The Aero 15142P Seventy Eight Years Later.

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Aero epaulets "X" switching have been a hot topic a while here...

Ken, so John was providing the wrong labels, but he's not responsible for its positioning 1 inch too high and the seams of the hanger that doesn't look like the original ?

Nothing wrong with the labels.................joke? Get it? I was just pointing out "The Emporor's New Suit" thinking that goes on in this parish

To understand fine detail positioning it's vital to look at mulipule examples of the same contract
I refer back to the jackets we made for Levis, we had 20 plus machinists at Aero all on the identical style but Julie could ID excatly who had made which from a rail full of "identical" jackets

Do you REALLY think the designer wanted half the X stitch hidden?......................Give me a break

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Aero epaulets "X" switching have been a hot topic a while here...

Ken, so John was providing the wrong labels, but he's not responsible for its positioning 1 inch too high and the seams of the hanger that doesn't look like the original ?

Like I said, you need to look at more than the one original..........................

I rest my case, your honour

 

[foster]

Do you REALLY think the designer wanted half the X stitch hidden?......................Give me a break

What the designer intended does not always remain in effect once the production begins.

Aesthetically, the full visible X does look more professional. That being said, a large number of the original Aero A-2's were not made that way in the wartime production. Some customers will want a copy that matches the folded-under X, whereas others will want this to be remedied as in this Aero Scotland A-2.

As a mentor of mine repeatedly emphasized to me: "The customer may not always be right, but we must always remember that they are the customer and we should make it right by them."

 

[CBI]

great looking jackets.

lets not let this thread get salty, its juuuuust starting to................

 

[blackrat2]

Awesome post there, thanks for chipping in Ken
The repro looks really nice, would like to see one in the new leathers

 

[Saint-ex]

To understand fine detail positioning it's vital to look at mulipule examples of the same contract
I refer back to the jackets we made for Levis, we had 20 plus machinists at Aero all on the identical style but Julie could ID excatly who had made which from a rail full of "identical" jackets

Indeed I understand that the originals are not always identical.

I teased you because I found it easy to blame someone else.
But I might not have caught the irony.

 

[B-Man2]

Hi Guys
Let’s not pick each little detail apart . That wasn’t the intention of my post . You can get into the weeds very quickly with any repro vs original jacket , because of a variety of reasons. I’ve never been a “number of stitches” per inch counter. Let’s just agree that all repros regardless of who made them, will have their differences from their original counterparts . That’s why they’re repros .
Cheers

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

The most "authentic" repros of WW2 Aeros are probably the ones made by our apprentices, the quality of the sewing is far closer to WW2 "standards" than those made by any of our fully qualified machinists, John Chapman, Bill Kelso et al

 

[B-Man2]

The most "authentic" repros of WW2 Aeros are probably the ones made by our apprentices, the quality of the sewing is far closer to WW2 "standards" than those made by any of our fully qualified machinists, John Chapman, Bill Kelso et al

That comment is spot on . I’ve mention a few times that during the end of WWII and during the Korean War my mother worked at the Philadelphia Quartermaster Depot as a skilled sewing machine operator sewing various types of combat uniforms together. I remember her telling stories of co-workers who couldn’t sew the patterns together correctly, but in spite of that, they were still kept on the job because the military needed sewing machine operators . The clothing they sewed incorrectly was simply thrown into bins with the correctly sewn items and sent out to the troops .

 

[London Cabbie]

As ever, brilliant thread. It’s exactly the information that keeps me on the forum (and the humour...) Thankyou Sir.

 

[B-Man2]

As ever, brilliant thread. It’s exactly the information that keeps me on the forum (and the humour...) Thankyou Sir.

Thanks for the kind words Stu

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

As an example, in our archives we have an original (Circa 1945/6) Aero Beacon NY Type A-2 (one of their civvy market $8.99 jackets) where the two fronts have been cut in error as opposites, Lh Front pattern used to cut RH Front and vice versa
The jacket was made up as it was cut, the zip is way off centre, it's had decades of wear despite the glaring error, amazing grain too!
I can ask the factory for photos if anyone is intrested

 

[B-Man2]

As an example, in our archives we have an original (Circa 1945/6) Aero Beacon NY Type A-2 (one of their civvy market $8.99 jackets) where the two fronts have been cut in error as opposites, Lh Front pattern used to cut RH Front and vice versa
The jacket was made up as it was cut, the zip is way off centre, it's had decades of wear despite the glaring error, amazing grain too!
I can ask the factory for photos if anyone is intrested

Ken
Please post them when you have some free time . I’ve seen originals with mis aligned pockets , unbalanced collars , pocket flaps misaligned and the list goes on . This conversation has been discussed many times in the past . Half agree that the most original repro A2 is one that’s made with these types of idiosyncrasies. However, if a new repro showed up looking like that I’m sure the buyer would be appalled and rightly so . But factually that would be an example of an accurate repro .

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

See Post #52

 

[bazzer]

They are lovely jackets thank you for posting
Baz

 

[foster]

That commercial Aero does have some amazing grain!

Do I see a full X at the shoulder end of the epaulet in that one? Hard to tell from the angle, but it does look that way?

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

That commercial Aero does have some amazing grain!

Do I see a full X at the shoulder end of the epaulet in that one? Hard to tell from the angle, but it does look that way?

I'll find out from the factory.....................can't say I've ever noticed one way or the other

 

[Bombing IP]

Ken thanks for your input most enlightening .

Rgds jeff

 

[Dany McDonald]

Ken, could a customer have a Aero A-2 made by an apprentice with the new Kelpie?

Dany

 

[Ken at Aero Leather]

Ken, could a customer have a Aero A-2 made by an apprentice with the new Kelpie?

Dany

I don't see why not, provided we've got someone training on A-2s around the time your order came up (I think we are aroiund 12 weeks right now) or you were happy to wait till one did start