Same here, my 3yo Daughter don't even know snow. It's snowless here since at least 5 yearsAgreed, super cool picture!!
On a side note... I want snow. I want snow so bad... We still hadn't had anything here, only a couple of melting flakes.
Agreed, all I've gotten is rain and slush. :,(Agreed, super cool picture!!
On a side note... I want snow. I want snow so bad... We still hadn't had anything here, only a couple of melting flakes.
well my dad would have said no sense no feelingMike, how do you do it? I'd die of cold wearing A2 when the snow lies![]()
Cool jacket, Burt.Another cold, grey, 48 degree day here in Florida . Great jacket weather. You guys with 5 inches of snow must think I’m nuts but honestly, we don’t get to wear jackets much of the time living down here , so this is great weather if you’re into vintage jackets.
So what jacket an I wearing today ? Look closely, you may think it’s a repro M-422a or a G-1. If you think that’s the case , you’ll be surprised to know that it’s an Aero A2 tribute jacket to the AVG Flying Tigers. Aero made these jackets about 10-15 years ago in limited numbers . As most of you know the AVG Flying Tigers was a composite group of US military pilots and ground personnel who resigned their commissions in the US military and signed on as volunteers to fight for China in the 1940s against the Japanese. This process was called “sheep dipping”, where US military personnel, with the “under the table” tacit approval of the US government, resigned from US military service and fought for a country friendly to the US interests . Many of the pilots who did that, were former USN and Marine Corp aviators who kept most of their issued flying kit and took it with them, to include their M-422a jackets . Several of the other pilots were USAAF pilots who did the same with their flight gear including their A2 jackets . Now several of the USSAF pilots liked the USN jackets but couldn’t acquire them as they were in the USN supply chain , so being the enterprising young guys that they were they did the next best thing . Now to digress for a second , if any of you have ever been to South East Asia or to China or Korea you know that you can have any item of clothing duplicated in 24 hours. Well the USAAF pilots used that to their advantage and had mouton collars sewn onto their A2 jackets . To be clear on this fact, I have yet to actually see any photos of AVG pilots wearing A2’s with mouton collars attached however, I have read about this taking place . If any of you happen to come by a photo of A2’s customized in that manner, being worn by AVG guys please post them here. So back to this jacket, it’s a “semi vintage” limited Aero production of a goatskin 42-15142 -P, A2 jacket with a red silk lining as was thought to be in jackets worn by certain “Ace” pilots having 5 kills or more . This is the only one I have ever seen or owned so I think it’s kind of unique . I hope you enjoy the photos and please feel free to post any comments positive or negative .
Thanks for looking
Cheers
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Hi TiesCool jacket, Burt.
Something you don't see very often. I always liked the idea of a "field modified" CBI A-2, and actually did order one from AERO...maybe 15 years ago...
Top notch jacket, but the mouton at that time was a shade like... ...long dead, bleached out salmon. A real eye sore, so I returned it.
Yours looks either real plushy or as if AERO has actually added the fur on top of the full two-piece collar? Ken told me once that this was actually the way the guys in the field would have done it....the jacket I ordered had the upper part of the collar replaced, so the whole construction was thinner and more comfortable to wear.
Ties
Neither! One of two Diamond Flighters in the collection...Who did the crusher, if it's not original? society Brand, or American Patrol?
Neither! One of two Diamond Flighters in the collection...