Aero B-6 shearling problem.

[daddy-o]

Hello fellow hepsters. A few months ago my wife bought me a redskin B-6 Aero from ebay for my birthday and finally just over a week ago I received it. I did try it on when it arrived, the fit was ok however only now after about 10 days of wearing it, I noticed a problem with the shearling. Especially on the collar but also on the edges of sleeve and jacket itself as well as inside the jacket it is loosing its coat/hair/fur ( whatever the correct word for shearling). I am removing constantly little balls of fur and I have also noticed a few bald spots on the edges of the jacket. The left part of the collar seems to be made from a lot thinner shealing and has some bald spots , the right side is a lot thicker and nicer and does not seem to shed its shearling as much. Now, because the jacket was bought on ebay I cant really do much. I may have the whole collar changed by Aero ( I suspect it wont be cheap) but I am wondering whether this is normal for Aero shearling jackets. Do I perhaps have a "irregular" jacket that was originally half price by aero ? Is there any special care instructions for shearling jackets. I have had them previously ( not from Aero or Eastman though) and I never had "balding" problems with them. Please help fellow flying jacket owners.

 

[daddy-o]

Just thought I add a few pics. As you can see the collar is really balding. From the pics you cannot clearly see that shearling on red and left side of collar is totally different ( consistency, density thickness) I think this B-6 was definately
a half price special and I paid nearly the full price......

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[daddy-o]

Another one

 

[daddy-o]

Yeah I will get it right one day

 

[airfrogusmc]

Hey daddy-o thats NORMAL wearing of sheepskin. Its on originals and I've had it on every sheepskin repro I've owned in different degrees. You can get the collar changed but the its probably only going to eventually happen again over time and it will be expensive. Its just part of owning sheepskin...

 

[daddy-o]

Well, I have an original Irvin and it has less bald spots after 60 years than this aero after 10 days wearing it. A friend of mine had a Aero D-1 which was about
6 years old and it certainly did not go "bald" in that time. I am worried that at this rate ( and I do think even though it was bought on ebay, it looks unworn)
it will be completely shearlingless next winter. There is all the time little balls coming off it at an alarming rate. You sure that?Ǭ¥s normal ?

 

[The Mad Hatter]

When you say you bought it from ebay, do you mean you bought it from Mark Moye or from someone else who was selling it second hand?

If you bought it from Mark, contact him about this problem. I'm sure he'll help you. If you bought it second hand from somebody else - on Ebay - Ebay, PayPal, or your credit card company may be able to help you. Otherwise - you pays your money and you takes your chances.

Are you sure this is a real Aero?

 

[The Mad Hatter]

Another thing, why did it take so long to get to you?

 

[airfrogusmc]

daddy-o its sheepskin and because of that some skins wear better than others. I've seen 60 year old originals that have little and some that have allot of that kind of wear. I have owned repros that wear quickly and some that don't. Is it normal, yeah. I say if you can't live with it either get the panel replaced and I would recommend a salvaged piece that matches or sell the jacket and try again. Think of Navy jackets that have mouton. Some have really great mouton after 60 + years and some have huge bald spots. Just depends on the individual hide. I don't think theres any way to tell how a fresh hide is going to wear over time. No guarantee if you get the panel replaced it won't start balding in the high wear areas just like the one you have. I'd talk to Aero and see what my options were. If your just replaceing one panel it might not be to expensive. If you're in the US theres a guy on the west coast that does that sort of thing. Zoltar is his name I think and there are some folks that post here have used him. I'll see if I can find his #

 

[daddy-o]

The jacket was bought in november on german ebay from a bloke who sells used flying jackets, mostly eastmans, aeros the odd buzz rickson etc. When I got it my wife just packed it up and gave it to me as a birthday present some 10 days ago. I have been wearing it eversince. The redskin looks great and I do believe
it is a real aero from Scotland. Comparing it with photos of other aero B-6 jackets I do believe that the shearling on my B-6 looks a bit on the thin side....
I may get in touch with Amanda at Aero and see what the options are. It did cost me just over 400 euros. She was very helpful when the Conmar zipper on my Aero B-10 packed up and send me two replacement zippers ! Hey do you think she will send me two replacement collars ????????

 

[Flitcraft]

I think you're right to chek with Aero if the balding is as bad as you say. You may also want to check about getting your money back, but good luck to you when dealing with E-prey and PayPal!!


I've got an original shearling that had pretty much had its day when I got it and it had some rough patches, but it was 45 years old when I bought it.
My newer B3 is about 15 years old and it shed like that the first year I had it and now has pretty much stopped.
As others have stated above, a lot of it simply depends on the hide itself.

 

[airfrogusmc]

I also think B-6, D-1, M-444 originals all were suppose to have 1/4 inch shearling. Much thinner than B-3s and M-445s. Talk to Aero maybe they can do something...

 

[MudInYerEye]

Whie I agree with Allen that oftens happens with mouton/shearling it is ususally becuse of YEARS of wear and/or moths. That look like a subpar piece of shearling to me.

 

[nightandthecity]

You don't say if the jacket was new/unworn or already used.

It would certainly be normal wear if the jacket has seen some use - but not I think on a new jacket from a company like Aero.

I suspect at least some of the Aeros that turn up on Ebay are seconds - if you check Aero's website you'll see they usually have a lot of substandard cheapos on offer, I'm sure some people buy them and sell them on.

Having said that - mixed skins of varying quality would be absolutely typical of an original jacket produced under wartime conditions. In a couple of years time it will probably look very authentic. I'd live with it as is.