Drop 01 // Six historic flights · Six original print worldsFree shipping >$75 · First Flight Kit: $66, save $8 vs $74 separately · Dec 10 / Dec 16 cutoffs
Departure 1903 // Print archive
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Aviation Gifts for Men and Pilots: The 2026 Holiday Guide

Holiday 2026 · Gifts from 1903 to 1961 · Order by 10 Dec for 17 Dec · Order by 16 Dec for 24 Dec

Shopping for a pilot, a history buff, or the guy who always looks up when a plane goes over? Every gift here comes from a real flight, and every design is drawn to match the actual aircraft.

Naval aviation gifts start on 18 January 1911. That morning Eugene Ely landed a Curtiss pusher on a wooden platform built over the stern of USS Pennsylvania in San Francisco Bay, the first landing of an airplane on a ship. Ropes weighted with sandbags caught the hooks under his airplane and stopped him in about 30 feet. The First Ship Landing Heavyweight Tee ($48), the First Trap Hoodie ($68) and the First Ship Landing Archival Matte Poster (from $38) all carry that morning.

For cold mornings at the airfield, our heavyweight aviation crewnecks ($78) are the warmest pick. The 15 Hours crewnecks follow Amelia Earhart's red Lockheed Vega 5B from Harbour Grace, Newfoundland, to a pasture near Derry on 20 and 21 May 1932, when she became the first woman to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic. The 33 Hours crewneck follows Charles Lindbergh's Ryan NYP from Roosevelt Field to Le Bourget in May 1927, a nonstop flight of 33 hours and 30 minutes.

For the guy who loves where it all began, the 12 Seconds Woodcut Heavyweight Tee ($42) marks 17 December 1903 at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, about four miles south of the village of Kitty Hawk. The first flight lasted 12 seconds and covered 120 feet. Add the Kill Devil Hills Unstructured Cap ($32) and you have a gift that gets the place right.

Airplane gifts for men who love jets and rockets: the Mach 1 Sabre Heavyweight Tee ($48) honors Jacqueline Cochran, who flew a Canadair Sabre past the speed of sound on 18 May 1953 and became the first woman to break the sound barrier. The 15 Minutes Freedom 7 Heavyweight Tee ($48) marks Alan Shepard's suborbital flight of 5 May 1961, which lasted 15 minutes and 28 seconds.

For the big one under the tree, the 15 Hours Duck Cloth Work Jacket ($145) is our heaviest piece, with the Vega's 1932 crossing on the back.

Every piece is printed to order, so give it a little lead time. Order by 10 December for delivery by 17 December, the anniversary of the first flight. Order by 16 December for delivery by 24 December.

The First Flight Kit

If you want to give the story of that first morning as a pair, the First Flight Kit brings together the 12 Seconds Tee ($42) and Kill Devil Hills Cap ($32) for $66. They would cost $74 bought separately, so you save $8. It is a simple gift for someone who knows the flight and appreciates getting the place right.

See the First Flight Kit12 Seconds TeeKill Devil Hills Cap

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Ch. 02 // Risograph 1911$68.00
First Trap hoodie in white, 18 January 1911, Departure 1903Risograph 1911, original artwork detail

First Trap Hoodie

1911 Curtiss Model D Pusher · The first arrested landing was not a Navy exercise. On 18 January 1911, a civilian named Eugene Ely flew a Curtiss pusher onto a wooden platform over the stern of USS Pennsylvania at anchor in San Francisco Bay. Hooks on the gear caught ropes weighted with sandbags; he was aboard at 11:01 and back in the air before noon. Ely was not a naval aviator, and this collection is not a recruiting shirt. The chest is the date of the first trap. Hoodie, sixty-eight dollars.