Good Wear Type A-1 Jacket

» Click here for photographs

This jacket is a reproduction of a Type A-1 flight jacket. The Army Air Corps first issued these jackets on November 7th, 1927, and they were non-standard after May 9th, 1931, being replaced by Type A-2 jackets. The stock was finally exhausted during WWII. These jackets were made with capeskin, and examples seen are almost always brown, rather than the olive drab stated on spec sheets.

There were several design details seen on originals. Earlier jackets had buttons at the base of the waistband, and later jackets incorporated snaps. The design of the pockets from one maker to another is also quite interesting. The pockets were often rather small in proportion to the jackets. Sleeve seams show two common designs, one being a triple-stitched cut seam, and another being a basic folded and top stitched seam. We've chosen the former.

Our jacket is not based on one specific original—originals have proven to be too difficult to acquire for a pattern for us up to this point, so we've created an estimation of what an A-1 could look like if we had created them in that time period. Though it would be great to have a pattern derived from an original, we'll have to settle for what we can do today.

Our jacket is made from vegetable–tanned domestic capeskin. This leather will exhibit wear easily, and it looks amazingly close to how capeskin from original A-1s look. Though this leather is a bit thinner than horsehide, it can be just as stiff in some pieces, and then softer in others, with wide grain variation.

Details of this contract:

• dark russet domestic capeskin
• easy to wear body design
• knit collar, cuffs, and waistband
• two–piece back panel
• three–piece sleeves
• dull orange lining and dull brown thread color
• real horn buttons with swir1s of brown
• small bone backing buttons
• snaps at base of waistband

This jacket looks classy and is easy to wear, having larger shoulders.

»	Click here for photographs of a size 42 Type A-1 jacket made with our domestic capeskin.

Please contact us for more information about this Type A-1 jacket through our e-mail: info@goodwearleather.com.