Aero Leather visit

[Spitfireace]

Once I started to get a grip, I tried to focus on what else was in the room.
The Coastal Command hood comes out bright yellow with an iPhone but had a dull yellow colour in reality.

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All I can say is OMG. Thanks for sharing, and also Merry Christmas to all!

 

[London Cabbie]

Murray then very kindly took us on a walk through the factory. They are clearly very busy in the run up to Christmas, but everyone smiled a warm greeting or word, it was a nice positive vibe.

the shapes room
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Leather, badalassi, alpaca from Peru and others
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In between the Dark Seal and light russet is the seal Jerky Russet I just got sample of from Christine, I think that is my next Aero…

 

[London Cabbie]

I met Derek! He prepares the patterns and specialises in A2s. Sadly, no photo. The “machinists” were working away. For info, an Irvin takes 8-10 hours start to finish by a single person, so add on raw material costs and it justifies the cost (and Brexit has increased import costs)

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Thankyou. Amazing photos, hope you were able to get everything you wanted. The first photo, Son bored playing Roblox made me laugh… One day he may understand Dad’s hobby. Enjoy Sir.

 

[B-Man2]

Those are awesome photos . Thank you so very much for those. Many of us on the US side may never get to visit Aero, but through your eyes and your cameras lens , I feel like I’ve seen a lot of it . That Irvin you’re wearing is pretty damn nice . Can you tell us a little more about it ?

 

[Smithy]

Terrific photos and you obviously had a blast! You have a very long suffering family so I hope they were suitably reward by Dad splashing out on a very good dinner after this

That A-2 looks great on you too, half to an inch off the sleeve and it'd be spot on.

Love the tweed suit in that photo too. I have some Harris Tweed strides from Aero and they're magnificent over winter. They go rather well with my Aero Barnstormer too.

 

[Sideslip]

I see that the ELC A-2 bible is appreciated even by Aero machinists!

Dany

Very well spotted!

 

[Harris_HTM]

In between the Dark Seal and light russet is the seal Jerky Russet I just got sample of from Christine, I think that is my next Aero…

do you mean the reddish brown shown here? I think this is a Badalassi espresso, right?

 

[Spitfireace]

In between the Dark Seal and light russet is the seal Jerky Russet I just got sample of from Christine, I think that is my next Aero…

Jerky Horsehide 15142-p russet. I've had mine since 2005 I think. Just keeps getting nicer and nicer looking.

 

[London Cabbie]

do you mean the reddish brown shown here? I think this is a Badalassi espresso, right?

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Oh, apologies. Looks similar to russet seal jerky Christine sent. @Spitfireace would love to see your Jerky Russet.

 

[Harris_HTM]

Oh, apologies. Looks similar to russet seal jerky Christine sent. @Spitfireace would love to see your Jerky Russet.
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The badalassi is a great leather, if you don't mind the squeaking though!

 

[johnwayne]

Interesting that a jacket was going to Seattle - GW land, guess the buyer couldn’t/wouldn’t wait!!!

 

[Harris_HTM]

Interesting that a jacket was going to Seattle - GW land, guess the buyer couldn’t/wouldn’t wait!!!

It was probably going to the Aero US representative Insurrection I guess, they are based in Seattle.

 

[London Cabbie]

The badalassi is a great leather, if you don't mind the squeaking though!
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Ooohh that is nice.

 

[Sideslip]

do you mean the reddish brown shown here? I think this is a Badalassi espresso, right?

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The one on the bottom right is badalassi russet, the middle one tobacco and the third from the right is seal, followed by natural covered by a black cloth to protect it from the light. The one on the front left is black.

The iPhone made the russet appear much lighter than it is, I took samples of the russet and the darker tobacco (which has just a hint of red tone in it), and this is more accurate.

Apparently, the russet tones are the hardest to get right so they get used up within a week. The seal will, over time, start to show through the underlying tones. Murray explained that the badalassi supplier is picky on who he supplies to. Aero does not shim the leather, it is supplied between 1.2-1.5mm. Aero uses only vegetable tanned leathers and try to minimise or not use chemically treated leathers.

 

[Sideslip]

Oh, apologies. Looks similar to russet seal jerky Christine sent. @Spitfireace would love to see your Jerky Russet.
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I meant to get a russet jerky hh sample, but could feel the family patience wearing thin, am interested in that one too. @Spitfireace, I would also be interested in seeing this.

The badalassi is very nice, but I expect that during the war, the leather choices were whatever was available (and for sure not the badalassi as it was in Italy!).

 

[Harris_HTM]

The one on the bottom right is badalassi russet, the middle one tobacco and the third from the right is seal, followed by natural covered by a black cloth to protect it from the light. The one on the front left is black.

The iPhone made the russet appear much lighter than it is, I took samples of the russet and the darker tobacco (which has just a hint of red tone in it), and this is more accurate.
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Apparently, the russet tones are the hardest to get right so they get used up within a week. The seal will, over time, start to show through the underlying tones. Murray explained that the badalassi supplier is picky on who he supplies to. Aero does not shim the leather, it is supplied between 1.2-1.5mm. Aero uses only vegetable tanned leathers and try to minimise or not use chemically treated leathers.

Yes, it is "tobacco", not "espresso". The jacket I posted above is a Teamster made of tobacco Badalassi, I had it made in October 2019. It has indeed strong reddish tones.

Aero does not shim the leather, it is supplied between 1.2-1.5mm

I remember Ken here saying that they have a tannery in the UK "reworking" the Badalassi leather as it is really stiff and thick (mainly used for boots).

Aero uses only vegetable tanned leather

Well, their most popular hide is Horween CXL FQHH.

 

[London Cabbie]

Maybe someone could start a new thread where we take good photos in natural light of close ups of leather, fleece, nylon etc and post pictures.

 

[Sideslip]

Maybe someone could start a new thread where we take good photos in natural light of close ups of leather, fleece, nylon etc and post pictures.

I've been wondering whether having some white or black in the background can help the camera expose properly, will give it a try.

We might also need to have a thread with the sound the different leathers make, some seem to be very squeaky!

 

[J.R.303]

At this point Chloe returned with my jacket. Fleece was thicker than I expected, nice honey colour, very comfortable. As @J.R.303 mentioned in the excellent review by John and Burt, it has this dry yet supple appearance. It had a shiny, crackled appearance in the showroom, but under very bright artificial light. Will try and post pictures in natural light tomorrow. Note: fleece in photo comes out more blonde than reality which is honey. Very happy either way. View attachment 71277I briefly met Tony who made it, but they are very busy. Tony only does shearling year round.

That strange shine kinda wears off quite quickly. Wear for a couple of months then put some Pecards on it and it really comes to life.
Nice jacket by the way.
Family look just like mine would......
Great to see inside the factory, thanks, I would have bought another jacket I reckon!!
I went to ELC to try a Luftwaffe jacket before commiting about 16 years ago.

 

[Sideslip]

That strange shine kinda wears off quite quickly. Wear for a couple of months then put some Pecards on it and it really comes to life.
Nice jacket by the way.
Family look just like mine would......
Great to see inside the factory, thanks, I would have bought another jacket I reckon!!
I went to ELC to try a Luftwaffe jacket before commiting about 16 years ago.

I saw how yours looks with the Pecards, and good to hear that the shine wears off. Will wear it for a while and may then try the Pecards.

I nearly went for the A-2 I tried on, even my wife said it looked good on me (opportunity missed?). The sleeves were a tad long, but the collar stand and collar (I like a reasonably big collar within reason) was good. There weren't any others in my size apart from a seal M422 which fit me well. This said, I did not get that 'dang, this feels good' reaction from myself that I get with the GW m422 (even though that one is a little tight in the chest), so passed without hesitation. If I had been on my own, I would probably have placed an order on an A2 or A1.

Thankyou. Amazing photos, hope you were able to get everything you wanted. The first photo, Son bored playing Roblox made me laugh… One day he may understand Dad’s hobby. Enjoy Sir.

Thanks! It was worth it. Now how did you know that my son was playing Roblox? . My wife's expression is because she placated him by giving him her phone. The middle one is 13, so I was getting some attitude, but they all put up with it. I think.