The Flight Jacket Thread

[almostnice]

Hi Braidkid, I own some sort of B3 jacket of unknown origin, must be well over 20 years old, and I cannot compare it with your piece of history or a any of the proper repros you see on this board.Its a great jacket, esp. when riding my Vespa during the colder months.It gave me good protection when I crashed once and was also in need of some repair after that which I done myself.Now the threads are old and worn and I have to replace them regulary.I see it like Cotton Duck, selfrepairing adds character and after you get used to that heavy leather I am sure you will see some pleasing results.

[the Repeater]

Braidkid, I have the same jacket from my grandfather as well.

You are fortunate that yours was stored much better than mine. Aside from the shearling being in bad shape, my leather is very cracked and peeling, and I broke the zipper last year...

[edmond]

details of the real mccoy a2

[mspark]

sick shit,ed!

[dave023]

As stated before...gorgeous jacket!

[airfrogusmc]

As Jake said WWII Navy shearling is very fragile and hasn't stood the test of time well. Even if Aero said they could repair the exisiting tear there's no guarantee it wouldn't blow out somewhere else if it's worn. Unfortunately I speak from experience. That being said, it's still very cool you have a piece of history from your grandfather.

Yeah I would get it fixed or just put it on away because like Grant said (in fact he even advised me not to buy an original a few years back) it looked great and blew out the first time I tried it on after buying it. The leather just split. It made a pop sound...

[edmond]

[daveo]

US Authentic is a good place to start, and their pattern makes some concessions to modern clothes - they tend to be longer in the body then most originals ever were, but will fit better over an untucked t-shirt accordingly.

What are you looking to spend roughly?

-Jake

Is anyone else having problems with the US Authentic website? I want a jacket again...

[daveo]

Site's back up...

[airfrogusmc]

Just relisted with an obscenely low reserve.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Flight-Jacket-Navy-WWII-World-War-Two-repro-size-52_W0QQitemZ150291686566QQihZ005QQcategoryZ156437QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[indigo_junkie]

Picked up a Gibson and Barnes B3 last week. They recommended a large (42-44), but based on my experiences with their Civil A2 (which I got in a size 42, and should have been a size 40), I got the medium size instead (38-40). And lo and behold, it fits just fine (well in the sleeves anyway).

Fit pics - sorry for the low quality pics, but camera's flat and my phone's all I've got atm:

The shearling isn't as thick as I thought it was going to be, feels about a half inch (maybe slightly more). On the plus side, it's more of an authentic colour to the an original B3 than the US Authentic version (to me, though I'm not a expert on this kind of thing). Just ignore the crappy photo colour, it's actually a yellowy-brown with a slight green tinge. It's very similar in color to the Buzz Rickson B2 shearling, maybe not as dark. It also has a makers label which seems to be missing on the US-A one. It doesn't have a chain holder though, has a leather holder instead. Of the two jackets in the price range $688-$650, GB and US-A, I think the GB one is better, though I haven't actually seen the US-A one in the flesh, only from pics.

Now to the cons. The jacket doesn't feel as trim in the body as I think repro B3s should be, especially from what I've seen from ELC or RMNZ and it's a Medium. A regular size 38 would be swimming in this jacket and I'm a 42R in most suits. There is one pro to the looser fit. With the thinner shearling, it does give me the bonus of being able to layer underneath if I want to. Of course, if the shearling was the proper 3/4 inch thickness, I wouldn't have to layer. I can, however, wear the jacket in early spring (now) like a B6. As authentic as they try to be, you can't get passed how unathentic a YKK zipper on a jacket like this is. I was wondering why the guys on VLJF harp on it so much. Now I know. The horsehide is pretty smooth and plasticky. If GB's historical HH is made of the same stuff, it's probably a good thing I took a pass.

Oh and one more thing. GB is printing out its new catalogue in October. The price of the B3 is going up to US$758. That's what they wanted to charge me, since the jacket I have is actually the new design military B3 that they were going to sell in their new catalogue. I argued that on their website, it's still $688, and for $758, I would sooner save a little more and buy a ELC B3 instead (which I probably will anyway). They said they'll honor the website price, which I paid. From what I can see, it's a very good jacket for the price, very competitive to US-A's version, but there's no way I'd pay $758. If anyone still wants a GB B3, I'd suggest trying to get one now while it's still $688 on their site (don't know if it's changed yet, but it was that price yesterday when I checked). I got my B3 because the AUD is still ok against the USD (but weakening fast). It's always held pretty steady against the GBP, so there's no need to panic buy for UK stuff. Anything I want from ELC or Aero can wait.

Anyway, happy with the jacket, will probably keep it until I save up and get a ELC RW 17756 B3 (in the far future). My next purchase is going to be a proper A2 (I kept the GB Civil A2 even though it's a slightly larger fit, because I can layer underneath and the handwarmer pockets really do come in handy). I was going to get a GB type 31 A2, but instead I'm going to spend an additional $200 more to get a Goodwear one instead. Most likely the Dubow in seal HH (I blame you, airfrog!).

More pics of the B3 once I get some free time and charge my camera battery.

[zk4025]

平時只要一拿出 A-2 夾克都是立即穿上它然後匆忙就出門

很少有機會仔細觀察細部

最近已經準備開始找機會穿了,難得手邊有全新品

先細細的看看,下次再換穿過幾年的PO

日系品牌所生產產品的好處是版型很適合我們東方人

衣長、衣寬、袖長、領子、螺紋、、、、、都很適中

這款的口袋是比較深的型因此袋蓋顯得短

Buzz Rickson's & The Real McCOY'S 兩個公司都在這純羊毛織成的"螺紋"上

花了很大的心思

因此"螺紋"都織得很細密且鬆緊適中

穿久了不容意鬆垮變形

這是許多其他品牌（包括原版制式軍品）都沒有注意到的細節

不論是看門道還是看熱鬧,有興趣可以自己查一下相關資料

這款的領型屬於中庸不太尖也不太寬

[zk4025]

無法忽略的拉鍊頭部份

五金總合

整體皮質都很細密,每一個裁切片選擇使用的皮質都很平均

這樣其實會提高非常多的材料成本

皮革接合處縫製的非常細膩

肩章帶底部外露的皮革邊緣也經過修邊

從這裡就可以看到使用皮革的厚度

[dave023]

Gorgeous jacket!

[indigo_junkie]

The grain is very smooth. Is it a Real McCoy's Japan one?

[Charlie Delta]

More pics of the B3 once I get some free time and charge my camera battery.

Yes please!

[SLAB]

that real mccoys a-2 is sheer beauty

[cloudhands69]

it's not quite cool enough to break this out yet, but I've been looking at it a lot.

I just put a coat of peckard's on it, so it's a little shinier.

[YoungPunch]

^^ Awesome Jacket! G-1, right?

[indigo_junkie]

RMNZ Dubow size 42. It's actually a dark russet, but photos indoors make it look like seal. For reference, I'm 5'9", 180lbs.

I also ended up returning the GB B3. Wasn't happy with the quality of the shearling and whatever they coated the outside of the shearling with. I've seen shearling flight jackets for less than half the price use better fleece (though they didn't have the horsehide facings or the straps etc...). It's coming into summer now here anyway. I'll probably either get myself a good quality sheepskin jacket next winter for about $300 or go the whole hog and get a ELC or Aero B3 for close to $1000. No point in getting something in the middle, because it's either going to be too expensive for what you bought, or not a good enough repro in comparison to the top tier companies.

[jake431]

If I were getting a B-3 it would be a RMNZ or ELC. Not Aero. I've not heard as good things about them as the other two.

-Jake

[robertorex]

picked this up today because I'm peasant status. hope it does well for some cold fall days!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&item=370089520042

[Lowduck]

Has any one here heard about Cockpit flight leather jacket, I saw their store in New York and I can that they really have good collections about Flight Jacket.

[indigo_junkie]

If I were getting a B-3 it would be a RMNZ or ELC. Not Aero. I've not heard as good things about them as the other two.

-Jake

I've seen pics of the Aero redskin and I was actually leaning towards that. The RMNZ B3 is out of my price range, and so is the Roughwear contract redskin that ELC makes. What is it about Aero that you've heard about that makes you not like the B3? Is it the accuracy?

[dave023]

Nice jacket and fit IJ

[jake431]

I've seen pics of the Aero redskin and I was actually leaning towards that. The RMNZ B3 is out of my price range, and so is the Roughwear contract redskin that ELC makes. What is it about Aero that you've heard about that makes you not like the B3? Is it the accuracy?

From all dedicated jacket nerds who have owned one, they found the shearling to be underwhelming, compared with ELC and RMNZ. I think there's a thread currently going on VLJ about B-3's.

My 2 cents - if it's summer and you won't be wearing one for a while, you might as well save up until the RMNZ is in your price range, and get one.

-Jake

[edmond]

[jake431]

I like the white decal, it's very subtle.

Fit pics?

-Jake

[Supawiwi]

Great buy Ed.

The cooler days are back and my Ma-1 is out. I forgot how great was this jacket.

Just feeling a bit short on the back.

[Guest mattes]

I found this old leather bomber jacket my grandfather wore flying B-24's over Japan in WWII. The leather is old and dried out and unfortunately there is a large tear on the upper right part of the chest.

I am wondering where is the best place to send this to be restored and perhaps repair the large tear?

Someone posted this link on other thread and it might helpful.

http://www.superiorleathernyc.com/default.asp