Over the Hump Burma A-2 Jacket

[Carnacki25]

I was watching Pawn Stars the other night, and a guy sold his dad's A-2 for $800. It was a Cargo Pilots jacket and had the "camel" insignias for his missions flying "over the hump." Does anyone have an original or repro jacket made up like this? I'd love to see pictures.

My great uncle flew that route during the war and I think they are particularly cool. He told a story about transporting some villagers and having them build a fire in the plane to keep warm! Here is a similar jacket:

http://www.usaaf-in-cbi.com/humpflyer/will_jacket.htm

 

[Otter]

Aero used to do the transport command patch, the patch pages on the website area bit thin now but if you drop an email to them (it usualy is Amanda that replies) they are very helpful. They do the 10th AF patches and CBI shields in layered leather as well as numerous blood chits in leather as well as the nice silk screened blood chit that sews well into the jacket liner to make a nice inner pocket. I had the full Burma Bridge Busters treatment done to a Goatskin Aero A2 and have one as well on an older H/H Aero Aces edition with the red silk lining (bought ebay for £110 as no one else wanted it). I had a jerky H/H Aero with the older 1st version leather bloodchit, leather large unnoficial Flying Tigers patch and Nationalist Chinese Pilots wings. I had to sell that jacket as it became too tight across my shoulders. Funnily enough I used to find Chinese folks subtly tryng to read what was on the back of the blood chit while they walked behind me. The BBB version is in Burmese (Myanmar?) and have never found anyone that can read it. Let me know if you want me to post any photos of the ones I still have as Aero will still supply the patches loose.

 

[Carnacki25]

I'd love to see the BBB jacket and the flying tigers one if you have pictures. Thanks for the tips!

 

[Lando]

I made this jacket after reading about the 308th Bomb Group. They ending up flying the Hump quite a bit and I wanted to honor that history. Its an interesting bit of history that people often don't know about so I like when people ask me what it means. I figured I would show it here since you were asking about Burma Hump Jackets. This is just a US Authentic in Seal HH with their patches. I would have preferred the patch be a little bigger but the price was right.

 

[Carnacki25]

Very nice, both patches really look nicely made, and its also pretty understated. Nice pick up!
Who did you get to sow the patches onto the jacket?

 

[Carnacki25]

Here is an interview with my great uncle about his experiences:

http://www.wisvetsmuseum.com/collections/oral_history/transcriptions/R/Remington, Frank _OH344_.pdf

 

[Otter]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74324106@N04/

That should work, bit mixed up, the berry colur knits are the goatskin, the brown is the horsehide, sorry I do not have the other jacket as the drive it was on pancaked a while back!

 

[Lando]

Very nice, both patches really look nicely made, and its also pretty understated. Nice pick up!
Who did you get to sow the patches onto the jacket?

US Authentic had the patches. I just told them where to put it. So it came finished as you see it. They have a lot of patches on their site which is a nice reference if nothing else.

Otter, those are some great A2's by the way.

 

[Otter]

Many thanks, Mrs Otter thought I was mad for buying the same jacket twice but I just could not resist. The goat is realy comfy, required no breaking in and is the jacket I wear most weekends. I keep the horsehide for high days and hollidays and wear my Aero B10 to work most days. Imust take some photos of my 1970's Sefton repro, it has nice back art and a squadron patch that I cannot identify.

 

[Carnacki25]

Really nice collection! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Otter]

Nice linkey to the Hump page, I saw it a few years ago but have not looked since. I read some of the text and I have a copy of the book he is talking about, The Art of The Flight Jacket. You realy should avoid this book as it has lots of very nice colour photos of WW11 and Korea age jackets and it just give you too many ideas!:eusa_doh: IIRC there is a realy nice night fighter pilots jacket in there, must dig that book out and flip through it again.

 

[Carnacki25]

Who would I take a jacket to get patches sewn on it? A cobbler? I've read the DIY instructions on the site, but I don't think I can handle that, even on a cheap A2. Is there anyone reputable online I could send it to?


PS: The 426 Night Fighter Emblem is amazing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:426nfs-emblem.jpg

I've only been able to find the RKO Patches, which I've heard don't hold up too well.

 

[Otter]

Most places that alter clothing should be able to handle it as long as they have heavy enough machines. Not a bad idea with the cobblers if you know a good one, try also sailmakers if there are any near where you are. The patches on the Goat jacket are about 6-7 years old now, worn most weekends so they hold up well. The shoulder patches are multi layer leather of various colours, the back and squadron patches are multilayer leather and painted.

Just to make you cry, Aero did a special run of those goat A2's, if I recall correctly the were about £150 (ex patches), I think they even cleared the last remaining sizes out for £99! As an experiment they had them sewn in India from materials sent across. Mine has been a rock solid jacket, thoroughly recommended if you can find one secondhand. The giveaway is the berry knits (although these are used of the other jackets as well), goatskin and Aero Flight lable to distinguish them from the main line jackets, but I have seen some on the 'bay with people asking big bucks, so good hunting.

 

[Lando]

I lucked out when it comes to patches. I found a guy just a few towns over who fixes leather luggage and specifically does repairs to flight jackets. I don't know if I would trust him with complex repairs, but for patches he does a great job. Ive been going to him for a while now and he's always doesn't expert work on my patches. I would just google leather workers, or leather repair people in your area and see who pops up. That's how I found my guy. Sometimes, people who do shoe repair can do it as well, especially if it's one of those heavier horse hide jackets.