B-1 Leather Flight Jacket Info

[Bodes]

Forum Members, I am currently looking for information concerning B-1 leather flight jackets.....Any help is greatly appreciated....Bodes

[Stony]

Rare and pre-WWII. Followed up by the B-2 and the well known B-3. All are cold weather, fleece lined leather jackets.

[Bodes]

Rare and pre-WWII. Followed up by the B-2 and the well known B-3. All are cold weather, fleece lined leather jackets.

 

Thanks Stony, I'm under the impression (perhaps incorrectly) that these jackets were used in open cockpit aircraft....Can you confirm or deny?......

 

These are indeed leather exterior (horse hide) with lambs wool (fleece) lining....

 

Bodes

[mr_lits]

Here is an example of a B2 taken from another site. The B1 was similar in exterior construction of what was a heavy leather, probably horse. The interiors are what differed between the B1 and B2. The B1 would have been lined with thick shearling fleece, the latter being lined with nutria fur or the more commonly seen (like in these photos) wool lining.

 

They were often used in open cockpit planes as many were still open in the 1920s-30s.

 

Interestingly surviving examples usually have the chest pocket removed as it interfered with a parachute harness.

[Bodes]

Here is an example of a B2 taken from another site. The B1 was similar in exterior construction of what was a heavy leather, probably horse. The interiors are what differed between the B1 and B2. The B1 would have been lined with thick shearling fleece, the latter being lined with nutria fur or the more commonly seen (like in these photos) wool lining.

 

They were often used in open cockpit planes as many were still open in the 1920s-30s.

 

Interestingly surviving examples usually have the chest pocket removed as it interfered with a parachute harness.

 

Thanks for the photo and information....Nutria is a type of rodent (rat).....Bodes

[mr_lits]

Yep, rodent.