Club Obi Wan

I just got an A2 on clearance from Flightsuits. How can I get the jersey knit around the waist to stretch out and lose some of it's elasticity without ruining it. I think the jacket would drape better if the waist wasn't so bunched up tight. Dark brown goatskin, and I like the new material they are using for lining. The goat is also much softer out of the box than previous Flightsuits goatskins I have had.

Hi---The A-2 is supposed to be tight around the waist. The A-2 replaced Indy Style jackets like the 440 specifically because the open waists let air rip up thru the pilots waist (and arms). The waist will stretch to your body with time (unless you bought too small a size). The "look" on an A-3 is supposed to be "bunched" at the waist and looser up top. (Same for G-1).
Be thankful you have thast issue vice the reverse which looks awfull and defeats the function of the wasitband...ie...too loose in waist.

Seriously...if the waist is too small (as opposed to your not being used to a new "look") I'd give FS a call. But it fits right...dont mess with it.

Question: What is the "new" lining you referred to?

Michigan Smith wrote:I just got an A2 on clearance from Flightsuits. How can I get the jersey knit around the waist to stretch out and lose some of it's elasticity without ruining it. I think the jacket would drape better if the waist wasn't so bunched up tight. Dark brown goatskin, and I like the new material they are using for lining. The goat is also much softer out of the box than previous Flightsuits goatskins I have had.

I agree with Lao Feng.

Yes, the goatskin is much softer than what they once offered, but when you refer to the knit waist as being "bunched up tight," that does not sound good. It should be snug, but not bunched up! If you have the means to post some pix, that would be of some help in knowing what exactly is going on there if the body of the jacket and the knit cuffs themselves fits well. It's hard to see how the waistband would affect the drape of the jacekt unless the jacket itself is too tight.

Also, it's hard to imagine that they could come up with a better lining than the polyester twill they've been using.

So much the A2 of FS and others that I have seen have a court more modern that the original A2. With this I want to say that they are much more spacious in the shoulders and in the breast, therefore the look can prove to him since you describes.
This jacket has a contract with the Government and as for the quality of the leather I find it very good and it is a wonderful jacket. But if you look for one more look WWII I would go way to the Eastman.

Saludos

I agree with Rixter.

Sometimes on the A-2, the "buchned up" look at the waist is a function of the pattern being used. Unless (this is key) unless you have the sides of the A-2 down toward the bottom tailored in to your near waist size, then the physical act of having a snug waist band fit demands that the leather at the bottom of the jacket where the waist band is sewn on is sort of bunched, folded, rippled. In other words, there is usually NOT a "smooth" ring of leather at the bottom where the waist band is sewn on. I had the same issue with a beuatifull cowhide Avirex A-2 I purchased (and still where---jacket of steel) in 1988 or there abouts. I had the waist taken in. (My problem was not one of aesthetics, but having a waist too small for the Size 42 R at the time)

BUT IT WILL CONFORM BETTER AFTER TIME

Jerry as Wested and I had this same conversation once...as he put it, the A-2's are considered a "blouse style" jacket, not a fitted jacket like the Indy. But think about it...the reason the Indy has side straps is to bring the waist in "on demand". The slight "bunching" you see at the seams where the straps are pulled in the usual all around effect on the A-2.

On an A-2 this is a problem if you cannot live with the bunching effect. To taper in the side seasm of the leather, the knit waistband has to come off, the lining undone at the bottom and then all resewn. I had mine done over a decade ago at a local leather specialist for about 50 bucks. I assume it is more expensive now. Frankly, I would not give a FS/G & B to a local leather guy to fool around with.

If you cannot live with it...ask FS how much they will charge.

But Rixter has the bottom line: Post a photo with front, back and sides.

Just wear it. My FS lambskin A-2 does not bunch, as the knit relaxed after being worn on a fairly regular basis. Regards. Michaelson