Club Obi Wan

Theses pictures where taken today by Nick, so I can finaly show you my jacket in sunlight:




I don't like the look of my shoulders in this jacket, but I really like the rest of it

There are more pictures of me and Nick in here:
viewtopic.php?t=14201

How long have you had the jacket. It looks well worn.

Looks great! If you don't like your shoulders, see if you can return those to Wested for a new set, but keep this jacket!



have a nice day.

I don't like the look of my shoulders in this jacket

Skip the ponytail, then



Best regards

JAN

This is how I want it:




It's a civil german flight jacket ww2 era wich was often used by Luftwaffe

Nice, but this is definitely no ww2 era jacket. The design of the jacket is typical for the open cockpit aviator jackets with this big stormflap. I think it is from the 20s or earlier. And the Luftwaffe only used Jackets with zippers.

Well, it is. I also have a backup for this info, to experts agreed with my opinion that it is ww2 era. This is a typical civil jacket which was used in this period. The luftwaffe only MADE flightjackets with zipper but there were many pilots who used to use non military jackets like this one.

Is it possible it WAS made earlier than WWII, but still in use? We keep leather jackets a long time...maybe in WWII all his buddies were asking him, "Hey, how'd you distress your jacket?" "I didn't, it's vintage."

Regardless of when it was made, it's very cool...reminds me of The Rocketeer.

I hope this is not too off-topic:
The german pilots had not been equipped with jackets. There was no official jacket for them. Every pilot had used his own leather jacket. These jackets originally were known as "cyclist jackets" for motorbikers which were created in the late 30s. Although the zipper was already invented it was not used for leather jackets untill then. The pilots choose the jackets with zippers because it was quicker to open/close, it was a better wind protection and zippers allowed the jackets to be worn very close to the body in the small cockpits.
Of course the jacket in your pics could be produced in the time of WW2 but its design is very untypical and old fashioned for that time.

The favourite jacket of my collection is a "Hartman jacket" from 1942 of an unknown producer. Maybe there is a tag inside your jacket which showes producer and year?
Anyway, your jacket is a beauty. Do you still wear it?

Regards

Your jacket is more likely a WWI pilots jacket than a WWII jacket.
Most WWI leather jackets had buttons like yours. The american
A-1 is a good example. It has a small stand-up collar, and
buttons down the front. The WWI planes did not have
a lot of controls to get caught on like the later planes of the 40's did. They
also did not go as fast, or fly as high as the later WWII planes, and the
need for a better designed leather jacket was not needed yet.

As planes got more complicated, and had more and more controls,
the need for better designed jackets came into place. Once the need for escape
gear came about, the leather jackets with buttons were replaced
by jackets with zippers because the buttons interfered
with the seat harnesses in the planes, as well as any parachutes and other gear
that they needed incase they had to bail out. If you look at WWII jackets
of that time, most of them did not have any pockets or other items down the center
for just this reason. They usually had smaller pockets off to the sides.

If your plane was shot, and you were heading toward the ground, the
last thing you needed to think about was having your buttons on your
jacket get caught on something, and prevent you from getting out of
the plane before it crashed.

Also, the collars of most WWII flight jackets had either snaps, or some kind
of latch that would hold them down, and prevent them from flapping
around the pilots neck. Either that, or the collars were very small, such
as the "Hartman jacket". The A-2 is an example of the american jacket
that incorporated snaps to keep the collar down during flight. It was also
one of the first commisioned AAF jackets with a zipper.

Your jacket could very well have been worn by a German pilot, but I am
pretty sure it would have been quickly replaced by a jacket that was
better suited for being in the tighter, more confined space of a more
modern plane at that time.

Its a great jacket!! It very cool to see it in such good shape, and
wearable at that!!

Flathead

Ahh, another aviator jacket expert. Nice to know. Of course I agree with everything you said.

Regards
LC

No, no expert, just a member of one of the best forums for all info on
WWII and other vintage jackets. Here is the site:

http://cornellsurgery.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/

Are you a member there? These guys know their stuff when it come to
all things leather and vintage! Just like our very own Indy site!!

You can learn so much from people who have alot of years experience
with the things they love.

Flathead

Well, I agree with you that the shape was not modern in ww2 at all, but:

1. this jacket actually HAS snaps on the collar and on the sleves
2. the sleve lining is made of a black,strong and thin material which I have never seen of its kind on an Uniform or on cloths before the 40's (it is the original lining by the way)
3. 2 experts agreed that this must be a jacket from the world war 2 period, probably worn as a flight jacket (one of them use to collect german militaria since 1945 and sells it in his shop since 40 years ago), the other is a mid 30's Man which got a speccial interrest of Luftwaffe gear. I'm not an expert but I use to collect german militaria since 7 years, too
4. This point could be wrong, but I guess it was more likely for a ww1 pilot to wear a jacket which covered his hips in a windy old plane. This jacket never did

I can't tell if this jacket ever was worn by a pilot, but I still think that this is a ww2 jacket (and it is my 5. flying jacket which I date to ww2)

Well, I really would love to wear this jacket but the smell of cellar and the rough distressing in some arreas are to strong, so it's on ebay right now

BreinederIndy wrote:
I don't like the look of my shoulders in this jacket, but I really like the rest of it

My bomber jacket that I use as an Indy substitute until I get a Wested does the same thing. Its just a tad too wide in the shoulders for me and the excess kind of hangs off. I always hated that too.

Nice photos, the jacket/s look very good.

Please give my best regards to Nick.

Regards

Al

I've seen a pic of a Luftwaffe fighter pilot wearing a similar button up style jacket. I think itis a book I have, but the book is back home, about 250miles away. Anyway, considering that the Luftwaffe didn't have a standard issue jacket, its entirely possible that the jacket is WWII vintage.

"We've got top man working on it right know"

FLATHEAD wrote:No, no expert, just a member of one of the best forums for all info on
WWII and other vintage jackets. Here is the site:

http://cornellsurgery.com/v-web/bulletin/bb/

Are you a member there? These guys know their stuff when it come to
all things leather and vintage! Just like our very own Indy site!!

You can learn so much from people who have alot of years experience
with the things they love.

Flathead

I know the forum but I´m no member.
My father collects historical and classic leather aviator jackets for over 30 years now and I would call him an expert. I´ve joined him in this hobby some years ago and I added some nice pieces to our collection. We have original ones and reproductions of classic jackets. We have about 25 of them.

Thats great that you and your dad enjoying the same hobby
Well, I put this jacket on ebay.de if you're might be interessted.

Back to my Indy jacket:

@colbi: it's good to hear that I'm not the only one having problems with this

Thank you for your compliments. As I mentioned it in another thread I did a little job with antique finish, a liquid leather handcrafts aid to let the surface of leather apear... well, of course antique. And it darkened the jacket, too although I might apply another coat of it.
And I do wear this jacket since a few years now.

Well, I put this jacket on ebay.de if you're might be interessted.

Yes, maybe. Could you give me the link to the auction?

Regards
LC

that civil war distressed war jacket, I'm no expert but in my opinion the only way to get that look with leather is time..and a lot of it. Lots!


George

It is not a "civil war" jacket, its a civil jacket