Original Item: Only One Available. Development of protective flight uniforms and equipment began with the advent of military aircraft in WWI and continued on into the Weimar and the Third Reich eras, resulting in three distinct one-piece combination pattern flight suits being approved before WWII and worn for the duration of the war.

This is a very nice Luftwaffe Officer's leather flight jacket, offered in very good condition with signs of moderate wear during service. There is wear to the black finish, but no tears or cracking that we can see. This example is a very high quality, German made private purchase, non-regulation flight jacket, featuring multi-panel black leather construction. The interior of this waist length jacket is fully lined, and features a lay down collar. It still has the original maker label on the interior, which is dated as well:

Bekleidungsfabrik Habelt
CRAILSHEIM Wrttbg.
BAUJAHR 194 1 GRÖSSE 1

The jacket would appear to be a size "1", and was manufactured in 1941 in Crailsheim, Württemberg.

The jacket features a vertical front zipper closure, and the front features two vertical waist pockets with zipper closures as well. There are also zippered closures for the ends of the sleeves for a more snug fit, with snaps to hold them securely closed. The collar features a small tab at the top of the zipper to secure it, and the collar can also flip up and use a longer securing strap with a ring and snaps to cover the neck area. All zippers are Ri-Ri brand, with intact leather pull tabs, and almost all of the snaps are PRYM brand, except for the snap at the bottom of the front closure, which may have been replaced.

Left breast features a lovely silver bullion embroidered 'Droop Tail" Luftwaffe Eagle insignia, which shows some light wear. It may have been transferred from an earlier flight jacket, as it shows a bit more age than the jacket. The “sew-in” style shoulder boards attached to this flight jacket are constructed with two rows of fine silver flatware "Russia Braid" double piping, with Goldgelb (Gold-Yellow) base material / piping. This is the correct Luftwaffe Waffenfarbe (Corps Color) for the "Flight Branch", which includes Aviator troops such as pilots and ground personnel, as well as Fallschirmjäger (parachute troops). Each features two gold pips, which denote the rank of Hauptmann (Captain) in the Luftwaffe. Condition is very good, with all zippers and snaps working as best we can tell.

The included leather flight pants are a really nice example, made with a brown leather exterior, and lined with a gray fleece type fabric liner. It features a double zipper front closure and integral leather waist belt with a bakelite buckle. The bottoms of the legs have zippers to help the feet pass through as well. All zipper closures are marked with the EWA (or maybe MEWA) logo, and are fully functional. Condition is very good, with the exterior leather shell in great shape with no tears or repairs we can see. There are several stitched seam repairs on the interior that we can see.

A great WWII Luftwaffe Officers Leather flight uniform set, most likely from a pilot, ready to display!

Approximate Measurements:
Collar to shoulder: 10”
Shoulder to sleeve: 23”
Shoulder to shoulder: 17”
Chest width: 21”
Waist width: 20”
Hip width: 19”
Front length: 28"

Pants Waist: 35"
Pants Inseam: 26"

Regulations of July 4TH 1940 and April 24TH 1941 introduced two piece protective flight suits for fighter pilots designed to increase the wearer's mobility and not be as restrictive in the close confines of a cockpit. The two piece flight suits consist of separate jacket and pants and was commonly referred to as the "Kanalanzug", (Channel Uniform).

Officers and certain senior NCO’s were responsible for purchasing their own uniforms and were allotted a clothing allowance. Generally speaking officers bought nice quality, private purchase, uniform items but they could also choose to buy their uniforms directly from the military clothing depots. Besides the standard issue flight garments Luftwaffe personnel also utilized a wide variety of private purchase leather jackets in contradiction of regulations. These private purchase jackets appear to have been quite popular as they can be commonly seen in period photographs.