R. Boyd Moorman

FLY-LOGENY
OR
SOME THOUGHTS ON THAT OLD LEATHER FLIGHT JACKET:
A BRIEF HISTORIOGRAPHY

Cold weather flying again! It’s time to break out those old leather flight jackets and take to the skies. Leather! What is it about leather flight jackets anyway that seems to make them the special expression of those magnificent men in their flying machines? Even though other materials may protect just as well, be lighter, stronger and last longer, it is only the leather flight jacket that seems to evoke the romance and image of the classic aviator. Why? How did the bond between pilot and leather develop? When and where did it all begin? So, if you please, it’s time for a little phylogeny (a.k.a. a brief evolutionary history) or perhaps “fly-logeny” would be more appropriate.

In the early days of aviation’s infancy pilots sat out in the open. Wind, rain, and freezing cold (not to mention spewing engine oil) were formidable opponents for the intrepid few who dared to venture into the skies only a decade after the Wright brothers made their first tentative powered flights in Kitty Hawk, NC. Back then the early machines were little more than powered kites held together by muslin, glue and bailing wire. It was not until around 1914 that the flying machine first came of age as it entered combat during World War I. The technology of flight began to evolve rapidly on both sides of the conflict. Consequently, the “aeroplane” soon emerged as a serious weapons platform. Airplanes began to fly higher, faster and farther than ever before. Understandably, the military was the first to take flying apparel seriously, wanting to keep air crew casualties from accident or exposure to a minimum (A little known fact of World War I was that the wrist watch was first invented during this time to keep pilots from having to fumble through bulky flight clothing in search of the traditional pocket watch). It was England’s Air Battalion of the Royal Engineers that first suggested leather jackets for pilots since gas and oil tended to soak into cloth apparel creating the potential for turning each pilot into an aerial bonfire. So in response to military demands and safety considerations, the pilots and observer-gunners of World War I were the first to brave the difficult elements with a variety of leather jackets, coats and helmets that provided protection and at least offered some resistance to the constant spray of fuel and oil.

After the “war to end all wars” aviation entered a golden age. It was the time of barnstormers, air races and exploration. Pilots became international heroes and their feats were legendary. Truly the stuff of epics! Many barnstormers and air show performers were ex-military pilots who still retained their original flying leathers. Good thing too as most of the aircraft then were still open-cockpit machines and the need to protect oneself from the elements was a continuing concern. So from the barnstormers to the air mail pilots, from the speed kings to the long-distance record breakers, aviator and aviatrix alike – they all wore leather! In time the leather flight jacket became a symbol of the era and of someone larger than life: the aviator. Early aviators were those brave and sometimes reckless adventurers who pushed themselves and their pioneering new designs beyond impossible limits. Names like Wiley Post, Juan Tripp, Charles Lindberg, Eddie Rickenbacker, Billy Mitchell, Amelia Earhart and Howard Hughes still evoke a fascination for this bygone era.

By the time World War II began, the leather flight jacket had already evolved into a “classic” style. American fighter pilots and bomber crews from Kunming to East Anglia further immortalized the leather flight jacket by turning their practical garment into a unique art form. For on the back of most jackets, American pilots painted everything from squadron insignias and slogans to Hollywood beauties and names of girlfriends. Even mission “stats” and the famous “blood chit” of the China theater was sewn on many jackets identifying the wearer as a combat-proven American airman. Thus, the leather flight jacket had acquired a new function as a form personalized artistic expression and alter-ego of fighter jocks and bomber pilots alike. These were unique individuals risking their lives daily for their country high above the war-torn battlegrounds of Europe and the Pacific ring. Like Polynesian dance forms their leather jackets told that story and more. A fascinating saga describing the flight jackets of this era and the men who wore them is well told in Cowboys of the Sky, by Gilles Lhote. A must read for anyone sporting a true leather flight jacket.

Following World War II, the U.S. military moved away from leather in favor of new materials as we ushered in the jet age. Leather flight jackets seemed outdated and anachronistic in the new era of supersonic flight. Consequently, leather jackets were phased out by the military in favor of the new poly fabrics like nylon. These new materials were well-insulated, lighter, and provided greater freedom of movement for the pilot. While the new flight jackets were very practical and might have been just as effective if not better than leather, military pilots missed their old jackets. Moreover, they felt that something else had been “lost” when the phase out occurred. Somehow, their identity as pilots was not conveyed by the new poly fiber materials.

Leather had been a long-standing tradition for pilots, an indicator of someone with the “right stuff”, a symbol of someone with the correct combination of skills, aptitudes, and talent who could fly a machine into the heart of heaven and safely return. And now that tradition was gone! Missing also was the leather jacket’s associated romance and mystique. More importantly perhaps was the loss of a pilot’s inner historical connection to that elite band of brothers who had gone before and with whom they still felt a special kinship: the pioneer aviator. Military pilots missed those “old friends” and yearned for their reissue. Eventually, American military aviators demanded a return to the old leather flight jacket. It seems the military finally listened too because not many years ago the U.S. Navy Department reactivated its Type G-1 leather flight jacket for Navy and Marine aviators. This great looking jacket was recently immortalized in the film Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise as a cocky fighter-jock named “Maverick”. To this day Naval and Marine air cadets have two questions when they enter flight training, “when do I get my wings” and “when do I get my leather flight jacket”? Not to be outdone, the U.S. Air Force joined suit as well and after 45 years of retirement reissued its original A-2 leather flight jacket based on A-2 specifications from 1930! It seems that “real” military pilots fly in leather, not nylon.

The historic love affair that pilots, both military and civilian alike, have enjoyed with their leather flight jackets is much more than tradition however. It is a feeling. It is a sensation. Unlike nylon, leather ages with the pilot and seems to record every experience in its deep creases, rich folds and stains. Its appearance can be read like a log book. A well-worn and weathered leather flight jacket marks a man who is a breed apart. The jacket’s rough appearance speaks of 50 missions, bravery under fire, or the fact that he has simply survived to beat the odds one more time! Perhaps that old leather flight jacket helped him win the charms of a lady at the officer’s club, accompanied him during a raid into hostile territory, or served as a pillow while sleeping under his plane’s wing. It kept him from freezing at 20,000 feet AGL and no doubt was still being worn during rescue after a forced landing behind enemy lines.

Yes, the leather flight jacket is an inseparable extension of the pilot who wears it. It is a status symbol whether in the sky or on the ground. Whatever the adventure, a pilot’s experiences are forever preserved in its faded scars and creases. So remember, a pilot’s leather flight jacket provides more than comfort and protection. Its lining may keep him warm while he drills holes in the sky and its pockets may keep secure his maps, pens, gloves, cigarettes, cigars and flask. And for sure there is also an inner pocket to store gifts (like those sheer silk-stockings so essential to the pilot as tokens of affection during his interaction with the “natives”) while on those long cross-country excursions. As important as all these things might be however, that is still not the point. The leather flight is much more than a simple garment or a tradition. It is a pilot’s true friend. It is a “buddy” whose character is nothing less than the very essence of the aviator himself. He will not leave it behind. When any pilot puts on his leather flight jacket he is transformed. He symbolically joins the brotherhood of elites, “aviators”, past and present. He is Archaeopteryx reborn. Greatness with the “right stuff”… and it shows. He becomes a “sky god” who has walked the wind and chased through “footless halls of air” high above the “surly bonds of earth”. His flight jacket says it all: a leather badge of honor, the stuff of legends. Indeed.

LEGENDS LOST…

SAGAN

Written in memory of
Dr. Carl Sagan (1934-1996)

oh it's darker
now that he's gone
nebula dust and faded stars
galaxies, quasars, and gaseous rim
comets and pulsars
muted and dim

where now
this teller of wonderous tales?
this translator voice?
this light in the throng?
between scientist and layman
standing strong?

"we are star stuff"
he would calmly say
then mind's veil he'd rend
"a means by which
the universe itself
can comprehend."

beating hard
against that cold night
arch-defender
of the rational quest
unfolding secrets
from Cosmos' breast

against ages dark
of ignorance and blight
his voice rang clear
for truth and light
but his hand is now withered
unable to fight

for he is gone!
no more to interpret and tell
or empirically proclaim
before inquisition's adored
slayer of riddles 'n myths
Reason's sword!

oh it's darker
now that he's gone
nebula dust and faded stars
galaxies, quasars, and gaseous rim
comets and pulsars
muted and dim

CHALLENGER

in memory of the seven gallant crew members lost
with the Space Shuttle Challenger on the 28th of January 1986
for lo! they are gone! ever remembered!

Star voyagers!

embraced by the unknown
who pressed hard against
the frontiers of expanding knowledge
to rend for us all
future's veil in the quest of space
to leave your mark

And ride fire in the heavens high!

supreme sacrifice
for in a flash you were not
in the sky above us
an offering beyond the test
seven silent stars
no longer seen

Yet brighter than the rest!

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