Flying boots

[B-24J]

A-6 Boots and an Aero A-15 boots

Photos of an original pair of US A-6 boots and a pair of Aero A-15 boots I purchased second hand. Fishmeok also posted a pair of the A-15s in this thread. Amanda at Aero was kind enough to tell me that the A-15s were from about 10 years ago. Unfortunately she also said that they do not have any boots planed in the near future.

John

 

[WalkingBoy]

very nice. The Aero's have unusual strapping...not seen that before. Were they a standard boot back then? whats their history?

 

[WalkingBoy]

News flash...

Andrew , Smithy and co....gazing at your Bedggood boots and thinking about RM's I thought whimsically they'd look great with an ankle strap. I did some research to see if the Flying boot were made with ankle strap in another pattern...yes they did on the 1941 Pattern, but it wasn't a leather boot. Altogether a different type boot for the USAAF. So i gave up. But just now I digged around for some info on Bedggood Shoes Pty Ltd and what happened to them...and bingo I found these two:

http://cas.awm.gov.au/heraldry/REL34345

http://cas.awm.gov.au/heraldry/REL29725

They were made with ankle straps. Both are held at the Australian War Memorial's collections.
I sincerely hope that RM Williams can make them...perhaps , and here's a long shot, the original patterns may exist somewhere. Given that they folded some time ago, surely they wouldn't have binned them. Tracking down a relative or even finding their staff records..something. Perhaps the info proves useful in negotiating with RM Production.
Imagine a pair made by RM's with ankle straps...very nice.
I'm off now to take my tablets

 

[Windsock]

WB, I have seen those before as well, thanks for digging them out. I don't have any timeframe for possibly restarting the RM boot investigation but i'll get onto it as soon as I can manage.

In case you're interested, here's some shots I took 3 months ago of the original Bedggood Boot factory. The buildings are heritage listed and It's now apartments. The row houses in the foreground were built as worker housing.

 

[Windsock]

I meant to add that at the same time I was speaking with RMW I had located and contacted the custodians of all remaining archives of Bedggood and Co. The records they hold are very scant and contain mainly a few journals, cash books and financial records, employeee material and some basic history. There's also a few photos but mainly of unknown individuals, but unfortunately nothing relating to the boot or it's pattern.

 

[Windsock]

Just receveived a quick reply from RMW. They are still prepared to look at this project, but it's their busiest time of year and won't be able to do much other than give an opinion until early in the New Year. Ill be sending a pair of boots to them to assess so anyone who's keen and can chip in for the cost to get them to Sth Aust and back pm me as it would be much appreciated.

 

[WalkingBoy]

Thanks for the pics...and very glad RMW's still have it on the cooker as it were. I'd gladly chip in for posting the boots to South Australia. Just to let you know (and sorry this is slightly off topic) we've temporarily moved to London, so I'm a bit cashed strapped for the next few weeks until we get sorted out etc. After that I'm in 100 percent. No worries. I think once RMW's get the boots and examine them, it might create a bit of momentum...but there's no rush. RMW's often take time to stew things over.
Out of interest once they them, what do they do re: pattern wise? do they completely undo the boot or do they do some AUTOCad modelling from it?
is there guess work involved or is the whole process pretty meticulous?
cheerio
m

 

[Smithy]

Just receveived a quick reply from RMW. They are still prepared to look at this project, but it's their busiest time of year and won't be able to do much other than give an opinion until early in the New Year. Ill be sending a pair of boots to them to assess so anyone who's keen and can chip in for the cost to get them to Sth Aust and back pm me as it would be much appreciated.

I'll plonk a bill or two in the post next week to you Andrew.

By the way, when are you coming down again for that roast eh? And that bottle of scotch is still waiting

 

[Windsock]

Actually fellas thanks for the offer but forget I mentioned it as it shouldn't be a problem. Whatever comes of it it'll be fascinating to get their response.

Tim, i've done my travel so now it's your turn for a holiday and there's a choice of watering holes where you can get sand between your toes.

 

[Smithy]

Tim, i've done my travel so now it's your turn for a holiday and there's a choice of watering holes where you can get sand between your toes.

Actually it's about time we came up your way.

Better fill up the tank in the MG!

 

[fishmeok]

The Aero "A-15" boots are truly magnificent, been wearing them around lately (they are a little big but insoles take care of that). If anyone comes across a pair I would highly recommend snagging them. I used to have a pair of Cockpit 36'rs, except for the Vibram soles those looked more authentic to me than the more recent offerings out there (would have kept those but they were too small).
Cheers
Mark

Photos of an original pair of US A-6 boots and a pair of Aero A-15 boots I purchased second hand. Fishmeok also posted a pair of the A-15s in this thread. Amanda at Aero was kind enough to tell me that the A-15s were from about 10 years ago. Unfortunately she also said that they do not have any boots planed in the near future.

John

 

[fishmeok]

Just ran across this:
http://www.wholesalepages.co.uk/products/raf-1936-pattern-flying-boots-98754.html

Anybody have an idea what this is all about?
Cheers
Mark

 

[John Lever]

 

[WalkingBoy]

when they say " It took us years to find a cobbler..." who is 'us' and who's the cobbler? seems a bit... strange to me. Funny there's no link, or company mentioned...could be dodgy..but then again. I have no idea.
they look good though.

 

[Spitfire]

Obviously it's wholesale - so if you find out who threy are and where to buy, and decide that the boots are true to originals and of good quality, you have to buy at least 50 pairs or something...

 

[fishmeok]

And why would that be a problem? A man should always have 50 to 75 pairs of flying boots, just in case....

 

[fishmeok]

I created an account and logged into the site- still no information on who this is or how to contact them....

Cheers
Mark

 

[Spitfire]

I created an account and logged into the site- still no information on who this is or how to contact them....

Cheers
Mark

You are a brave man - suddenly you WILL have 50 - 75 pairs of flying boots!

 

[/|\]

Better fill up the tank in the MG!

I need to wash my MGB today, put some fuel stabiliser in the tank, and cover it up for the Winter.

 

[Windsock]

I need to wash my MGB today, put some fuel stabiliser in the tank, and cover it up for the Winter.

fftopic: That's an absolutely beautiful MkI you have there Mr /|\, original wheel as well but i'll bet those seats aren't original. I'm in the market for a new seat of leather covers for my MkII, do you have any recommendations?