History of the Sidcot Flying Suits
Men-At-Arms, British Air Forces 1914-1918 (2) Osprey Press
Andrew Cormack and Peter Cormack
Clothing
For most of the war the usual garment worn by aviators
was a leather coat of some type. They were produced by
numerous manufacturers in brown and black and with innumerable variations in length, buttoning arrangements. pockets, linings and collars. In addition it is clear that firms
issued patterns so that flyers could have garments made
incorporating their own modifications.
Alongside leather coats, some were produced in fabric, usually closely woven proofed gabardine in shades of mid-brown.
In May 1915 the RNAS introduced a ‘Blue overcoat of
special pattern with belt’ to he worn as flying kit. It was an almost knee-length, double-breasted reefer coat with very large flap and button skirt pockets, a falling collar and shoulder straps.
Officers who transferred to the RFC while in France had, per force, to wear standard greatcoats until they could re kit themselves. and some aviators in both services wore fur coats or jackets as advertised in Spicer & Sons of Leamington Spa in The Aeroplane magazine.
The RFC’s first official body garment, introduced in 1912, was a mid thigh length jacket with a cross- over chest piece, two flapped pockets occupying the whole front skirt and a small, angled map pocket with flap on the chest. It fastened down the right side with visible buttons and had a stand collar fastened with two small buttons. It was lined with camel— coloured woollen fabric.
An improved version with a large, unflapped map pocket and ‘grip studs' on the skirt pocket flaps was introduced in September 1913, accompanied by leather trousers with a front flap opening, buttoning to a waistband, and with buckled straps round the ankles.
These garments remained the only official body clothing until August 1916 when Coats, Waterproof, Pilots’ were introduced These were fabric garments, presumably of a standard rain coat-type design, lined with ‘thibet or slink’, the very dense. curly haired/wool pelts of still born calves/ lambs respectively.
During the winter of 1916 a major development took place in flying clothing, seemingly by accident. Flight Sub-Lieutenant Sidney Cotton of 3 Wing RNAS discovered that his grease impregnated maintenance overall was impermeable to air and gave greater protection against cold than most purpose made flying clothing. He adapted the principle and with the assistance of J. Evans of Robinson and Cleaver Limited a design was made up consisting of an outer layer of proofed khaki twill over a rubbered muslin interlining and a mohair liner.
The garment was a combination suit with a buttoned central fly below the waist and an externally buttoned chest flap fastening on the right. The wrists and ankles had buttoned cuffs; large open pockets were provided above each knee and it had a fur collar. Private trials proved Cotton’s design and the suit became commercially available in March 191,. when it had a small, vertical flap and button left breast pocket.
It was adopted by the War Office and sealed as Pattern 9686 on 10 December 1917, by which time it had probably acquired the large angled map pocket across the chest. Cotton had named the suit the Sidcot and it became the classic flying suit of the late war period; indeed, Air Ministry Order 235 of May 1918 stipulated that air crews posted abroad from training units in the UK had to be equipped with them and not leather gear
Post war suits were made out of a lighter weight material as student pilots wore them over their street clothes while at training. The Royal Air Force issued electrically heated suits prior to the outset of WW II. These suits had shorter sleeves and pants legs to allow for the electrical hook up to boots and gloves. BSA, LLC has modeled its Sidcot suits after this between the war years flying suits.
