The Type A-2 leather flight jacket is one of the most classic and immediately recognizable articles of military clothing ever designed. It is most closely associated with World War II U.S. Army fighter pilots, who often decorated their jackets with squadron patches and elaborate artwork painted on the back. Sometimes incorrectly referred to as a "bomber" jacket, its official designation was "Jacket, Pilot's (summer)," and its wartime usage was limited neither to pilots nor to bomber crews.
The Type A-2 flying jacket was standardized by the U.S. Army Air Corps as the successor to the Type A-1 flying jacket. The Type Designation Sheet lists the dates for Service Test as September 20, 1930, for Standardized on May 9, 1931. A Limited Standard was issued on April 27, 1943. The military specification number is 94-3040. The Drawing Number was given as 31-1415, but the spec labels found in the jackets themselves show this to be 30-1415.
The U.S. Army Air Forces Class 13 Catalog listed the A-2 as "Jacket, Flying, Type A-2," with Spec. No. 94-3040. It describes the jacket's material as, "seal brown horsehide leather, knitted wristlets and waistband (skirt)." Sizes were listed as ranging in even numbers from 32 through 54.
Although the actual design would vary slightly depending on the manufacturer, and even among contracts within a single manufacturer, all A-2 jackets had several distinguishing characteristics: a snap-flap patch pocket on either side that does not have a hand warmer compartments, a shirt style collar, epaulets, knit cuffs and waistband, back construction from a single piece of leather, and finally a plain silk or cotton inner lining with a military spec tag attached just below the back collar. Most pre-war and wartime A-2's are constructed of horse hide, which was either vegetable or chrome tanned. A few original A-2's appear to have been made from goatskin (like the Navy G-1 jacket), and some possibly from steer hide.
Wartime issued A-2 jackets appear in a wide range of color tones and hues, although all are based on two distinct colors: Seal (dark brown to almost black) and Russett (light brown to pale red).
Early A-2's had linings made from silk, per the original specification. This was substituted for cotton later on. A letter from the Materiel Division of Wright Field, dated 7 January 1939, states that the use of silk in flying jackets had been discontinued "as its procurement was found not to be feasible." The letter does not say when this happened, but it makes it clear that the vast majority of original A-2 jackets have cotton linings.
Zippers were made of steel or brass and some were nickel plated. Known zipper suppliers were Talon, Crown, Conmar, and Kwik, with Talon providing the majority of zippers used in wartime A-2 construction.
Unlike modern loose-fitting jackets, the A-2 was a rather trim-fitting jacket in both the torso and sleeves.
There were many manufactures of A-2 jackets during WWII, with a wide range of quality and fit. These include:
Aero Leather Clothing Co., Inc. Bronco Mfg. Co. Cable Raincoat Co. Cooper Sportswear Mfg. Co. David D. Doniger & Co. J.A. Dubow Mfg. Co. Monarch Mfg. Co. Perry Sportswear, Inc. Poughkeepsie Leather Coat Co., Inc. Rough Wear Clothing Co. Spiewak & Sons Star Sportswear United Sheeplined Clothing Co. Werber Sportswear
The A-2 jacket was awarded to an Army Air Corps. pilot upon completion of their basic flight training, and always before they progressed to advanced training. No standardized system of distribution was used, though generally the flight officers were lined up in front of boxes containing jackets of various sizes and given the appropriate size jacket by the base quartermaster. Unlike other articles of military clothing each flight officer received only one A-2 jacket.
The A-2 was a treasured item to the flight officer and was worn with as much pride as their wings. As the pilot progressed through training and combat they often added and removed squadron patches, rank bars and occasionally elaborate artwork depicting the type of aircraft they flew, or a copy of the artwork painted on their airplane. Bomber pilots often added small bombs to the right front of their jackets indicating the number of missions they had flown. As a result, many jackets ended up with numerous stitch marks as patches of various sizes were removed and and replaced when the pilot changed squadrons. Unlike Navy pilots, who often wore the patches of every squadron they had ever flown with, Army pilots could only display the patch of their current assignment. The emblem of the Amy Air Corps. was often sewn or painted on the left shoulder, while the shield of the Air Force division was generally displayed on the right.
Despite becoming a symbol of the American pilot, in 1942 General H. H. "Hap" Arnold canceled any further contracts in favor of newer cloth shell jackets. Even after the transition to cloth jackets it was impossible to prevent pilots from continuing to obtain and wear the stylish A-2 jacket, as demonstrated by the large number of photos clearly showing Korean War pilots flying F-82's and F-86's while still wearing the original A-2 jacket issued to them a decade earlier.
It's important to note that although the A-2 is sometimes referred to as a "Bomber Jacket" in reality only the bomber's pilots generally wore them. The rest of the bomber crew, including gunners, navigator, bombardier, and so on usually wore the heavier sheepskin lined Type B-3 or B-6 jacket, which was much better suited to standing in front of an open gun port and turret.
Throughout the War as the A-2's popularity grew so too did its demand. Because only pilots and officers could obtain A-2 jackets through regular channels a small "cottage industry" soon appeared, epecially in England, to make A-2 style jackets for GI's who otherwise couldn't get one. This was especially true after the Army stopped issuing leather jackets in 1942, and disappointed pilots were sent to war in the less desirable cloth jackets, or were unable to replace A-2's they had lost or damaged. As a result, many war era jackets used by WWII pilots are clearly not true to original military specifications, though this makes them no less historic.
Original wartime issued A-2 jackets are rare but not unavailable. Tens of thousands were issued from 1931 until 1942, and some old stock jackets may have been issued even into the late 1940's long after the Type was discontinued as an article of military clothing. The value of such original range widely depending on condition, known history, patches and artwork, and even size. Most originals used a sizing system considerable smaller than today's comparable sizes. In other words, an original size 42 might be closer to a modern 40 or even a 38 depending on the manufacturer. Expect to pay between $800 and $5,000 for an original A-2 jacket, with wearable examples generally running $1,000 and up.
The National Museum of the United States Air Force has an amazing collection of original A-2 jackets, most donated by the families of Air Force pilots. No less than fifty are on display at any time throughout the Museum, including many historic jackets such as Gen. Jimmy Stewart's A-2, an A-2 from the AVG "Flying Tigers," and an A-2 worn by one of the few pilots to get airborne during the Battle of Pearl Harbour.
Just as a cottage industry appeared during the war to meet the need for A-2 jackets, so too does it still exist today. Because the A-2 never went out of style, production never really ceased. Over the years it has varied in style and accuracy relative to the original war ear design, but has remained visible in popular movies and TV shows of the 1950's and 1960's. In the mid-1970's several small companies catering to purists began undertaking the job of designing and constructing authentic style reproductions that were as close to the original war era A-2 as possible. Using correct patterns, often obtained through "reverse engineering" from dissected originals, and using correct vegetable dyed horse hide, cotton thread, and even actual WWII era old stock Talon zippers they have effectively recreated a wartime era jacket that can be worn daily without fear of damaging a valuable original. Such authenticity doesn't come cheap, as such jackets can regularly cost $800 or more.
A-2 jackets can be seen in virtually every WWII movie ever made, as they came to represent the American fighting man just as much as the P-51 Mustang and Colt .45 automatic. Seeing legendary actors such as Gregory Peck and John Wayne on the big screen wearing A-2's only reinforced their popularity. By the 1950's the A-2 was moving into the role of the motorcycle jacket, which would soon evolve into it's own distinct style. The jacket worn by Henry Winkler in the role of "Fonzie" in the TV show "Happy Days" was a variation of the A-2 jacket. In the 1960's and 1970's the A-2 would reappear in a new crop of big budget WWII films such as "The Great Escape" and "Patton," as well as being the wardrobe of choice for Bob Crane's character of Colonel Hogan in the popular TV series "Hogan's Heroes." This same jacket, manufactured by the studio's costume department, would later be worn by Frank Sinatra in the film "Von Ryan's Express."