The History of the Flight Jacket

The flight jacket's history is a series of answers to problems in the air. First came cold and wind in open cockpits, then cold at altitude, then wet leather freezing in jets, and finally cockpit fire. Each problem changed what aircrew wore: long leather coats, sheepskin, nylon and, since the 1970s, flame-resistant Nomex.

This page is part of our bomber and flight jackets guide. For the fashion bomber's own line, from the A-1 to the MA-1, see the history of the bomber jacket.

Key takeaways- World War I aviators flew in three-quarter-length leather coats, not short jackets.- Britain answered the cold with the one-piece Sidcot suit in 1917; the RAF used it until the 1950s.- The Navy's leather jacket has run in one line from the M-422 of 1940 to today's G-1.- The Air Force moved to Nomex flight jackets in 1972 after finding that nylon burns.

Flight jacket history in one table

Before the jacket: leather coats in World War I

Most World War I airplanes had no enclosed cockpit, so pilots needed clothing that kept them warm. What they wore looked more like a coat than a jacket.

The Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum holds the flying coat Eddie Rickenbacker wore in France. It is a three-quarter-length leather coat with a wide collar and four sets of buttons. The museum also holds the leather coat and helmet Lt. James Edgerton wore on the first scheduled U.S. air mail flight on May 15, 1918.

In September 1917 the U.S. Army set up its Aviation Clothing Board. It began issuing heavy leather flight jackets with high wraparound collars and snug cuffs and waists.

The British answer: the Sidcot suit

Britain went a different way. In 1917 Sidney Cotton developed the "Sidcot" flying suit, which solved the problem of keeping warm in the cockpit.

It was a suit, not a jacket, and it lasted: the Royal Air Force used it widely until the 1950s. In the 1920s Leslie Irvin added the sheepskin flying jacket, which became the RAF's main flying jacket in World War II. That sheepskin story has its own page: the history of the aviator jacket.

The short leather jacket takes shape

Between the wars, the U.S. Army settled on a short leather jacket with knit cuffs and waistband. The A-1 arrived in 1927 and the zip-front A-2 in 1931.

We cover that line, and how it led to the nylon MA-1, in the bomber jacket history linked above. To see what the finished design looks like, read what a flight jacket is.

The Navy's line: from M-422 to today's G-1

The U.S. Navy's leather jacket is the longest unbroken thread in this history. It began with a new specification, the M-422, on March 28, 1940, and is still issued today under MIL-DTL-7823F.

War shaped it too. In 1943 a severe leather shortage meant the Navy ordered none of these jackets for a time. After the war, pilots began covering their G-1s with patches earned over a career, such as aircraft flown and carrier-landing milestones.

The jacket nearly disappeared once. From 1979 to early 1981, new Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aircrew got green Nomex jackets instead, as a budget measure, until the Secretary of the Navy reversed it. In the 1990s the rules even allowed the G-1 to be worn off base with service uniforms.

Its color has stayed a uniform chocolate brown, unlike the A-2's range of browns. For more on color, see bomber jacket colors.

Jets, nylon and the fire problem

Jets broke the leather formula. A fleece-lined leather jacket soaked by rain or sweat could freeze at jet altitudes, and jet cockpits were cramped. Nylon, used in World War II for items such as parachutes, only reached flight clothing after the war.

Color followed the mission. Heddels says the L-2A came in "Air Force Blue" and then moved to olive drab, because camouflage helped a pilot stranded in enemy territory.

Then came fire. DuPont developed Nomex, a flame-resistant fabric, in the early 1960s and first marketed it in 1967. Heddels says the Air Force adopted the Nomex MA-2, the CWU-36/P and CWU-45/P, in 1972 after finding that nylon burns. The new jackets kept the knit cuffs and waist but added large cargo pockets and a rounded collar.

Today military flight suits are over 92 percent Nomex to protect aircrew from cockpit fires. The CWU-45P is the colder-weather jacket and the CWU-36P the warmer-weather one.

A flight jacket for the space age

Astronauts had one too. In the 1960s and 1970s they trained in the Apollo Flite Wear Jacket by Land Mfg Co., according to Heddels.

It had a bright blue cotton shell, darker blue knit cuffs and waist, and a flame orange lining that could be worn reversed. That reversible orange idea echoes the MA-1's lining, which helped searchers spot a downed airman.

Which flight jackets are still issued?

Three are worth knowing:

• G-1: still issued to Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aviation personnel.
• CWU-45P and CWU-36P: the current U.S. military flight jackets, both in Nomex.
• A-2: sources disagree. The Smithsonian says the Air Force still issues it, while Wikipedia says its specification was cancelled in 1951.

The MA-1 is no longer issued by the U.S. military.

Wearing the history today

If you want a leather jacket from this story, pick the chapter first. A leather A-2 shape points to the 1930s Army, a fur-collar G-1 shape to the Navy, and sheepskin to the high-altitude bomber crews.

Leather Collection men's leather bomber jackets run from rib knit classics to A-2 flight and B-3 shearling styles, each hand-stitched and offered in a custom size.

Related guides

• Not sure which model you are looking at? Compare them in types of bomber jackets.

FAQ

When were flight jackets popular?

They were standard military kit from World War I onward. As civilian wear they caught on with scooterboys and skinheads, then hip-hop fans in the early 2000s, and came back in 2010s street fashion.

Who made the original flying jacket?

No one person. The U.S. Army began issuing leather flight jackets in 1917. Leslie Irvin designed the classic sheepskin flying jacket and supplied most of the RAF's in World War II.

What's the difference between a flight jacket and a bomber jacket?

Sources disagree. Frank And Oak says they are not the same, while Wikipedia treats the bomber as a flight-jacket style and calls the MA-1 both. Our flight jacket definition page, linked above, sets out both views.

Why do pilots wear leather jackets?

Leather and sheepskin first kept pilots warm in open and unheated cockpits. Today most military aircrew fly in Nomex for fire protection, but Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard aviators are still issued the leather G-1.