WWII TYPE A-2 U. S. ARMY AIR FORCES

Type A-2 U. S. Army Air Forces.

Label, size 44 - fits more like a 42.

CHEST 22.2"
SHOULDER 19"
SLEEVE 23.5" + CUFFS 26"
LENGHT 24"

Poughkeepsie Leather Coat Co. Inc. N. Y.

Issued in summer of 1942

Drawing No. 30-1415
AC. Contact No. W535ac28560

Named, leather tag read: D. L. CRITES

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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 adopted in 1927. The Type Designation Sheet lists the dates for Service Test as September 20, 1930, and Standardized (adopted as standard issue) on May 9, 1931. The military specification number for Type A-2 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.

On April 27, 1943, Type A-2 was declared Limited Standard, meaning that only replacements for in-service units could be ordered. New units would now be supplied with cloth-shelled jackets such as Types B-10 and B-15.

The U.S. Army Air Forces Class 13 Catalog listed the garment as "Jacket, Flying, Type A-2," with Spec. No. 94-3040. It describes the jacket's construction as "seal brown horsehide leather, knitted wristlets and waistband (skirt)." Broadly similar in construction to the A-1, it replaced the A-1's buttoned front and pocket flaps with a zipper and hidden snap fasteners (although some very early A-2's retained the pocket buttons). The A-1's stand-up knitted collar, which buttoned closed, was supplanted in the A-2 by a shirt-style leather collar, with hidden snaps at the points and a hook-and-eye latch at the throat. Stitched-down shoulder straps were also added to the design. Sizes were listed as ranging in even numbers from 32 through 54.