WWI Aviators Clothing and Uniforms

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Originally Posted by Dan_San_Abbott

AAC Cadet Leader;
The military did not wear jodhpurs, they wore breeches, and were worn with wrap-leggins, canvas leggins or boots. Jodhpurs go all the way to the ankles with cuffs and are worn over a high top shoes.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

Breeches - as in big, puffy breeches that went out at the sides of the thighs, starting just above the knees, then tapering back in at the hips?

I thought they were called jodhpurs. I was told years ago that they became the fashion of early aviators as a carry-over from the calvary troops in WWI. Thank you. I'd like to learn more about the early aviator's uniforms and clothing.

[Dan_San_Abbott]

AAC Cadet Leader:
Both the Breeches and the Jodhpur are flared above the knee. the purpose is to provide fullness in the seat and upper leg while riding. They differ in that the Riding breeches are worn with boots, puttees, leg wrapping or high stockings. The Jodhpur snugly covers the lower leg and terminates with a cuff at the ankle, and worn over a high top boot with a strap circling the ankle and buckled on the opposite side. The boot or shoe are also called Jodhpurs. The cuffs covers the top of the high top boots/shoes.
The Jodhpur breeches and boots originated in the Indian state of Jodhpur, hence the name.
Blue skies,
Dan-San

[FliegerJG1]

A big thank you to AAC Cadet Leader and Dan San Abbott for a really interesting, informative thread! I have read of jodhpurs and wondered what they were precisely (i.e. how they differed from other similar clothing) but just never thought to ask.

To inquire a little further, this web site http://www.frontflieger.de/4-ricv14.html

has a photo of the Uhlan uniform as worn by Manfred von Richthofen and the breeches seem to have a leather panel on the inside of the legs yet I haven't noticed this style in photos of MvR himself. Did he wear a non-regulation style of uniform breeches? Were all Uhlan breeches supposed to look like those in this photo? The photo shows the uniform on a mannekin in the aviation museum in Berlin-Gatow.

FliegerJG1

[Dan_San_Abbott]

FliegerJG1:
Most riding breeches are reinforced on the seat and inside the upper leg with the same fabric, usually whipcord fabric. On some breeches, the inside of the knee and upper leg were reinfoced with calfskin. These are the areas in contact with the saddle.
Blue skies,
Dan-San
P.S.My wife Patti, says, "Dan is a compendium of useless information!"

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Originally Posted by Dan_San_Abbott

AAC Cadet Leader:
Both the Breeches and the Jodhpur are flared above the knee. the purpose is to provide fullness in the seat and upper leg while riding.

Adapted well for climbing into open cockpit aeroplanes, too. Did Otto Lillienthal or the Wright Bros, Louis Bleriot, Glenn Curtiss or other pre-WWI aviators wear them when they flew?

The boot or shoe are also called Jodhpurs.

They are??

The Jodhpur breeches and boots originated in the Indian state of Jodhpur, hence the name.

That explains the odd spelling.
Much appreciation for the enlightenment, Dan San Abbott! Now...what can you tell me about the history of leather aviator's clothing?

FlieglerJG1,
Thanks for your added interest and the website link to MvR pictures showing breeches. I have to wonder if the pants pictured on the mannequin are actual MvR breeches or simply an example of what they think he might have worn. They look quite a bit more exaggerated than the ones he's wearing in the photo of him standing with the other aviators.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

http://www.chincasi.com/aguild/alega...y/breeches.htm



About half way down the page:
RB7012 WWI Officers Breeches
http://www.sutlers.co.uk/acatalog/TH..._WAR_I_74.html

Hello Cadet Leader,
You asked about leather and its use in the cockpit. The earliest aviators didn't really wear leather as there was no need. Speeds were not high, they didn't go to much altitude, and they were very much fair weather fliers. If the weather was miserable they just didn't fly. Hence the many photos of the Wrights, Curtiss, & co. flying in suit coats and ties. Things did change fairly quickly, however, as speeds and altitudes increased. Wind (actually slipstream) and the early version of all weather flying is what really led to the adoption of leather. Fabrics like heavy wool that will keep you warm on the ground just can't do the job with a 70 mph wind blasting into every nook and cranny. If it starts drizzling on you or if you are flying just inside a cloud, so as to see without being seen, that wool starts absorbing water as the wind is literally blasting the moisture into you. Even if its dry, the cold slipstream will cut right through most clothes. The old flight instruction manuals used to warn students about that cold blast by telling them to stuff newspaper inside their coats both as additional insulation and, more importantly, to break the wind that would end up penetrating their coat. (Any old time 'bo knows that trick too from riding rails and boxcars.)

Leather was the answer. Unlike wool or other fabrics, leather is a wonderful windbreaker, doing it better with considerably less bulk. Its that characteristic that really got leather into airplanes. You can see that consideration in the design of the clothing. Coats buttoned all the way up with collars that could be turned up and stand as high as the back of the head. Hooded helmets, mask style goggles, and leather face masks protected the head and skin of the face. Flying coat cuffs often had buckles to snug against the wind and the leather helmets and gauntlets had the same. Coats were typically double breasted so as to provide a big overlap and to further reduce infiltration. In addition, the gauntlets were fairly long so as to allow the sleeve cuff to fit well down into them. Fleece lined leather fug boots came all the way up to the crotch or upper thigh and two loops inside the flying coat would be wrapped around the legs to prevent the coat from blowing open. Heavy fur coats were very popular in winter. Even in summer, it got cold at altitude, hence the use of only slightly lighter weight coats with boots, leather leggings, and leather breeches.

Another advantage of leather is its durability. It is much less likely to snag on a sharp edge or projection and so is less likely to tear. It also provides a measure of fire protection. Many of those old flying coats had very thick leather as well as thick wool linings, both of which would often provide enough protection to give the extra seconds needed to get the pilot and crew to the ground or, alternatively, to keep them from roasting while trying to put out the fire. Same for the leather breeches, boots or leggings, and gauntlets. Think of it as early nomex.

Military involvement, of course, was also crucial to the expanded use of leather. The officer corps of all the combatants were accustomed to breeches and leather boots as an indication of rank. Cavalrymen of all ranks were comfortable in that dress as well. More important than custom, however, was that the military could not afford to fly only in pleasant weather. In order to accomplish their missions, flying in poor weather was required as was flight at very high altitudes. Of course, while the boots and breeches tended to come from military tradition, long leather coats were partly an evolution of the long coats and dusters worn by operators of the newfangled motor cars.

Bottom line, a lot of different issues contributed to the widespread use of leather in the cockpit. The fact that it works so well is why its still widely used by motorcyclists and open cockpit flyers today. Fortunately for the flyers of today's Pitts and Eagles, though, they aren't called upon to fly in January drizzle at 15,000 feet. Thats why you don't see many fug boots anymore.

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Thank you Matt for that very interesting and thorough contribution. All it needs are added pictures. I feel all warm and cozy after reading it and I think I'll wear my long leather jacket to work today and on the drive there, I'll dream that I'm up in the clouds in my Sopwith Camel.

Please tell us more about the gauntlets and the fug(?) boots.

[EricGoedkoop]

Originally Posted by AAC Cadet Leader

Adapted well for climbing into open cockpit aeroplanes, too. Did Otto Lillienthal or the Wright Bros, Louis Bleriot, Glenn Curtiss or other pre-WWI aviators wear them when they flew?

In addition to what Matt said above, I'd also point out that the Wrights, Curtiss, and their contemporaries didn't have cockpits to climb in or out of. It wasn't until after 1910 or so that we start to really see the traditional "open cockpit" - which is quite enclosed compared to the earlier arrangements! In many of the successful Pioneer Era designs - such as the early Deperdussins and Hanriots - the pilot sat more ON the fuselage than IN it. I think the Deperdussin A had a cockpit that was all of 12" deep. Not much cowboy leg-swinging there.

Originally Posted by Dan_San_Abbott

P.S.My wife Patti, says, "Dan is a compendium of useless information!"

Dan-San, you tell Patti that no information is useless - as long as the etymology of "jodhpur" hasn't taken over the slot of memory where your anniversary or her shoe size should be. . . .

[AAC Cadet Leader]

Hmm. You've got me thinking and wondering. Just what did those early aviators wear? They didn't always choose fair weather.

Amongst all their careful diaries, letters and record-keeping, there must be some written references to what Orville and Wilbur wore on December 17, 1903 at Kitty Hawk. Anyone have that?

And early in the pre-dawn morning, taking off in his finally successful eleventh design, Louis Bleriot sat out in the open in a 35 to 40 knot damp airstream over 22 miles (was it?) of chilly water. That must have been a cool breeze!

A year later, within hours of the sinking of the Titanic, Harriet Quimby crossed the English Channel wearing her famous plum-colored, hooded, silk jumpsuit and goggles. It was either a warm day, or her blood must've been thick; from the photos I've seen, she didn't look to be wearing many, if any layers underneath.