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Flight Jacket Books

Officer Dibley

Well-Known Member
Just ordered the Eastman Identification Manual. It’s expensive but I saved on the A2 is my excuse...
Are there any websites with A2 photos worth knowing about...?

Good investment ! The other books are just as expensive but have no data - pure jacket porn if you will.
If you want pics, trawl this place and do Google image searches. Then save the images to your hard drive. Then you will have your catalogued archive. By type, by repro or original, by maker etc, etc. Then you will have proven your level of OCD is at the right level to be accepted on here ;)
 

mulceber

Moderator
If you want pics, trawl this place and do Google image searches. Then save the images to your hard drive. Then you will have your catalogued archive. By type, by repro or original, by maker etc, etc. Then you will have proven your level of OCD is at the right level to be accepted on here ;)

You can end up spending a lot of money on books that have lots of pictures of painted jackets but truth be told, Eastman’s tome is the only one worth the money. It gives you photos and lots of data.
Dave

Dave, just on this page you've given me two great ideas. Eastman's identification manual's now on my Christmas list, and I'll be starting a folder for different contracts soon...
 

MikeyB-17

Well-Known Member
I've frequently found Imai's 'Suit up!' a very useful resource. In Japanese, but pics show labels and other details, and there are charts showing contract dates and revisions. By no means a definitive work, but not just jacket porn. It's my usual go-to if I want to find out something.
 

Jorgeenriqueaguilera

Well-Known Member
Yes, agree on that, I’ve been checking the Suit up! If you don’t speak Japanese you can download GOOGLE TRANSLATOR APP on your smartphone, only need to do is scan the page and it will give you a translation to English... voilà :cool:
76CB944E-91FC-4FA7-94E4-CEE193F2BA81.jpeg
41659450-6AC8-4674-B8A2-B3F021839B60.jpeg

EC9F2227-BEBF-4519-83EF-48EA92B323F0.jpeg
 

London Cabbie

Well-Known Member
Thankyou. I’ve spent a fair bit of my disposable income since entering this forum...The list of books is in the basket. Really appreciate the advice on here which has saved me time and a bit of money and has been fascinating. Google translator will be useful as my Japanese wife gets fed up translating paragraphs of flight Jacket detail for me...
 

London Cabbie

Well-Known Member
There was a lot of competition between manufactures to secure a contract, which wasn’t easy. This led to protest from rejected manufacturers and in one case firebombing of one factory.
The Government were really concerned with the quality and workmanship of the A2, not so much with the aesthetic or mismatching of leather grain or various shades of wool used in hem and cuffs.
Then you had differences by each of the manufacturers some of the small details.
I asked a question earlier about the numbers of jackets made by the different contracts, the book has that information too.
Yet to find out what was regarded as the best contract A2. Maybe there is no answer as most A2’s were made to an almost exacting standard and it comes down to collectors preference in the tiny details?
The amount of detail in this book (I’ve only read the first few pages) shows the regard people have for the A2, Especially Gary Eastman and ELC.
He even had DNA analysis done on the leather...Awesome identification manual.
 

Skanstull

Member
There was a lot of competition between manufactures to secure a contract, which wasn’t easy. This led to protest from rejected manufacturers and in one case firebombing of one factory.
The Government were really concerned with the quality and workmanship of the A2, not so much with the aesthetic or mismatching of leather grain or various shades of wool used in hem and cuffs.
Then you had differences by each of the manufacturers some of the small details.
I asked a question earlier about the numbers of jackets made by the different contracts, the book has that information too.
Yet to find out what was regarded as the best contract A2. Maybe there is no answer as most A2’s were made to an almost exacting standard and it comes down to collectors preference in the tiny details?
The amount of detail in this book (I’ve only read the first few pages) shows the regard people have for the A2, Especially Gary Eastman and ELC.
He even had DNA analysis done on the leather...Awesome identification manual.

I guess before you can start a discussion on what would be the 'best contract', I guess you need to define what 'best' means - is it the most aesthetically pleasing (and if so, on what body type?)? Is it the one that holds up best against wear and tear? Is it the most comfortable?
 
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