Original A-2 Flight Jacket

An unexpected Treasure

I use a local marketplace app because I’m always looking for tools, car parts, and other random things I never knew I needed.

One day I hopped on and saw this with the description “Vintage Leather Jacket”. Looked like a cool old leather flight jacket with a lot of wear and great patina. Pic of the back looks similar. Description says there’s a shoulder tear and that’s the next pic – ouch, ugh, ballgame, oh well.

But then there’s one last picture…..

It’s the label. “Bronco Mfg. Corp.”, some of the embroidery on the label is so worn you can’t really read it….and looking closer it looks like the lining has been replaced but someone took pains to keep the original label. It looks like a military label – there’s handwriting – and its a size 42. My Spidey-sense starts tingling…

What’s got me going is that this looks like it might be a real A-2. Not one of the millions of repros or copies or interpretations, but an actual A-2 flight jacket from WWII. If you’re into aviation history at all you know about these iconic jackets. And even if you’re not into aviation history you know about them because variations on the theme have been produced for decades; imitations are everywhere.

But there’s no way, how does one of these end up on FB Marketplace? Plus its a size 42. The real ones are known for fitting on the small side and I’m a 40 suit jacket so a 42 might actually fit me. Inconceivable.

The location is about an hour and a half away, so too far to just swing by for a look. I message the poster, don’t get a quick reply so I internet stalk them to their place of work and leave a message.

After a nervous hour or two she calls and we talk. She’s very nice and says that it may actually be an A-2 but she’s not sure (someone in her family had an original so she’s familiar with what they are). This one came from the contents of an auctioned storage unit that they bought. I ask a bunch of questions and she has to check the jacket when she gets home. She calls later with answers: no handwarmer pockets, she sends a better shot of the rip and label, it all seems legit. So now what?!? I’ve not had a lot of luck buying vintage clothing online. In my experience its been a lot like the forward pass: several things can happen and most of them are bad. But this is a shot at a piece of history, so my enthusiasm carries the day. Somehow I have the nerve to ask for a discount which she agrees to, then I paypal the money, send her a UPS label and cross my fingers.

Family History Interlude

One of my uncles flew in WWII, he was the captain of a B-24 in the Pacific with the 90th Bomb Group of the 5th Air Force, known as the “Jolly Rogers”. My mother’s older brother, I didn’t know him well because he died when I was fairly young, but I remember him as a very nice man and loving uncle. He’s pictured at the left with his crew and plane. I remember seeing his silk escape maps in the attic when I was a kid, and asking about his flight jacket, which my mother said had disintegrated in the humidity of the South Pacific.

Jolly Rogers Jacket Patch

Arrival

The jacket arrived. I tried to prepare myself for a letdown, but there was no need. It was incredible, exactly as advertised. I mean, look at this thing. And it fits…but not like a modern jacket because this was designed B.C. (Before Cheetos). Originals are cut tighter to the body and arms and the sleeve openings are more narrow than contemporary jackets. So it’s a tighter fit, but it’s a fit. And while I was very excited, it was clearly in need of some help. The jacket was a bit stiff and pretty dry, and the tear was a big concern. Due to the tighter cut of the jacket there was really no way to move very much without stressing the shoulder, but how in the world do you fix that?!? The internet to the rescue.

My first stop was the Vintage Leather Jacket Forum (https://www.vintageleatherjackets.org/). I was really excited and posted the jacket with questions about the tear and how to care for it. But instead of a bunch of “Wow”s and “Atta Boy”s I got a lot of sad trombones. I was told that my jacket was in bad shape, probably had “red-rot” and was basically a wall-hanger….wah, wah, waaaah. And it was kind of hard to argue if you’re being objective (and jaded), I mean it was pretty rough, stiff, torn and cracking – but that’s also what I loved about it. Have these people no soul? Philistines.

So while I was a little surprised that there wasn’t more enthusiasm for the project, I learned later that the restoration of old leather jackets (even military ones) is often a thankless task. It’s fairly involved and costly and once they get beyond a certain point they’re more trouble than they’re worth. And I was being told that it looked like this jacket was at that point. So while I was still amazed to have this piece of history, the initial feedback took some of the wind out of my sails.

Fixing the Tear

Fortunately, as I was crying in my beer I heard back from another inquiry. Among my first cries for help was an email to Aero Leather, one of the companies that reproduces A-2s and also restores them, and I got a very nice reply regarding how to fix the shoulder tear. I wound up having a great email conversation with someone I thought was a customer service rep, but who turned out to be the owner, Ken Calder! Great guy with a very interesting story (see sidebar), and an amazing business: https://www.aeroleatherclothing.com/

Ken was funny, sardonic, and very helpful. Among other things he had bought wholesale lots of vintage clothing from the U.S. back in the day and had repaired a lot of it, including a number of leather jackets. He liked mine and said he’d repaired much worse, so the sun started to shine again. He advised fixing the tear with contact cement and a leather patch behind the tear. He recommended a brand of contact cement called Copydex because its latex (water) based, and also advised that the process would be tricky because you only get one chance with contact cement and fixing it from the outside would be awkward at best. Well, I do love a challenge. So, I’m off to track down Copydex….which apparently is only sold by elves in the UK and ships via African Swallow. Great, here’s my card.

Decoding the Jacket

The label identifies it from Bronco Manufacturing, one of the later contracts of the war: contract number W535 AC-2919 was for 59,000 jackets issued May 18th of 1942 (WIkipedia). These jackets were made by several manufacturers which created some wonderful variety in terms of hide types, colors, knits, and smaller details such as zippers, pocket and collar shape, epaulet treatment, etc. From feedback it seems likely that this jacket is in Seal Brown Horsehide, another bonus as its my favorite combination.

Deciphering and interpreting the handwriting on the liner is a bit of guesswork. If “Sq 644” is the squadron, a search on that returns the 644th Bombardment Squadron (from Wikipedia):

First activated as the 644th Bombardment Squadron during World War II, the squadron moved to the European Theater of Operations in the spring of 1944. It flew air support and air interdiction missions with Douglas A-20 Havoc bombers, first from England, then from Advanced Landing Grounds on the European continent. It received a Distinguished Unit Citation for missions flown against German targets during the Battle of the Bulge. In February 1945, the unit began converting to the Douglas A-26 Invader, but the war ended before it flew any combat missions with its new aircraft.

I interpret the number as 19042377. If this is a serial number the National Archives database returns Steven T. Murray of Fresno CA who enlisted as a Private in the Air Corps on 6/26/42, which of course goes with the printed “Murray” above the number. The “Smith” and “Sq 644” appear to be in slightly different ink, maybe it changed hands at some point.

I’ve got about three weeks until the Copydex arrives, so I use the time doing more research and having more conversations. I learn what “red-rot” is, I learn that the zipper pull on my jacket is original but the zipper tape has been replaced, and of course the knits and lining have been replaced. I also learn that leather conservation appears to be a kind of black art, and that there are more leather cremes, moisturizers and gels than there are stars in the summer sky, all with competing claims and glittering testimonies.

As I bounced around the internet asking questions I was fortunate to get a very detailed reply from Barb Carney, the owner of Leather Care and Color in Chicago. She loved the jacket and gave me a lot of information about leather chemistry, but it was a cautionary tale. The short version is that its an uphill battle with older leather that has not been well cared for, because once the fibers are damaged they can’t be undamaged.

Barb introduced me to ADV Leather and recommended their moisturizing gel. I got in touch with them and wound up talking with Jason Murray who has been doing leather repair and restoration for a long time, and he recommended using organza fabric as the backer on the shoulder tear….organza? Sensing my confusion he sent me to a video of him fixing a tear on a leather ottoman using this method, which was a huge help. The technique is to cut the organza patch, lay it where you want it and then brush the contact cement onto and through the fabric, into the leather. It looks easy, but how can it be that easy, and how does it work? Contact cement doesn’t work that way, does it hold, is it flexible? I have lots of lingering questions but realize its now time for some hands-on trial and error, so off we go to Joanne’s fabrics for some organza. I’m intrigued when I see it – its very fine and flexible but also strong, it just doesn’t seem like it will work but what the heck, only one way to find out.

I cut two pieces and tried it on the leather patch I’d purchased back when I was going to use leather to fix the tear. It was very easy to do and the bond was fantastic. When I tried to break it I started to tear the leather, so it was very encouraging. Now I just had to get access to the back of the tear. Fortunately my wife is accustomed to my fits of enthusiasm and is also a very knowledgeable seamstress, so she explained how to remove part of the lining and then turn it inside out. And when I turned it inside out I realized I would need some sort of support for it, so I made a sort of mini-ironing board that fit behind it.

So I started to cut the hand stitching holding the lining in up near the leaf shoulder. Turning it inside out was a little nerve-wracking because I wasn’t sure how fragile the area was. But after a little wrangling I realized that it was pretty tough and still flexible, which is fortunate because I had to turn it inside and outside a bunch trying to figure out how to get the inside flat for gluing.

Getting things lined up took a lot of monkeying around. The epaulet created a height difference and the tear was uneven and also stretched so it was tough to fit back together cleanly. I created some shims and fiddled until I got to a place where it seemed that things were lined up and stable enough to give it a shot. But I still was not liking how the tear was going together and was worried that it might shift under the organza while brushing on the glue, so I tried tacking it together with some glue dots, and that worked like a charm. Some gentle clamping to keep everything in place and then it was time to cut the patch and do a test fit. So far so good.

So with the organza in place it’s time to glue it. With fingers crossed I put some Copydex in a plastic cup and spread it on and through the organza with an acid brush. I rubbed it in a little here and there with my finger but it seemed to grab really well and it started to tack pretty fast so there wasn’t a whole lot of time to fiddle.

I let it dry overnight. I’ve learned that it doesn’t need that much time but I didn’t want to mess with it too early.

And now for the big reveal…and it looks great, amazing, whew! I’m actually very surprised at how well it worked because I couldn’t see what it looked like on the outside prior to gluing. Its very hard to see the tear, even if you know its there. And its very flexible and extremely thin so it won’t telegraph through the leather. Very cool, could not have asked for a better result. Woo hoo!

While I was in there I reinforced two other areas that were looking thin or starting to crack. Very easy and its making me feel better about the future with it, knowing I have this repair method in my back pocket.

Now, with the repairs finally complete, its time to moisturize.

Moisturizing

I did way too much research on how to treat this jacket, and wound up following Barb’s and Jason’s advice on using the ADV Leather moisturizer, and after two treatments it feels like it was the right approach.

People cautioned me about any kind of treatment changing the color, darkening it or destroying the patina, but I figured if I was using something water soluble it wouldn’t be too dark for too long. I tested a small area and was right, it got dark but lightened up pretty quickly.

To the right you can see the difference when its applied, the part of the sleeve to the right is the “before” and the part to the left is the “after”. But when it has a chance to dry it comes back – its still darker but pretty close to the original colors, and a small price to pay for the additional flexibility. It could probably use another treatment on two as time goes on.

Coda

So there it is. Back together and looking like the badass that it is. I hope that this might help some other wayward soul who falls in love with an old leather jacket, military or otherwise. If you happen to be the type of person that this appeals to, please be aware that I actually got very lucky with this purchase, because while it took a lot of time and research to figure out the repairs, it was all stuff I could do and was not costly. If it had needed new knits, a new lining and/or a new zipper it would have added a lot of expense to the project.

This was an incredible random find for an aviation nut. Thanks to all of the people who were patient with my questions and helped along the way. They were gentle with their concerns and generous with their advice.

Sit vis nobiscum