammer down!" every time he pressed the gun button made me cringe. I was half expecting him to holler "punch it!" every time he chased after a 109 or a Zero.

For Battle of Britain watch the same titled oldie, or the magnificent "First Light" or "Dark Blue World". The last two showed just how much you can do with a limited budget.

For Pearl Harbor, I still don't think you can go past "Tora! Tora! Tora!".

 

[Edward]

I just love Wild Hogs. Reminds me of so many riders I see at bike shows

To be fair, they're much better than the guys that you see stopping half a mile up the road and getting out of their cars to change into bike leathers to wear walking round the show.....

Don't. It's not a movie. I've seen movies, and Red Tails isn't it.

lol Yeah, I'm in no hurry to spend money on it; George Lucas' name atached to anything is pretty much a red flag for me. Total hack, with an underserved reputation. Pity, really, as I think there's a fascinating story to be made out of the story of men fighting for a state that treated them appallingly, against one that would have hereded them into camps. My girlfriend's grandparents met some of the black American servicemen when they were stationed in England; apparently they couldn't get over the 'freedom' they had to drink in the same pubs, restaurants, sit in the front of the bus... Fascinating story; hopefully somebody will do it and all its nuances justice on screen eventually.