Upcoming Contract A-2's - Headwind Mfg Co

[Skyhawk]

We have several contract A-2's coming up in the near future. Our list is as follows:
Goldsmith A-2 - Available now
Security Aviation Togs A2 - AC-32-485 - coming soon
Knopf A-2 - AC-42-18246-P Coming soon
Perry Sportswear A-2 AC-23377- Coming soon
Perry Sportswear A-2 AC-42-16175-P-- Coming soon

With the exception of the Goldsmith and SAT, all contract jackets are patterned off the real jackets which we have in hand. Every detail, stitch line, and leather panel are carefully reproduced.

We have 3 shades of Russet Horse Hide. Dark, Med, Light. Also a nice russet goatskin. Images will be posted later.
Our new russet goat. This will be on the Perry 23377:

100% period correct hardware of course: A sample of our blackened United Car Hardware:

Always the correct high quality zipper for the contract. We have sources for nearly every Talon and Conmar zipper model used on the wartime A-2's.

More to come soon.....

 

[jerome35]

What about production's time?

 

[ausreenactor]

View attachment 57804

We have several contract A-2's coming up in the near future. Our list is as follows:
Goldsmith A-2 - Available now
Security Aviation Togs A2 - AC-32-485 - coming soon
Knopf A-2 - AC-42-18246-P Coming soon
Perry Sportswear A-2 AC-23377- Coming soon
Perry Sportswear A-2 AC-42-16175-P-- Coming soon

With the exception of the Goldsmith and SAT, all contract jackets are patterned off the real jackets which we have in hand. Every detail, stitch line, and leather panel are carefully reproduced.

We have 3 shades of Russet Horse Hide. Dark, Med, Light. Also a nice russet goatskin. Images will be posted later.
Our new russet goat. This will be on the Perry 23377:
View attachment 57812
View attachment 57813

100% period correct hardware of course: A sample of our blackened United Car Hardware:
View attachment 57805
Always the correct high quality zipper for the contract. We have sources for nearly every Talon and Conmar zipper model used on the wartime A-2's.
View attachment 57808

View attachment 57807View attachment 57806
More to come soon.....

Watching keenly...

 

[Skyhawk]

What about production's time?

The goal is 2 weeks. We are nearly caught up on orders and once we are, we should be able to meet that goal.

 

[johnwayne]

Any ideas on pricing on these Jay, ie the Perry?

 

[Skyhawk]

Not exactly sure yet. Generally my jackets run about 1/2 price of the big boys, so you can expect that type of price range. I will post details after the prototypes are made. Still working out my cost per jacket.

 

[Brettafett]

Jay, assume you be offering long or x long as custom, please also let us know if this will cost more?

 

[Skyhawk]

Yes we will. As always we offer custom sizing for $50 extra.

 

[ShanghaiJack]

Hey Jay..!!

Any news or updates on the Spalding A-2?

 

[Skyhawk]

Hey! I have the pattern made for that jacket. It is ready to go but I only made a goat prototype so far. Then the virus hit and it has been just catch up since we opened back up.

Now we are about to catch up and so I am starting to release our plans for the near future. But yeah! I need to get a Capeskin version of that jacket done and put up on the site. Here are some photos of the Goatskin one:

The jacket in question was this pre - A-2 jacket that surfaced in 1930, right when the A-2 was being developed. Appears to made of Capeskin. A collar snap instead of hook, no snaps on the collar, and an early Hookless zipper without the rivets installed. A practice done by Spalding in the 1930's and seen on their other jackets. I believe this is a test jacket for the A-2 program. It is close to the A-2, but major changes were made after this jacket for the contracts.

 

[London Cabbie]

Jay, what leather is this...? Looks great. The drape looks really comfortable. Well done.

 

[Skyhawk]

Thanks. That's our tan antique sheep skin. I like that hide. It has a lot of grain and color variations. The antiquing is nice. Pretty subtle and not overdone. The real original I believe was Capeskin, by the looks of all of that bubbly grain on the front on Spatz's jacket. Plus the general drape and folds. The pockets are single layer too, like an A-1.

 

[zoomer]

Nice beginning here...love the sheep and the subtle antiquing.

I notice these variations from old pix:
- the pockets are a little wider in ratio to the length.
- the centerline has been shifted to the wearer's right.
- the collar looks thicker, or not as pointy as the originals. I bet the 1930 type shirt collar was the model...pointy, lightly interfaced (or not at all), and slightly curved out along the bottom edge. or maybe the cape was thin enough to curl on its own.

Note that I am just going by Spatz's pic here. It's the best one we have imo.

 

[Bremspropeller]

Our new russet goat. This will be on the Perry 23377:

Hey Jay, any idea as to when you may be able to show the first test-jackets for the Perry 23377?
Looking forward to seeing those!

 

[Skyhawk]

Hey, believe me I am itching to get the Perry going. I now have all the parts including that nice Goatskin. Currently we are working on the Church M422a, waiting for Goatskin for that which should be in stock by next week. Also we are burning through the list of customer orders. Currently we are working on 2 Goldsmith A-2's. Then we have 2 more slated to be made next week when we get our next batch of knits delivered. Also we have 2 High Hats jackets, a C-2, a cafe racer jacket, all customer orders waiting on hides that just came in this week. I am going to squeeze in the Perry as soon as the labels arrive. My master pattern maker is done with the Church, so I will have him pattern the original Perry next when it gets to him. It's on the way now.
Ball park, maybe 3 weeks to get the first one done. It will be a size 38. That is what I have. I always like to do an exact copy of the jacket I have, that way we can get the pattern perfect before tweaking things for the other sizes.

 

[Bremspropeller]

Hey Jay, any news on the Perry?