Aero Patrolman jacket

[Guppy]

Very cool jacket!



If it was indeed worn by a Copper shouldn’t there be a shoulder patch or stitch marks from a shoulder patch?

Regardless it’s a awesome jacket!

One would think, but there are none. It's been worn plenty, so that's a bit of a mystery. The history of the jacket would be interesting to know, but I don't know it.

 

[EmergencyIan]

Very cool jacket!



If it was indeed worn by a Copper shouldn’t there be a shoulder patch or stitch marks from a shoulder patch?

Regardless it’s a awesome jacket!

No, it necessarily. Some city departments did not where shoulder patches. LAPD did not unless they were a motor officer. They still don’t. Anyhow, I saw several of their leather patrolman jackets from the 1960’s and earlier. They had no shoulder patches. I believe that in the 70’s many LAPD patrol officers went to something of a navy blue IKe type jacket.

- Ian

 

[Boyo]

Although its not an NYPD leather jacket, shoulder patches on all uniforms were introduced in 1970 in NYC

 

[Guppy]

Some closeups.

The lining is in good shape.

The label is pretty cool, befitting a utilitarian work jacket such as this.

I'm pretty sure this jacket was black when new, but the topcoat has worn down to show a lot of brown undertones, and it may be that it was a dark brown to begin with.

 

[Guppy]

The jacket has two "issues".

1) the bottom of the main zipper will not hold together. The stop box doesn't hold the pin. Most likely will be replacing the zipper if i decide to keep it.

2) this odd light spot near the left breast pocket. Looks like something bleached or removed the topcoat here. Badge polish, I wonder? I don't know if it could be retouched with some type of dye, but I plan to leave it alone.

 

[Guppy]

Tried to take some fit pics, these two were the only ones that came out good enough to post.

I'll have to try again later.

 

[Guppy]

It fits very well. The sleeves are looser than typical for a motorcycle jacket, and the cuffs are snap closure, no zipper or gusset, and this makes me think this is not a motorcycle jacket, but rather is intended for beat cops to wear walking around.

I think it is a well made, tough, and good looking jacket.

 

[ton312]

Awesome jacket. Fit looks good for layering. Is it Connolly Steer? Lots of nice wear to it! I really like those cuffs. Sleeves look massive. Big enough to get a leg into. That does make it easy to move in though.

 

[AbbaDatDeHat]

^^^i think it’s totally cool Guppy. I’d keep it and....wear the hell out of it!
B

 

[Guppy]

Awesome jacket. Fit looks good for layering. Is it Connolly Steer? Lots of nice wear to it! I really like those cuffs. Sleeves look massive. Big enough to get a leg into. That does make it easy to move in though.

No way to know for sure, but it might be Connolly. There's quite a bit of variance in the grain among the panels; I'd guess for police gear they're not so concerned about matching hides. And yeah, the sleeves are pretty baggy, a lot of room in there.

 

[ton312]

Know way to know for sure, but it might be Connolly. There's quite a bit of variance in the grain among the panels; I'd guess for police gear they're not so concerned about matching hides. And yeah, the sleeves are pretty baggy, a lot of room in there.

That's good for throwing a sweater under and still being able to move. Lately for whatever reason I find I prefer that sort of fit...maybe b/c it's cold and I want to still wear my jacket but have room to move and not to freeze in it...

 

[Guppy]

That's good for throwing a sweater under and still being able to move. Lately for whatever reason I find I prefer that sort of fit...maybe b/c it's cold and I want to still wear my jacket but have room to move and not to freeze in it...

I'm sure this will look great with a wooly pully or turtleneck underneath.

 

[lina]

I love this jacket... A great find!

 

[EmergencyIan]

They’re not jackets that should be made to fit too tightly considering what there intended use was.

- Ian

 

[Guppy]

They’re not jackets that should be made to fit too tightly considering what there intended use was.

- Ian

Not having been a police officer, I don't know why a loose fitting jacket would be a more desirable thing, other than to allow for cold weather layers. Is there more to it than that?

 

[EmergencyIan]

Not having been a police officer, I don't know why a loose fitting jacket would be a more desirable thing, other than to allow for cold weather layers. Is there more to it than that?

I have not been a police officer either, but it seems to me that a jacket allowing for more range of motion would be desirable.

- Ian

 

[Guppy]

That one has been listed a couple times. Absolutely killer jacket. You should send the pics to Aero and see what they say about it. Even the hardware looks outside the norm.

Well, I finally got around to doing as you suggested, and here's the word, straight from Ken Calder himself:

The jacket dates from 1985 or 1986, no later.

It probably would have been made by myself

At that time there were only four machinists at Aero and we a full book of orders from three shops for “whatever we made this week”, they’d take whatever we’d offer them as the demand for Aero far outstripped the numbers we could produce.

This gave us huge scope to experiment with new styles, one range I did a lot of work on was US Police Jackets, we probably made a couple of dozen versions, this looks like one of these, it may be a one of a kind, once we expanded we narrowed the Police Jacket range down to the CHIPS and the NYPD

Enjoy the jacket, it’s a rarity

Regards

Ken​

 

[ton312]

Well, I finally got around to doing as you suggested, and here's the word, straight from Ken Calder himself:

Cool! I'll take it!

 

[JMax]

Home Run!! Very cool, possible one-off by the Aero man himself. You can't ever sell this, but if you decide to move it hit me up first.

 

[ton312]

Home Run!! Very cool, possible one-off by the Aero man himself. You can't ever sell this, but if you decide to move it hit me up first.

Sorry man, you'll have to buy it from me...