Flying Jackets

History’s love affair with the aviator’s best friend.

- Dave Parsons

A CRITICAL LOOK BACK on aircraft design and aviation flight clothing reveals continual advances in technology that yielded higher performance, safety, and comfort. Yet over the last 80 or so years, the leather flight jackets worn originally by U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Army Air Force aviators in the 1940s have remained relatively true to the original designs, despite considerable advances in every aspect of aviation flight clothing and protective equipment.

Flight Gear at the Beginning: World War I

As the war clouds of WW I loomed on the horizon, aviators did not have special flight clothing and typically flew with whatever uniform was prescribed as the uniform of the day. Throughout the world’s air forces, this widespread practice dates back to the origins of flight when Orville and Wilbur Wright flew their Flyer wearing suits and ties; WW I aviators flew in their service dress jackets with “choker”-style collars. It was no wonder that silk scarves were introduced to protect necks from chafing.

The common-day suit of the time sufficed for the early flights of limited duration, speed, and altitude. As speeds increased and aircraft pushed ever higher for longer flights, aviating became progressively more inhospitable owing to wind blast and the cold temperatures at altitude. Aviators turned to the only available sources of robust protective clothing: sports-equipment suppliers and “outfitters,” whose tailors had produced specialized clothing for years for use by expeditions venturing into the Arctic cold and the high altitudes of unconquered summits.