IWC Interview

CRAFTSMANSHIP

FLIGHT JACKET

A flight jacket is a status symbol.

J e f f a n d J a c k y C l y m a n o f C o c k p i t U S A i n N e w Yo r k p r o d u c e r e a l l e a t h e r j a c k e t s f o r t h e h e r o e s o f t h e s k y. A n d f o r I W C .

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PHOTOS:

DIRK RHEKER

JÜRGEN FRANK

THE JACKET OF HEROES WAT C H I N T E R N AT I O N A L # 0 1 . 2 0 1 2

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CRAFTSMANSHIP

FLIGHT JACKET

Square jaws, steel blue eyes, short cropped hair. An air of laidback nonchalance that Americans call “swagger.” Combined with a passion for flying, such a man is virtually irresistible.

John Wayne once played such a character in the Hollywood movie “Jet Pilot,” and Steven Spielberg paid homage to the tough guys sporting flight jackets and a swaggering gait in his wonderful pilot’s drama, “Always,” with lead roles played by men’s men Richard Dreyfuss and Brad Johnson.

Jeff Clyman is such a man. Both his father and uncle were pilots; it is possible he was born with kerosene in his blood.

“The first time I flew in a plane, I was ten years old,” Clyman reminisces, “although it wasn’t a jet plane, but a rickety old crop duster.” Plane type notwithstanding, that did it for him. Clyman’s grandfather owned a farm in upstate New York, which is where young Clyman – whose family resided in the state of Arizona – spent his summers.

Eventually, Clyman went to law school, but his love for flying didn’t dissipate. “At some point I got bored with practicing law,” Clyman remembers. So, instead of heading to the courtroom, he and his wife Jacky started to hang out at air shows.

Dressed in style, including original World War II flight jackets, Clyman stood out at these shows. “The people (at the shows) practically tried to rip those clothes off my back,” he recounts, with a laugh. Thus, an idea was born to start a mail-order business for genuine flight jackets.

Jeff searched out a tannery in Texas that would work with them on producing the highly coveted antique leather look.

He stayed with the tanners for over three weeks, until they developed a process to

“I THINK IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP AWAKE THE MEMORIES OF ALL THOSE PILOTS WHO HAVE PUT THEIR LIVES ON THE LINE FIGHTING FOR OUR COUNTRY.” JEFF CLYMAN

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achieve the exact perfect finish. Once this was nailed down, the Clymans began to produce the old flight jackets themselves.

The new business took off quickly. But in the vision of Jeff and Jacky Clyman, the jackets are more than just a piece of garment. They are a way to convey a bit of history, too. “The jackets resulting represent a proud and iconic chapter in the history of aviation,” Jeff Clyman states.

Today, as a natural aside, he also runs a museum with old military planes on Long Island, outside of New York. “I think it’s important to keep awake the memories of all those pilots who have put their lives on the line fighting for our country.”

The history of the classic flight jacket actually began high up in the air. In the early days of aviation, daring pioneers were exposed to wind and to icy temperatures in their open cockpits. A warm piece of clothing was their only protection against the elements. Hence, from the 1920s on, leather was the fabric of choice

Jacky and Jeff Clyman use the original patterns as the guides for the genuine flght jackets made by their company in New York. One of them is a Top Gun jacket in a limited edition for IWC Schaffhausen.

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for a flight jacket, especially in the military.

They frequently sported elaborate artwork, often depicting scantily dressed women.

Not until the 1960s were bomber and flight jackets made from nylon.

Nowadays, hardly a pilot has to fly without the comfort of a fully air-conditioned cabin, however the flight jacket still is capable of eliciting a lot of enthusiasm.

It has become a look: a symbol of courage and masculinity. It is thus not surprising to learn that when a representative of the Air Force contacted the Clymans in 1986 to bring back the iconic A-2, they did – changing nothing but the leather – now goatskin instead of horsehide.

With their New York business, Cockpit USA, today Jeff and Jacky Clyman not only satisfy the demand for those jackets among real pilots, but also among a new urban clientele. Classic models with a timeless tradition are highly sought-after, like the A1-Bomber Jacket, for example.

The father of all flight jackets, the A1Bomber was introduced in 1927 for all flying personnel within the U.S. Air Force.

Since by the early 1920s, the zipper hadn’t yet found its way into clothing, so the jacket used buttons and snap fasteners to close – lending the jacket its distinctive flair. Another coveted model is the M 422A “Military” U.S. Navy flight jacket of the “American Volunteer Group,” better known as “The Flying Tigers.” Today, the jacket – now named the G1-Bomber Jacket – is part of the personal outfit of every U.S. Navy pilot. The large collar made from genuine shearling, the fine goat leather, which the Clymans purchase in countries such as Turkey or Pakistan, and the many authentic details were the reason this jacket quickly advanced to a popular status symbol.

The historical U.S. Air Force A2-Jacket from World War II is as legendary as the pilots who wore them. The unique “Tuskegee Squadron” jacket honors the feats of the first black fighter pilots in the U.S. military. Despite – or perhaps because of – much harassment from the upper ranks, flight instructors and even the public, this squadron became one of the best units during the war and in 1,500 flights lost only 25 of the bombers that they were protecting.

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