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What is the ideal length for a flight jacket?

w1rc

Member
I have spent the best part of an hour looking at guys wearing their flight jackets during WW-II on this outstanding site to try to determine the answer to this question. This may be strictly an opinion question but here goes. If I were having an A-2 or a G-1 tailor-made how long should it be, waist-length, hip-length, ?????

Thanks to all posters here who share their incredibly knowledge and experience with me and the many others who are primarily readers........these online forums are really what the “information age” is all about....

Best regards,


Michael (w1rc)
 

Greg Gale

Well-Known Member
Historically fit was so all over the place that it really comes down to what you prefer.

Keep in mind that these jackets will look rather short to modern eyes, as they were worn with very high waisted pants or flight suits. Also, a longer jacket becomes cumbersome when you sit in a cockpit (too much bulging). If they are too short, they will slide up above your belt and reveal your underwear :D You can't realistically expect them not to slide up when sitting, though.

Also, it depends on the jacket type: G-1s seem a bit longer to me, MA-1s on the other hand are super short. As a rule of thumb, well, my rule of thumb is that it should cover your belt fully, and still allow for a little bit of blousing. (i.e. you can still push the knits upward to make the bottom of the leather bulge a little bit, but not much.) Again, that's just my personal preference, historically the variation was enormous.
 
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