WW2 British Flying Jacket

Thank you all for the guidance 🙂

Thank you all for the advice, i shall be investigating further. To be honest, i’m kind of inthe middle. I don’t want to be paying £1000+ ( i am after all a lowly corporal inthe RAMC lol) but then i don’t want to get one and people thinking it looks like cheap imitation rubbish. I shall continue searching, cheers all.

Keep an eye out on the Aero Leathers used/shops seconds pages for cheaper deals on jackets.

This one is sold, but you can see the price saving over a new one. You just have to be a little patient and wait.

http://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/product-detail.php?id=2954

I don’t want to be paying £1000+ ( i am after all a lowly corporal inthe RAMC lol) but then i don’t want to get one and people thinking it looks like cheap imitation rubbish. I shall continue searching, cheers all.

Look around they come up for sale quite a lot, I bought an aviation leathercraft one and people took the p*** so I hung it up for a couple of years and put it on ebay last year. A couple of times a year I see genuine ones come up in a local auction and they don’t usually go for much.

Thank you all for the advice, i shall be investigating further. To be honest, i’m kind of inthe middle. I don’t want to be paying £1000+ ( i am after all a lowly corporal inthe RAMC lol) but then i don’t want to get one and people thinking it looks like cheap imitation rubbish. I shall continue searching, cheers all.

A good quality reproduction, new is going to set you back in the region of £650 to £1000 new. Aviation Leather Craft (ALC) aka Motolita have the rights to the Irvin name, but their pattern and materials are probably the least accurate. Aces High are probably the best but he produces only about 6 jackets a year. the new Aero Leather designs are very nice having sorted to older style tubular sleeve problem. They offer several patterns including a Coastal Command version. Eastman offer several accurate period designs but I have heard a few comments about the skins feeling dry and stiff and the wool a bit scratchy on recent batches. Your mileage may vary. You can get cheap end versions from millitaria suppliers, mainly made in Pakistan, those come in around £300 but wont have the correct hardware and you may find bits of it (belt etc) are made of pleather.

As with anything, the Devil is in the Detail, do you want something that “looks like” or a period correct reproduction.

Agreed, that Aces High are best, with either Eastman or Aero Leather as the 2nd choice if you are looking for an accurate replica of a RAF flying jacket.

If you don’t want an accurate replica, take your pick from anything else really as it doesn’t matter.

A good quality reproduction, new is going to set you back in the region of £650 to £1000 new. Aviation Leather Craft (ALC) aka Motolita have the rights to the Irvin name, but their pattern and materials are probably the least accurate. Aces High are probably the best but he produces only about 6 jackets a year. the new Aero Leather designs are very nice having sorted to older style tubular sleeve problem. They offer several patterns including a Coastal Command version. Eastman offer several accurate period designs but I have heard a few comments about the skins feeling dry and stiff and the wool a bit scratchy on recent batches. Your mileage may vary. You can get cheap end versions from millitaria suppliers, mainly made in Pakistan, those come in around £300 but wont have the correct hardware and you may find bits of it (belt etc) are made of pleather.

As with anything, the Devil is in the Detail, do you want something that “looks like” or a period correct reproduction.

I was looking for one a few years ago and spoke to many people about them – on quality it came down to two companies Eastmann and the Flying Jacket company at Thruxton.

Due to an unsatisfactory call to Eastmann I purchased from Thruxton and have been back twice since then for other jackets. I went to the site and tried them on to find the right size. Very friendly and helpful. Also bought one mail order for my son.

The wool thickness on the flying jacket is plusher than standard. The design is the post 41 with multiple panels etc. etc.