On the Merits of the Aero 38-1711-P

[MediumMech]

I was inspired by the @Silver Surfer fs post to write up a little post about the uniqueness of this contract. I purchased one from Aero as my first A-2, and while the fit isn't great, and I may eventually sell it, I decided to hold onto it for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is that the 38-1711-P has a number of curiosities when compared to other contracts, and I like items with curious details. I thought I would share some of those details here. Of course, I only have my repro jacket to work off of, but I would appreciate it if those who have handled originals chime in about what might be correct/incorrect about this repro.

First off, let's have a look at the jacket complete. Note the slender arms with a good amount of taper top to bottom (9.5" at the top, 5.5" at the bottom). The jacket body is mostly rectangular, with just a 2" drop at the waist (pit-to-pit 22.5, leather waist 21.5). The waist is not gathered at the back, as with some patterns, but hangs flat. Evident is the top stitching (the row of stitches through the leather above the waistband, and at the sleeve cuffs) and a rather elaborate scalloped pocket flap.

More to come...

 

[MediumMech]

The pockets are unusually tall, and perhaps a bit narrow in comparison to some A-2's:

The zipper is a lovely hookless item:

Note the extra leather facing on the inside of the zip. You can also see how the top stitch goes through the lining in this image. Incidentally, you can also see a machinist error where the zip facing stitching caught up the liner:

More to come...

 

[MediumMech]

The Epaulets are very narrow, and have a taper to them:

There you have it! My list of the curiosities of 38-1711-P. Overall the fit is slim in the shoulders and arms, but quite roomy in the body. It's a very interesting jacket all around. I look forward to comments and observations about this contract!

 

[ausreenactor]

Nice work Sir!

 

[Thomas Koehle]

THX for sharing those details

 

[MikeyB-17]

Way to go. Well played that man.

 

[blackrat2]

Thanks MediumMech, some good pics and a nice informative guide to your Aero thanks for taking the time

 

[daw]

It looks really nice-sorry the fit isn't what you'd hoped for. Thanks for the review!

 

[MediumMech]

Thanks for the kind feedback all! It's nice to be able to share some of my own discoveries as I slide towards the A-2 abyss...

 

[JimO]

I was the one who ended up buying @Silver Surfer 's jacket (He's a GREAT guy to deal with, BTW.) After spending a day with it, I must say that Medium's review is absolutely DEAD ON.

As he mentioned, the fit & drape is a bit quirky as it's (almost too) tight in the shoulders and noticeably loose in the chest & body. Both he & I have found the actual rectangular body fit to be quite opposite of the one described on the Aero website: " The fit is slimmer than all later jackets with a tapered body, slim shoulders, and slim sleeves." Speaking of which, the shoulders are NOT boxy, which as many of you know, is one of my MAJOR pet peeves. The only other thing, fit wise, that I could ask for would be 3/4" longer sleeves. The seal Vincenza horsehide is visually striking and should only get better as it gets worn, softens & breaks in. I'm hoping that in this process, the leather will conform to my body with the shoulders loosening up and the body drape being less rectangular.

Quality wise, for the most part it's very good, but there are a few Issues that I have with the stitching- the most concerning one being Aero missed the reinforcing stitch on one of the top corners of the pockets (which they performed correctly on the other 3 corners.) Hopefully, this won't be a failure point where, with normal everyday use, the pocket will separate from the body- which would really suck.

I have taken extra care to seat the pin on the Hookless zipper ALL the way in and have not experienced any issues. One thing that no one has mentioned is that it has a LOCKING pull tab- make sure to unlock it BEFORE moving it from any zipped position! The nice thing about this zipper design is that the bottom on the zipper tape is enclosed & shielded in metal and is not prone to wear & tearing like on all other exposed designs. The riveted attachment points provide strain relief and reduce the possibility of the zipper tearing out of the bottom of the jacket.

This particular Aero 38-1711-P design jacket has pretty much everything I would want in a "Grail" A-2: Seal Vincenza horsehide, collar stand, top stitching around the wool Seal waist & sleeve cuffs and Hookless zipper. I plan to be wearing this one for a LONG time and have now ended my search for any other A-2.

Here are the fit pics. What do you think?

Jim

 

[MediumMech]

Great looking jacket @JimO ! The seal Vincenza is classic, and it looks like a nice fit for the style of jacket from here!

Great point about the locking pull tab! To be honest it had totally escaped my notice, but I have had no issues at all with the zip, I guess I naturally have good zip biomechanics

 

[B-Man2]

Jim O
Looks great and fits you nicely .
This one is a keeper for sure .
Congrats !

 

[London Cabbie]

The Epaulets are very narrow, and have a taper to them:

View attachment 64656View attachment 64657

There you have it! My list of the curiosities of 38-1711-P. Overall the fit is slim in the shoulders and arms, but quite roomy in the body. It's a very interesting jacket all around. I look forward to comments and observations about this contract!

Bloody awesome photos and review particular to this contract. It’s these small observations which are slowly educating me in the difference between contracts. Fantastic looking jacket, I really like Aero reproductions. Partly because they look just so robust. More like this please.

 

[London Cabbie]

Great jacket. A2 search finished…? are you sure?

 

[blackrat2]

Looks very nice on you JimO...

 

[entertainment]

Sleeves look perfect, JimO!
I had my chance to buy that one but hesitated. Now I am kicking myself.

 

[petermack09]

Great jacket, mine was made for me around 2011, dark seal jerky, made by Edith.

 

[JimO]

Great jacket. A2 search finished…? are you sure?

Thanks Cabbie! It is a VERY nice jacket and I can't think of anything else I could possibly want in another A-2 or any other flight jacket. From now on, my back is going to be covered breaking this one in & wearing it long afterwards.

At my age & point in life: "It's not having what you want; it's wanting what you have..."

 

[JimO]

Sleeves look perfect, JimO!
I had my chance to buy that one but hesitated. Now I am kicking myself.

Thanks "e"! The sleeves do creep up a bit when I bend my arms & I'm hoping that they will stretch as well when the hide breaks in & softens.

I too, was hesitating & vacillating (I thought the sleeves were 1" too short, the P2p 1" too big & the length 1' too long), but finally took a chance & pulled the trigger. It turns out the cut, fit & drape of this particular pattern fits me (reasonably well enough), so the gamble paid off.

Sometimes you win & sometimes you lose. In this case, the jacket Gods were smiling upon me...

 

[ausreenactor]

Great jacket. A2 search finished…? are you sure?

Heard that before.... MANY times.