RM Williams 1936 Pattern Flying Boots.

[Andrew]

Some may be aware that I have been discussing with RM Williams about making a repro of the Classic 1936 Pattern Flying boot. I sent one size12 Air Ministry Contracted pair and one mint Bedggood sz 6 pair to them late last year to assess the feasability. They were absolutely confident that they could build a very close clone and offered to build a prototype.

Spoke with them today, they are well into the production of the prototype but they are still sourcing correct sheepskin (weight, colour etc). They advised they've recently had an enquiry from someone else as well so if it's one of us there's no need to follow it up with them, i'll pass on details when available.

They have confirmed they will match as closely as possible all the details of the original AM pair that I provided, with the exception of the rubber heel block where they will probably use their own for the protos as it's something that is pretty generic (I did tell them that some are pretty picky for detail :lol: ). They are building one boot to send to me for comment. Here are the boots I sent.

We discussed the labelling. Is anyone aware whether it is possible to freely reproduce the AM Kings Crown and AM logo or would this be copyrighted? I suggested possibly having this on one puller as per the originals and their own branded logo on the other in each boot. I see ELC use it on their Irvin labels.

 

[Steve27752]

Surely, in Australia or New Zealand there must be a suitable sheep

 

[Clyde from Carolina]

Surely, in Australia or New Zealand there must be a suitable sheep

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:


Those look cool, although I don't know anything about them historically except Gregory Peck sources a pair of RAF boots for Garry Merrill and then ends up with them later in Twelve O'Clock High.

Some of my buddies who ride motorcycles might be into a nice pair of repros.

 

[Dr H]

Fine looking pairs of boots Andrew. :mrgreen:

I rotate several pairs of RM boots at home and work - for those not familiar with the Aussie manufacturer the quality of the repros would be excellent.

 

[CHECK6]

EXCELLENT job Andrew :shock:
FAB

 

[dav3469]

Great News. Looking forward to these RM made boots! I would second the notion if this comes off, the RM version would be the one to have!

 

[Dr H]

What's the story behind the colours Andrew? I was always familiar with the black '36s, but haven't seen brown before.
The russet is growing on me...

 

[handworn]

If not extraordinarily expensive I might get a pair too.

 

[Andrew]

RMW make a range of top boots which are used for dressage riding, show jumping etc and polo, so they condsider these to be part of that family. These are all handmade boots and are pretty bloody expensive. Therefore they predict the price of these being somewhere in the vicinity of $800-900, which I personally wonder how many they would sell at that price. For the same money at least you can wear a jacket daily. Still, they're making a test boot and then another pair so we'll at least get to see what the idea turns out like.

Ian, the Black were worn by Commonwealth Aircrew and the brown by USAAF in the Pacific. What might have happened was that US Aircrew arriving in Australia would have seen the RAAF boys wearing the Bedggood blacks and thought they'd work well for them too, but of course thery needed brown.

I suspect Bedggood made them to order as private purchase boots but judging from photos they were pretty popular. I have have another brown pair named to a Lt in the USAAF.

 

[m444uk]

Seems just about everyman and his dog attempts to make RAF boots these days...

http://www.paddelaters.com/wwII,%20wwii ... ishRAF.php

http://www.replicaters.com/ww2rafuniforms.html

These will keep you warm

http://www.historicflyingclothing.com/v ... php?id=373

 

[m444uk]

I'm sure RM williams have a better chance than most in getting the stitching and vamp correct.
Many other repros seem to get the last shape wrong as well.
They also need to make sure the wool is the correct colour. The old Aero Scotland pair I saw were bright yellow not the correct off-white.

 

[flyboy]

Well - it's been a while. Any news on the boots, Andrew ?

 

[grommet]

Any opinions about the WPG version?

http://onlinemilitaria.net/shopexd.asp?id=1606&bc=no

 

[flyboy]

Hi Alan
Judging from the photo alone, the stitching and the vamp is not right. Just like the seam around the heel seems to go slightly upwards - also wrong. But since I have never handled a pair, it's hard to judge the quality of the sheepskin and leather.
The price is nice though! But I guesse you get what you pay for - as in every other aspect of life.

 

[Falcon_52]

I agree with Soren that the WPG boot are not exactly replicas of the 1936 pattern but they are very comfortable to wear and well put together. I can't wait to pull mine back out of the closet in October.

Noel

 

[Marv]

They also need to make sure the wool is the correct colour. The old Aero Scotland pair I saw were bright yellow not the correct off-white.

I have a pair of the Aero 36 repros and the wool is the correct off-white shade and not the bright yellow you refer to, so I guess depending on the age of the boots could be related to the colour of wool used at the time of production.........I have had mine for about 3 years or so now.

 

[rich]

These look nice......

http://www.eastmanleather.com/product_i ... cts_id=239

 

[Andrew]

Wow, they look great and not a bad price considering the rarity factor. Too bad they can't/ won't find someone else who could make a similar pattern. They are the only repros that resemble the real thing.

Thanks for reminding me of the RM boots Soren, i'll give them a call to see what's happened. By the absence of contact I presume not much but they do have two pairs of my boots I should get back. Last time I spoke to them whilst the outers were fine they'd struck a problem with the sheepskin linings and had to work with another company in Sydney to help sort it out.

I'll give them a call and report back....

 

[Dr H]

These look nice......

http://www.eastmanleather.com/product_i ... cts_id=239

Very, very nice... :mrgreen:

 

[Andrew]

Bad news i'm afraid. RMW confirmed to me today that due to several reasons that will not be proceeding with the project. They had commenced making a prototype but found that despite using the best equipment and skills they could not complete all the work needed themselves and had sought help from another well respected shoemaker here to do the linings. This Company has also confirmed they felt that due to the high costs involved it would not be a feasable endeavour. Other reasons mentioned were the difficulty in obtaining the correct and best materials. At first this does seem difficult to comprehend but these guys are expert bootmakers and we can only take their word.

Apologies to everyone who was keen and contacted me about it. Personally I was hoping but never expecting to see a completed prototype as it was just an idea I once had to ask RMW and I am lucky that they even spent the time considering it and doing some investigative work. For me this makes it more understandable why the likes of Eastman have not proceeded with another run of their repro boots.

I'd like to think that there might be another manufacturer here who might have the skills and equipment needed but I don't think there would be. RMW said that they didn't know of any other option and they also said that you would need to have specific machinery to complete all the stages, so at least from this end the case is unfortunately closed.