A-2 buyers. Who are they? Where they come from?

[Anonymous]

I can only answer question no 2
and tell you (at least from the data BK has) that people who are interested in repro mil. jackets
come from (in this order)

1. USA
2. France
3. UK
4. Germany

USA is no 1. with great distance from the no 2.

 

[John Lever]

Are most of the Americans members here ?

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know, I think most are English here.

 

[John Lever]

I don't know, I think most are English here.

Makes sense considering import duties.

 

[Almagnifico]

There is more poeple in USA than France, GB and Germany...

 

[Roughwear]

I don't know, I think most are English here.

Makes sense considering import duties.

This makes very good sense John as import duties really inflate the final cost of a jacket from the USA.

 

[Anonymous]

Makes sense considering import duties.

I think you misunderstood me
I am not saying that most BK customers are English
I said that I think most VLJ members are English (could be wrong)

 

[John Lever]

No, I did understand. English is the language here though I assume the majority are American. Importing into the UK from Europe would be easier than importing into the US. Issues with returns would also be easier to resolve.

 

[Anonymous]

we never had anyone who paid import duties for the jackets
also the cost of returning the jacket from US is like $20 more than it is from UK.
no big things

 

[zoomer]

I'll go further and speculate that a majority of A-2 wearers, at least here in the US, are somehow connected to aviation, motor sports, and/or the military. Not just buffs or fans, but men with actual experience in those fields.

(I'm an aviation buff, bordering on fan.)

 

[tater]

I think that one, the A-2 is a USAAF jacket, so that's obviously going to skew interest. Two, I'd actually love to have an Irvin, but it's simply not cold enough in most of the US to be able to wear it more than a few times a year---and even then I'd likely be wearing more "technical" clothing (skiing, snowshoeing, etc). A leather jacket... I wear in urban settings, basically. I can bring an A-2 for a weekend in San Francisco (year round, lol), but here in new Mexico I only got to wear mine yesterday because it snowed (last week was pushing 80, up to high 70s again by the weekend).

I can only presume at least part of the interest in the UK is based on the fact that most of the jackets were in fact worn in the UK (PTO pilots had A-2s, obviously, but when your squadron is deployed in New Guinea, you don't have a lot of need for warm jackets. Also, with the exception of some heavy bomber units (and their escorts), the majority of 5th AF planes tended to operate at extremely low altitudes. Come home with palm fronds in the engines altitudes.

 

[Peter Graham]

(I'm an aviation buff, bordering on fan.)

What's the difference between a buff and a fan ?

 

[blackrat2]

I think tater is right...the Americans probably go for A2's as they see them worn both in historical pictures and as a current issue garment...just like the trend over here of the "youths" wearing British army cammo jackets and other ex army surplus gear.
As for Irvin jackets no doubt the UK would buy more if the climate was colder and I guess the Americans would back the B3

 

[zoomer]

(I'm an aviation buff, bordering on fan.)

What's the difference between a buff and a fan ?

Fan comes from fanatic. Buffs are more easygoing.

 

[Andreart]

(I'm an aviation buff, bordering on fan.)

What's the difference between a buff and a fan ?

A buff is what you do to your car, and a fan is for when its hot out...Whats up Peter!

 

[Vcruiser]

(I'm an aviation buff, bordering on fan.)

What's the difference between a buff and a fan ?

A buff is what you do to your car, and a fan is for when its hot out...Whats up Peter!

So true!
A Fan can blow a lot of hot air.
A Buff is more..polished.

 

[PaulGT3]

I am American, tho not typical. Grew up around the military and pretty much
worked my whole life there, as enlisted, then later after school as an engineer.
I live in a town dominated by military (the Navy) in the middle of a desert town
in the California Mojave. I love automotive sports. Most of the flight jackets
I have seen are the current green Naval flight jackets but I work close to Edwards
AFB and see alot of Air Force personnel here too. The most popular leather
jacket here is the G-1. But as a 12 Oclock high fan, I loved the A2 also.
Then thanks to this spot I found Eastman and then Goodwear. So I have
about 6 jackets. I just turned 54.

 

[grommet]

I see a lot of A-2's around here (SF bay area) but most are civilian style with 2 piece backs. Modern A-2's are rare and WW II style ones are vanishingly rare (I have seen maybe 2 in the last 4 years). I am sure that most people attracted to these jackets don't really care or differentiate between these styles. I think it is part of the American character to not think about the past. Most people younger than myself (60) know almost nothing about the war, let alone flight jackets. I hope the situation is different in Europe.

 

[marco77]

Not sure !!!
Working on an international airport and most of flight jackets I've seen was worn by ... Japanese !!!

We have a great airshow in France in May, that's the place where I can see lots of flight jacket .

Marco

 

[Steve H]

I think by population ratio, Australians would be up there compared to you highly populated countries- I know at least 5 people in Melbourne with replica WW2 A2s that are NOT on this forum and there are quite a few Aussies on here as it is!

We also had a big USAAF presence here during the war too. 5th AF.