WWII Russian Flight jackets

[a2jacketpatches]

:? :?: :?: :?: :?: :?:

I'm a little confused about who's talking to who, anyway, some of the earliest flight clothing is very similar to this jacket, long leather, some with fur, belts, all very cool and designed for civilian wear in many cases. WW1 balloon pilots had some neat stuff going on. The A2 is my all time favorite of course, but the history of all vintage leather jackets in general has always intrigued me. Even as far back as deerskin mountain man stuff and Native American wear. I'm actually very interested reading this thread as opposed to Ebay crap jackets, repros, and everthing else that has little to do with VLJ, or better yet, Vintage Leather Jackets. The forum has grown leaps and bounds and it is all welcome for sure. But here we have a real VLJ worthy of this forum all day long.

 

[jerome35]

Thanks

Will post some of my originals here and repros which exists at this time.

 

[jerome35]

The #2 is the 1949 pattern, one of the most "iconic" post-ww2 flight jacket.

The #1 is non regulation one.

 

[jerome35]

So find the regulation of this jacket

 

[Roughwear]

Eastwood, you will need to provide clear evidence to back up your assertion. Without it it's just your opinion and nothing more.

 

[Roughwear]

Quite a few Irvins were worn by Russian air crew. The chap in the centre is wearing a 1941-2 four panel Irvin jacket.

 

[Roughwear]

Umm. I notice you have cropped your picture so the British Irvin is no longer present!

 

[Roughwear]

The Irvin was used fairly widely by Russian aircrew and depicting it is relevant.

 

[jerome35]

Of course, all these kind of leather jackets did exist but there were not "regulation" ones, like we say: "nie ustavniï".

 

[jerome35]

Irvin was very worn during ww2, not only by Lend Lease aircrafts pilots.

 

[jerome35]

Maybe a Lend Lease Sturmovik ?

Pokryshkin in full Irvin suit:

 

[jerome35]

Sorry, I was kidding a little . And I really like the picture with Il2 pilot.

 

[Roughwear]

The Russians were actually supplied with Irvin suits as this is how they were made back in the UK. Of course not all aircrew chose to wear the bulky trousers, which was the case with some RAF bomber crew too.

 

[jerome35]

You're right, so I delete non relevant posts.

Please, Eastwood, educate the "idiotic" masses, show us your impressive collection...maybe with personnal pictures with détails of jackets?

 

[jerome35]

Everyone but you seem to have understood the "joke". There is no debate : you seem to claim huge knowledge - telling who is right, who is wrong- on this topic, please, feel free to share it.

 

[jerome35]

I'm still waiting for your evidence on why you told me I'm wrong on the non ww2 leather jacket... There was no regulation on this kind of jacket before 1949, if it's wrong please tell us why... I'm not a beginner on this accurate topic, and no one but you tell i'm wrong. So please, explain.

 

[jerome35]

Yes, your document is from regulation of 1949 ( to be accurate Prikaz MBC N° 037 from February 1949)... If you know a little about soviet vvs, the shape and gilt insignia of cap should have warned you

 

[PADDY_M]

I am presuming that the meaning of some things here are being misinterpreted and miscommunication due to the Russian/English language problems. I appreciate the difficulties and challenges it can cause when communicating in a language that is not your "mother tongue/language." But with the power of the Internet isn't it FANTASTIC how we can share globally an interest and love for things like vintage leather jackets!!

This could be a REALLY BRILLIANT thread gentlemen and a great opportunity to share information on Russian flight jackets that maybe most of us do not know

How powerful is THAT!

PS: Some GREAT photos! !!

 

[PADDY_M]

Just to make sure I have understood this correctly

The Orders of 1922 (that continued all the way through WW2 upto 1948) said...

1. Minister for Defence states a flight jacket should look a certain way and have certain features.
Example: Jacket is black; Made from leather; Has X pockets...

2.Commanding Officer of each individual unit (squadron?)had the authority to choose what type of jacket he wanted his aircrew to wear (within the parameters/requirements stated by the Defence Minister).


So it sounds like there was "some" choice by commanding officers and so flight jackets might look slightly different from unit to unit?

By the way... did aircrew buy their own jacket or did the Commanding Officer put in a request to a particular local factory? Or did ALL come from Zetkin?

 

[John Lever]

Some of those jackets look very cool, particularly those with fur collars.
Thanks for sharing.