Pictures of Robert Schafer's A-2

[bazelot]

Finally got my fighter pilot A-2 jacket. The hide is pretty strong throughout except on top of the sleeves. THe leather has surface cracks there but it still feel pretty strong. I do not know if it is dry rot or not but it does not look like it. Some sort of conditioner was applied to the jacket. The jacket came documented with a lot of paperwork (discharge papers, roster cheets, reunion documents, pictures....) that I need to scan. The original owner told me that he mail me more pics and docs that he found after mailing me the jacket.
I originally thought it was a no name contract but I am now leaning more towards an Aero. What do guys think?

 

[Roughwear]

Great jacket and yes the large ring snaps and square bottomed pockets are typical of Aero. I wonder which contract? Perhaps the 42-18775-P, which often had brown knits rather than russet?

 

[bazelot]

Looked at John's CD and it is definitely an Aero.

 

[Peter Graham]

If it's an Aero you will be able to buy a label for it.

 

[bazelot]

If it's an Aero you will be able to buy a label for it.

That's actually an excellent point. i completely forgot about that. I will send my contact at Aero an email to see if it is possible. They did it once so they should be able to do it another time.

 

[Anonymous]

Beautiful patina on that leather.

 

[bazelot]

Beautiful patina on that leather.

Yeah I love the patina on this jacket. Especially now that all the lotion that was applied to it (no idea what) is dry. The only areas of concern on this jacket are the top of the sleeve which are cracked but the leather seems to be quite strong as I could not help testing it
The pockets have particularly well aged. The weird thing is that the left pocket is at least 1 inch further away from the zipper than the right one. It is also a little higher. I guess today's repros do not emulate this

 

[bazelot]

I just got more paperwork from the seller and also an extra picture of the pilot in his A-2 jacket.