Really? I was under the impression that RAF pilots kind of had a personal preference choice between the flight suit or the Irvin no matter what they were flying, be it Spitfire, Hurricane or Bomber...
Mike
Really? I was under the impression that RAF pilots kind of had a personal preference choice between the flight suit or the Irvin no matter what they were flying, be it Spitfire, Hurricane or Bomber...
Mike
If you go looking for a fight, you can always find one - Eugene Tobin, RAF Spitfire pilot, 1940
Is it made from the "mid weight" shearling offered on their sale pages? I got mine about three or four months ago and love it.
Cheers!
Absolutely awesome jacket!
If you scored that under 5 bills, you got a deal.
Good job!
Be sure to post the complete kit whn you get it!
It's not a matter of preference or allocation, it's a matter of timing.Really? I was under the impression that RAF pilots kind of had a personal preference choice between the flight suit or the Irvin no matter what they were flying, be it Spitfire, Hurricane or Bomber...
As the war progressed, shortages in sheepskin caused Irvins to have more and more panels - in order to conserve material. The sort of jacket you have ceased being made sometime in 1940. It was followed, sometime that year, by a split panel Irvin.
Meanwhile, the Hurricane was developed and deployed earlier than the Spitfire, which also was being deployed in early 1940.
Therefore, if you were a Spitfire pilot, your Irvin probably would not have been the early, no-panel Irvin. In contrast, Hurricanes, which were deployed in the 1930's, were piloted by men who had those early Irvins.
Sir Henry Billingsgate
Not a wholly reliable argument... there would have been 'one-piece' Irvins around for the duration of the whole War- fear not French- you done good!
B
T
Looking with my good ear peeled.
There's no shame in being a Hurricane pilot - far from it. Actually, Hurricanes bore the brunt of the Battle of Britain.Not a wholly reliable argument... there would have been 'one-piece' Irvins around for the duration of the whole War- fear not French- you done good!
Sir Henry Billingsgate
As far as I know all RAF aircrew were issued with Irvins up to about 1943, but whether they wore them or not was a matter of choice - and in the early war era it seems few fighter pilots actually wore them while flying - they were too bulky, and cold wasn't such a problem in a Spitfire or Hurricane as in a bomber. This I have on the authority of several former Battle of Britain pilots. They often wore them on the ground however and were often photographed in them - on the ground! In combat Irvins were mostly worn by bomber crews.
Just received my new (well, new to me, but second-hand) Eastman Leather Clo. Irvin styled RAF 1942 model flying jacket and my original from that era (41-42).
I'm going to let the photos tell most of the story, but the Eastman if very well made. The shade of shearling/wool is almost identical, taking into account that the original is more golden due to aging probably. Also, the original is darker in hide, but bear in mind this is a 60+ old jacket, so it will darken with usage and any oils or dirt that has got onto it. I have seen a NOS Irvin, and the colour of hide would match that of the Eastman (and also Aero repros I've seen and handled).
Belt buckle on the Eastman looks cast off an original. Zip tapes on the Eastman are identical to my original Dots, but the pullers on the Eastman cuff zips are modelled on Lightnings, while the main front zip is a semi copy of a Dot with the box stop, familiar with Dots (although the front puller is modelled on a lightning! all very confusing). But it works.
A nice touch from Eastman is for the elastic behind the collar which originals have to close the collar up when wearing high altitude mits. Just a nice little touch of authenticity that puts it a tad ahead of some other repro makers (but it is a white elephant, in that who would use it. But nice all the same!).
Most of the seams and stitching count are identical to my orginal.
The collar on the Eastman looks abit bigger/broader when laid flat when you are wearing it (ie: you don't have the collar pulled up), but maybe that will settle with age.
The original has more weight and solidness to it in both the main leather panels and the panel behind the collar. Not sure if this is what 60 years does to the leather and what treatments/oils have been put into the hide by its owners, but definitely more solid and heavier than the Eastman.
I like Eastman's touch with the leather pulls on all the zip pullers. Some originals had these, some did not. My original has them on the cuff pulls, but the main Dot zip has a spare piece of leather that has been tied through to allow aircrew with mitts to pull it up/down easily.
When I saw a batch of the ELC Irvins at Duxford last year (2005), I did feel that for all the obvious hard work that had been put into them, the little plastic bits at the bottom of the main zip tape let them down. And I felt disappointed for the Eastman team, because it's little naffy things like that, that the punters often pick up on regarding period accuracies. But with the one I have, it doesn't have the platic pieces, so maybe that has been corrected (?), hope so.
Sizing, mmmm, always a difficult issue from maker to maker. Eastman have their Irvin marked as a 44". But it feels like a 40-42 on me and wears very like my original which is a 40-42 wartime sizing.
Am I pleased with it. Generally, yes. As a repro, it's a good one, I actually think that Gary and boys down in Devon (UK) have done themselves proud with this number and should give themselves a deserved pat on the back for all the hardwork and detail and construction in these pretty faithful copies.
Worth a retail value brand new of £400 (UK)..? Really 'you' have got to answer that, but I know that for that amount you can get a damned good original in excellent condition.
Advice, if you want to go repro, keep an eye out for a decent second hand one, but never rule out going for the real deal!
Hot ginger and dynamite, There's nothing but that at night,
Back in Nagasaki Where the fellers chew tobaccy and the
women wicky-wacky Woo.
You've every right to be chuffed about those jackets, Paddy. Super nice.
I'm still waffling on an A2 like a sailor who can't choose between Betty and Sally. This coming Sunday will find me surrounded by original jackets of all kinds so I hope that gets me off the fence.
Now, the real test of that new Irvin is to wear it down to the government offices and see it you get a nice petting!
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A sense of the fundamental decencies is parcelled out unequally at birth. - Fitzgerald
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Just need a few accessories to compliment this jacket!
Hot ginger and dynamite, There's nothing but that at night,
Back in Nagasaki Where the fellers chew tobaccy and the
women wicky-wacky Woo.
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