Why you love Bomber Jackets. (its bomber jacket season again!)

[Dumpster Diver]

What was your first real Bomber jacket like, I love stories about how people come across one. how they got the interest to wear and collect them.

the legend remains, Obviously Faithful reproductions speak for how much people Still Demand them and love them the way they ARE.

how about some stories about some of your jacket collection, Im sure a lot of originals come with a story of their own.

Flight jackets turn up in some weird places..
Old Trunk in the attic, Thrift store...Even one guy told me he was out in the country and found one in an abandoned barn hanging on an old oak Hockey Stick. The Back was painted with a Cartoon Looking Goose wearing a flight helmet and goggles, chomping a cigar and flexing a winged Bicep!

aparently He wore it and it was Stolen at some house party..wonder what happened to that one.

did you ever come across a great Flight jacket score somewhere, If so, Id love to hear about those types of experiances. The Jackets themselves even tell a good story too.

oh, and the most recent jacket I bought came from out west, some one Ebaying it after they found it in the trash at an estate sale!!!
Cant believe that! (ive been out of the collecting game for some years now, plus room is getting tight these days, as are prices, obviously)

It looks like its a B-3 Redskin, Sapped in stale engine oil and quite ironically loved into a tattered rats nest of a grungy jacket...I think its just the way I like mine, or are you more into the brand new look. I got it cheap with a ripped Back pannel, should stitch up nicely though, its the only way I can really afford my habbit..buy a fixer upper..Im pretty good at that now too.

I love my vintage leather!

My bomber jacket is always there like a close friend. I would say Its the time of year I can start to wear mine soon!!!

Its my favourite time of year again!!! for me its known as BOMBER JACKET SEASON!!!

I really think they are my best investment!

-Jules.

 

[HoosierDaddy]

...."Bomber Jacket"...

I think that is more aswatland's field of expertise...

lol

 

[Dumpster Diver]

well, in that case, What thread should I probly use for the Original Redskin.

Lol, considering having a look for that WW2 Sewing kit I found in an old farmhouse and Using some OD green on it; ghetto wartime style..

If I was to get something that looks at least uh, Authentic I guess.

the chances of Finding well matching Patch is another issue, there are several options and maybe you could advise me.

Im in no rush.

 

[Dixon Cannon]

One word: 'Twelve O'Clock High', the television series with Robert Lansing as General Frank Savage. Ok. Thirteen words; but you get the message!

-dixon cannon

 

[Asienizen]

I suppose it depends on how one defines "bomber jackets". There are the horse or goatskin jackets like the A1, A2, G1; and then there are the sheepskin jackets like the B3, B6, and ANJ 4. Fleece jackets like the B3 were more often worn by bomber crews than fighter pilots because they frequently were in open air positions - like a waist gunner. Yet, many people consider all aviator jackets - Bomber Jackets. Officially, there was no such designation in the US armed forces as a "bomber jacket".

Are we talking specifically the big sheepskin jackets, or just any flight jacket?
I hope I'm not being too pedantic; because I do like jackets like the A2 or G1, but I'm not such a fan of the big "fleecies".

 

[O2BSwank]

My bomber jacket memories have a different origin.I had always liked them I guess due to "twelve o'clock high" which I watched as a kid. When I got into motorcycles my first good leather jacket was a cross front horsehide. In the Late 70s Harley Davidson brought a bomber style jacket the
"Thunder Jet". I bought one of those and wore it for about fifteen to twenty years. I kept that jacket and now my son wears it when he rides his motorcycle. We will keep it in the family for the next generation.

 

[Dumpster Diver]

I dont suppose there should be a noted distinction between Flight and bomber Jacket in this particular thread, Flight jackets in general then.

 

[Asienizen]

OK, cool.

 

[Brettafett]

My impressions span a lifetime. I remember an old Avirex Ad... front cover sported a 'dude' with an old, beat up A-2, with a 341st 'Knights' BG patch... awesome! Old 'War' comics, esp a Flying Tigers story I loved... A-2s with Blood Chits... I loved tales of the Golden Monkey. I think thats when I got it, A-2s = Pilots, Daring, Adventure, cool.... I wanted one ;-)
Movies: 'The Great Escape'... yes, that old McQueen icon! 12 O'Clock High with Mr peck... War Lover... Catch 22...
Even when I saw Top Gun and everyone was wearing Michael jackson pants... I thought what a cool jacket, if only it didn't have all the patches,...

 

[Spitfire]

I do not love bomberjackets - but I do like the Irvin jacket.

Ever since my early teens (and that's a long time ago) my father - who was in the resistance movement during the nazi occupation - told me about RAF and how they supported them with weapons, explosives etc. - and how much he wanted one of "those RAF flying jackets" when RAF finally came to Denmark in may 45.
He never got one. But kept talking about them.
So - some twenty years later - in the seventies, I decide to get him one. Or a replica at least.
That's how I bought my first Irvin from Aviation Leathercraft (the only manufacturers at that time) - it was a jacket to my father. But it got to me! The year after I bought one for myself.
My father is dead now - and I found his Irvin in a closet.
It's in France now - and is being worn by one FL member - with great joy and pride, I guesse.

Ever since my first Irvin, I have searched for the right one. Originals are without reach - 'cause of sizes. But I have bought and sold several replicas - in search of the most true to original repro. And I think I have reached that line now, with the Irvin soon to arrive from Aces High. A pre-war type. (The best one IMO)

 

[Aerojoe]

In my country "bomber jackets" are nylon jackets like MA-1 or L-2. Get one and you are officially in skinhead uniform. :eusa_doh:

Fortunately, leather jackets are not associated with any political movement Maybe the German great coat but only after Hollywood movies. You won't see them around though.

BTW, my first leather jacket ever was an oversized G-1 with an 8th force painting on the back. I purchased when I was kid but I still keep it for sentimental reasons

 

[Edward]

I have quite a few flying jackets now, love them all. A long time ago, I was only interested in Perfecto-style leathers, and in black only. Later, I decided I wanted a brown jacket - specifically an Indy. I well remember, about ten years ago, finding the Aero and ELC sites, and considering their wares crazy out of my price league (how times change when you get the bug!). I'm not sure what sold me on the A2 in the end, but I came to very much like it, though before I got my two A2s (one Aero goat, one ELC horse, both via eBay), I bought my Aero AN6552 (used, eBay, mint). Took me longer to grow to appreciate the Irvins and B3s. I have no idea why - for a long time I truly disliked Irvins. I think that had a lot to do with the smug, Eightes-yuppie types sporting overly-fluffy, poodle-esque "Irvins" in the various ads in the high-end vintage car magazines. As my tastes for vintage deepened, I came to like them and rather enjoy them now. I have a Lost Worlds B3 I bought from a Flounger a few years ago, and an ELC 42 pattern Irvin I bought on eBay about three years ago too. Add to that three nylons - an Alpha Vintage L2A, an Alpha Replica B15C and a Buzz Rickson B15C-MOD. I shave my head, but I've never been taken for a skinhead wearing any of those (the only time it has ever happened was by an actual skinhead, just last month - I was wearing a Harrington jacket). Probably the hats help. Oddly, the B15C Mod is one I'd never have thought I'd like just a few years ago, but it is one of my favourites to wear now. I suppose what attracts me to any of my flying jackets is simply how they look; I wouldn't say that I was particularly a "fan" of any of the specific forces which wore them - I'm less interested in the history of the RAF, for instance, than in the development of the Irvin jacket in and of itself. not that I'm not interested in the war at all, more that my historical interest has always lain more in the home front and the political and social aspects of the war than the actual fighting of it. The bits that I could realistically see myself being involved in had I lived in that era, I suppose. What really attracts me to any of my flying jackets is that they are stylish and practical. I don't have the space or the funds to buy and store jackets that I don't wear, which is why I stick to replicas rather than the real thing (which I'd be scared to wear out anywhere in case I destroyed a piece of history). I like to think of myself as a "wearer" rather than a "collector", though with right flying jackets now on top of however many civilian leather jackets, it is increasingly difficult to deny that I'm a bit of a collector too....

 

[Dumpster Diver]

you will see on occaison a Retro 70s-80s ad for Spitfire type Triumph looking sportscars, I think they would put a man and an Irvin Jacket together on the same page to give you the impression that Bombing around in one of those topless roadsters was not unlike the thrill of taking an old prop-job off the tarmac.

something like that I think. Ive seen what your talking about.

 

[alsendk]

My very first interest for wartime jackets appeared early, still being a boy at about 16-17, sitting on the balcony on the midnight movies on Saturday night, together with my mates, and our girlsfriends, all sweet smelling, and wearing old fashioned tan nylon stockings at that time. It didn`t went on un-notised, but their daddies all acted like monsters, and would probably kill us all, if we ever dared to lay our sweatty hands on their nylon clad knees.

Usually they showed a war movie, very often with pilots, wearing A2`s.

And after this a Hammer horror movie, usually starring Vincent Price, which always scared the hell out of the girls, so we could stand up, becoming heroes for the walk home to their doorstep, hoping for at least a kiss.

Some years later, when turning 25, and being a jazz musician, the band and I went to the american airfield base, Thule airbase, situated in Greenland for 6 weeks of play.
up there I bought a worn out A2 jacket from one of the drafted american soldiers, for only one gallon of Jim Beam, which they were not allowed to buy, while we mucisians could buy anything we liked...and did.
I really loved that jacket, and wore it, till it litterally fell off my body some day I had to run for the bus.
I know that I need to have a new A2 again some day, but at the moment I have an ALC sheepskin jacket to wear.
I like it, but are not truly happy about it.
Some day, I will order one from Jon`s new started company Aces high. From what I have seen so far, his Irvins look tremendously real and genuine, so this is on my wish list for the next winter to come, even before ordering an A2.

 

[Deleted member 16736]

If we love bomber jackets, why don't repro makers? They sell mostly A-2 jackets and other military repros. I wish to God someone would start making a Sears Hercules repro bomber jacket or car coat. Please!

(Aero makes a Hercules model and a 50's bomber jacket, but I find the fit, leather thickness, and other details inauthentic.)

 

[L'Onset]

I was a kid, not older than six or seven years, when I saw "The Great Escape" at the cinema, and other war movies on TV (BW at my home at the time), such as "The Battle of Britain". After that I wanted to be a pilot ande wear one of those furry jackets.
It was some three or four years later, when my mother had to buy a new winter jacket for me to go to school. By then all the other kids wore those nylon parkas kind of N3B. I didn' want one of those, which gave me the impressión of being some sort of sausage with a furry end. My mom was decided nevertheless, it was cheap and warm. But hopefully the same makers and sellers had another model which instantly caught my eye and satisfied my mother's specifications for school: It was a (cheap) replica of a B10 jacket. That was my first aviator jacket. Sadly I soon overgrew it and it was, probably given to the goodwill.
At sixteen, again in the need of a winter garment, my mother knowing my liking for those jackets bought me a leather one. It had a faux-shearling lining and collar, slanted handwarmer pockets with studs and a bi-swing back. I guess it was made of lambskin, considering the tears it soon suffered. The first one, a few days after new, one of the pockets was hooked by a door knob and had a 10 cm rip from the top of the pocket to the chest of the jacket. I had my grand-mother mending it. No problem:the first of many war scars.
I wore this jacket many years. Had the collar replaced for a plain leather one, and finally had a car crash when wearing it. I had to bail out trough the rear window and the jacket was severely damaged -I'd rather say completely destroyed- Anyway I kept it for another 20 years in my closet and finally trashed it last year.
I got many nice comments when wearing this jacket (Hi Red Baron, where's your plane! and so...), and even set a (short) trend among some of my university fellows.
nearly 20 years passed before I could buy a Bill Kelso Mfg. A2 which is my current every day jacket now.

 

[alsendk]

A fine story L`onset
Just shows how early the impact for these `bomberjackets` comes to a young mind, and then there is no turning back...only financial ruin lays ahead of us:eusa_doh:

 

[Jaguar66]

If we love bomber jackets, why don't repro makers? They sell mostly A-2 jackets and other military repros. I wish to God someone would start making a Sears Hercules repro bomber jacket or car coat. Please!

(Aero makes a Hercules model and a 50's bomber jacket, but I find the fit, leather thickness, and other details inauthentic.)

This is the style of jacket I think of when I hear the term "Bomber Jacket"

http://www.eastmanleather.com/product_info.php?products_id=151

When I was 8 years old, my mom bought me and my 2 brothers a bomber jacket like this, from either Sears or Montgomery Wards, although it was dark brown with dark brown fur collar and fleece lined, winter jackets. We wore these until we outgrew them, then passed them down to younger brothers. I still remember loving these winter jackets. We built forts, had mud ball fights, built snowmen, played army, shot firecrackers and did the things kids did in the mid 50's.

The closest thing to that jacket today is the LL Bean jacket.

http://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/23787?feat=593-GN1&page=flying-tiger-jacket-wool-insulated

 

[Mk Vb]

Ever since I was a kid, my dad fed my reading habit with Biggles books...then a co-worker of his filled me with stories of his time serving with the RAF during WWII - he flew Spitfires, one of a handful of Australians lucky enough to. SO this has led me to wanting to own a part of that history. I finally secured a genuine 1938 Wareings Irvin in immaculate condition in a Size 8 earlier this year....sadly it was a couple of inches too short to be a practical winter jacket. The seller, a fine English gent graciously refunded me and took the jacket back....leaving me saddened that I would, at 6'2" , 225 pounds and age 45, never find an Irvin that would fit.
But amazingly, Mr Swaffield has found me a survivor Irvin that is long enough to wear comfortably....and it should arrive here in springtime Melbourne, Australia in the next day or so...I am praying for some really crappy weather over the next month!
Bomber jackets, both original or repro, remind us all of the great sacrifices made by the men of the RAF and US airforces during WWII, how so many men died in frightful and terrifying ways in order to give the rest of us a better chance at a freer world....these jackets have become powerful symbols to many people, and of course they are also style icons from an era where practical clothing was made for a purpose, with purpose. Being able to wear one fills us all, I am sure, with a great sense of pride.

 

[alsendk]

Hello again MK VB
I am glad to read that you once again will be wearing a genuine wartime Irvin, and certainly a very fine gesture by mr. Swaffield.
I am not shure whether you are facing winter in Melbourne, but now you will be prepared.
What now about the other jacket repro that you ordered ?

Being a dane, and having my country occupied by the nazi germany forces from 39 till 45, I agree with you about the heroic effort these pilots were doing, to fight the germans with the sadly loss of
so many young british pilots, + all those pilots from other countries, that participated in the war against nazi Germany.
Happily this is history now, but should not be forgotten.