Wright Field
Active Member
Newbie here, but have read a lot on this site and others...
I'm a longtime aviation history guy who's admired the A-2 jackets for years and has gone through a bunch of low-tier knockoffs. I'm finally in a situation where I can get a top-notch reproduction and have been looking at all the manufacturers recommended here. As of now, I'm leaning toward Eastman for the price and shipping time (I don't want to wait a year for full custom!) and am interested in the HLB Corp variant because of the look and the pre-war time period. Since this is sort of an oddity, I haven's seen much discussion of this one online. Any thoughts on the particular jacket?
As my name might suggest, I'd also like to add the classic Wright Field arrowhead leather patch. Unfortunately none of the manufacturers offer it (surprising, given the popularity of the Doolittle Raid), but I see a few guys on here have made/ordered some, so I'll be looking into that, as well. I'm torn between the high-quality embossed sort and the more historically correct painted version. The look I'm going for is an interwar-period officer who was assigned to the Wright Field labs. Thoughts on patches or advice on having a local tailor sew that on?
Any other advice for a first-timer?
I'm a longtime aviation history guy who's admired the A-2 jackets for years and has gone through a bunch of low-tier knockoffs. I'm finally in a situation where I can get a top-notch reproduction and have been looking at all the manufacturers recommended here. As of now, I'm leaning toward Eastman for the price and shipping time (I don't want to wait a year for full custom!) and am interested in the HLB Corp variant because of the look and the pre-war time period. Since this is sort of an oddity, I haven's seen much discussion of this one online. Any thoughts on the particular jacket?
As my name might suggest, I'd also like to add the classic Wright Field arrowhead leather patch. Unfortunately none of the manufacturers offer it (surprising, given the popularity of the Doolittle Raid), but I see a few guys on here have made/ordered some, so I'll be looking into that, as well. I'm torn between the high-quality embossed sort and the more historically correct painted version. The look I'm going for is an interwar-period officer who was assigned to the Wright Field labs. Thoughts on patches or advice on having a local tailor sew that on?
Any other advice for a first-timer?