Original Aero Contract A-2 18775P

[CBI]

Latest purchase. Original Aero Size 46 Contract 18775P from May , 1942. Aero's last contract. 50,000 jackets made. Probably cow. Very sturdy, terrific replacement job on quality Talon repro zipper and excellent knits. This jacket does look familiar.....anyone here once own it? Wonderful roomy size 46. Will post fits pics soon: Oh, NOT for sale. With my luck, its an old Good Wear! Plenty of very old oxidation on the hardware though if its NOT an original. A very sometime wearer to alternate with my other original Aero sometime wearer. Like once a month for each one!

 

[CBI]

more pics:

 

[Flightengineer]

Very beautiful jacket, very much!

 

[Cooper A-2]

Very nice...
Great jacket, superbly preserved. Enjoy it.

 

[kowalski]

Nice , great jacket
but I wonder what color the jacket was at the beginning, the jacket now has a lot of patina and colors are different.
in the pocket, under area the arms are brighter

 

[CBI]

there are reddish undertones, the jacket could have been a depot re-dye. it may have darkened a bit with age however the overall brown is exactly like my other originals.

 

[Fanch]

Very nice acquisition. And I thought my original 1963 Irvin B Foster G-1 that I bought from John Chapman was old!

 

[aswatland]

This a very well preserved original Aero from the 42-15142-P order. The order was placed on 28th March 1942 and was for 50,000 jackets. Each jacket cost $8.25 then!

 

[Persimmon]

This a very well preserved original Aero from the 42-15142-P order. The order was placed on 28th March 1942 and was for 50,000 jackets. Each jacket cost $8.25 then!

Andrew
An interesting comparison to the cost of the jackets back then of $8.25 is the cost of A-11 watches.

On the WW2 contracts the Army was paying approximately $14.00 each for the Type A-11 watch. ( Bulova and Elgin and Waltham. )

As for Hamilton they did tender but their contracts were more restricted to the USN at a cost of $18.40 each.
Hamilton also had sold a 17 jewel watch to USN for a price of $16 per watch.

The price differential between a Hamilton watch and a comparable Elgin, Waltham or Bulova Type A-11 watch was not therefore insignificant.

The AAF highlight this point as follows:

The facilities of the American Watch Industry have been allocated by the War Production Board and it is understood that none of the Hamilton Watch Company’s production of wrist watches has been scheduled for the Army Air Forces. Apparently, the greatest objection to procurement of Hamilton watches of this type by the Army Air Forces in the past has been that they cannot compete with other watch companies on price.

 

[CBI]

Yes, I noticed the original price in Gary's book - things have gone up a bit haven't they?

 

[aswatland]

The price they paid for a B-3/A3 jacket and trousers was $47.39, with the jacket alone costing $25.39 in 1941-2.

 

[Big J]

That's super, really super.

 

[Persimmon]

The price they paid for a B-3/A3 jacket and trousers was $47.39, with the jacket alone costing $25.39 in 1941-2.

So that jacket and an additional A2 jacket and a A-11 watch for just $50. If only that was true now.

 

[Fanch]

When I went on active duty as a USN flight surgeon in 1967, I was told the G-1 issued to me that year cost the government $80 and thought at the time the price seemed exorbitant. In 1969 the G-1 that had been issued to me was stolen from a locker room at Parkland Hospital in Dallas not too long after I started my ENT surgicaL residency. The theft sort of left a void for me until I acquired an original (1963) Irvin B. Foster MIL-J-7823B G-1 from John Chapman not too long ago. I am amazed at the almost pristine condition of the G-1 that was made just a short time before my time in the US Navy.