Luftwaffe Flight Jacket

[Parrothead]

Attached are some photos of an interesting Luffy flight jacket that has been offered to me. I was hoping some of the more experienced collectors could give their opinions on it and perhaps a ball park of its value.

The jacket itself is in good condition with no noticable damage. The jacket originally had removable Majors boards which the seller sold elsewhere. The center zipper is marked RiRi and the slant zippers are marked Vitex.

[Parrothead]

Photo 2

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Photo 3

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Photo 4

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Photo 5

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photo 6

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Photo 7

[mjfur]

I've never been a big fan of these jackets. Even though it looks every bit the part of a Luft. jacket, it could just as easily have been made in 1950. There are alot of old post war leather jackets floating around claiming to be Luft. flight jackets.

I've seen them sell anywhere from $300- $1500, the choice is yours. Any pics and or provenance would certainly help in originality and value.

Regards,
Mike

Edit: I should have checked my grammar before posting so quickly, quite a few mistakes. OOPS.

[Parrothead]

I've never been a big fan of these jackets. Even though it looks every bit the part of a Luft. jacket, it could just as easily been made in 1950. There are alot of old post war leather jackets floating around claiming to be Luft. flight jackets.

I've seen them sell anywhere from $300- $1500, the choice is yours. Without any pics or provenance would certainly help in originality and value.

Regards,
Mike

Mike

Thanks for the quick feedback! I apprecaite it.

Mark

[jacquesf]

The only way to authenticate these leather jackets and be comfortable with it being a pilots jacket, is to look for the wear and scuff marks that would be typical to this jacket being used in an aeroplane and not a driver of an motorcycle or car. Look for marks left by the seat harness, parachute, elbow operating the joystick etc. Jacques Ps, In my opinion this is not a pilot jacket that was use for that purpose.

[GD/LW]

I've never been a big fan of these jackets. Even though it looks every bit the part of a Luft. jacket, it could just as easily been made in 1950. There are alot of old post war leather jackets floating around claiming to be Luft. flight jackets.

I've seen them sell anywhere from $300- $1500, the choice is yours. Without any pics or provenance would certainly help in originality and value.

Regards,
Mike

I totally agree with Mike. I've seen many of these "E-Bay" jackets and personally I don't like them at all. The only good ones are those with provenance or from the vet himself. And those are the only ones I would buy.

[Jos L C]

Just for example..
Here's one I've and which I believe is OK..
The upper back and shoulder areas are totally rough, even under the collar, indicating a swimmingvest and chute IMO.
Rather worn, old, but I'm happy with it like it is..

Jos.

[Jos L C]

..

[GD/LW]

Any provenance on this one Jos ?
I've seen one a bit like this and that one was found in Schaffen near Diest where the Germans had a flying base

[hs132]

Hello, I agree with the above comments. Its difficult to fully document private bought Luft pilot jackets. That being said the jacket pictured is the type I find most appealing. Elongated pointed collars, upper horizontal or diagonal zipp pockets, lower flap pockets, side waist adjustment straps, seamless back sections and I like the inner lining. Im of the opinion that many of these type jackets were worn for show and many spent little time wearing these while flying. Certainly there are many pics showing them worn in combat but I believe as the war rolled on in the later years and certainly in colder climates this changed. I can also say the later 2 types of issued leather jackets(brown,gray) had a very jaunty appearance and in those final 2 years there are hundreds of pics showing those in wear and less pics of private bought jackets. These reasons may account for some found with minimal wear. Is the one pictured of WW2 vintage? There are more positives on this jacket than negatives. Best, Bill Bourque