Recent content by jacketquest

Have you seen some of the Japanese prices? They're astronomical, something like $3.5k to $4.5k+ for some jackets. I know some of these are special editions (vintage zips etc) but really? Hopefully I'm converting incorrectly. http://www.americaya.net/langlitzleathers.htm I was in Portland last...

I'm not a fan of the shiny leather, makes it look like cheap "pleather".

Thanks for sharing such an amazing piece of history! It must have been a labor of love restoring it. I feel privileged to see such a rare example.

Hi Peacoat, I believe that is indeed the bombardier's station and the guns on the sides are "cheek" guns that were installed on later models. My understanding is that the navigator operated the left or right gun.

I believe it was $450 for a 30 minute flight. BTW for jacket fans, I wore an original Bronco 29191 russet A-2. Just felt right.

It was crazy loud but surprisingly smooth, which I guess they had to be for precision bombing. The cabin is quite cramped. They let us move around to different locations including the nose turret which has the best views. Sample vid (sorry for the crappy camera work)

This is very tragic. I took a flight on that same B-17 when the Wings of Freedom Tour was at Moffett a couple years ago. In the back of my mind, I had some misgivings about the safety of such vintage aircraft but had always wondered what it was like to fly in them so went ahead. It was an...

Here's a somewhat less common Fried Osterman M422-a:

I have a pair of Wolverine 1K's and sized down 1/2 from normal 10.5 to 10 and the fit is comfortable. The boot is built with lots of room in the toe box. The CXL horween hide is very nice and supple and there has been no break in to speak of. But as with others, I am wondering if the boots are...

That measurement doesn't exist according to LW....

whoever has samples, can you describe the hand of the leather? Is it spongy like some deer hides tend to be?

Interesting, I didn't know someone revived the name. Jackets look nice from the few photos but @$2K for HH I think I'd go with Langlitz HH as it's about the same price.

Andrew, Thanks for posting this information. It's fascinating to see the sizes of the various contracts. The examples I've owned are mostly from the large contracts. It's pretty amazing that you own 2 out of a mere 5,000. What are the chances of acquiring surviving examples after such a long...

When I ordered my HWM size 40, I needed a bit more shoulder room (closer to a 42) and Ken advised that he could instruct the seamstress to make smaller shoulder seams to give more room. It worked and the shoulders fit well.

I have always received excellent service from Aero over the years and a long time ago I was lucky enough to deal directly with Ken on a number of jackets, new and restored vintage ones. I haven't ordered a new Aero in a while but if I could deal with Ken again I certainly would.