aswatland
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- 3,338
- Location
- Kent, England
I am delighted with this GW Aero 16160 A2, which I recently bought from John in very lightly used condition. The original contract was awarded to Aero on 1st November 1940 for 4,500 jackets. It is made from Italian horsehide, the same leather which BK call Victory hide. It is the first A2 contract to use an auto-lock zip. Some originals had Talon zips with a rectangular puller and others like this one had the bell shaped puller. It was also the first contract to use large United Carr ring snaps and this jacket has NOS United Carr ones for the collar and pockets. It was the also the first contract to use the double-barrel eyelet for attaching the collar hook and the last Aero contract with a collar stand. John has replicated all these and other details perfectly. In short this was quite an innovative design with features found on many Wartime-produced jackets. It is extremely well made and comfortable to wear. The leather is thinner than the horsehide seen on many earlier GW jackets and it weighs much the same as my two original Aero 21996 jackets. The leather has smooth areas and also sections with much grain. All in all I could not be more happy with this magnificent work of art from the master jacket maker!
