A-2 Flight Jacket Thread

[WolfofStateSt]

I have seen a peacoat thread, a deck jacket thread, and even an N3B Parka thread, but nowhere on this forum have I seen an A-2 flight jacket thread. I searched in the search bar, and I only found individual threads about questions here and there. Maybe I missed something? Didn’t I scroll through all the billion search results?

Anyway, I’m surprised this iconic jacket doesn’t have its thread. It’s the model that started me collecting; it’s the basis for jackets worn by characters like Virgil Hilts in The Great Escape or Indiana Jones!

So, I thought I would start this thread while discussing it. I was wondering if anyone else noticed some Western influences on the jacket, like cowboy Western. Whenever I wear mine, an RMC A2 Model 220, that’s the reaction I usually get. People ask me if it is a Western jacket, not a flight jacket.

 

[tmitchell59]

I've owned a few Reproduction A2 jackets and several "Civilian" A2, the ones with the hand warmer pockets. I find this style one of the easiest wearing jacket styles, very comfortable.

Lot of folks here have an A2, see them for sale in classified.

Don't understand people thinking it is a Western style.

The Civilian style was hugely popular in the 40s and 50s as a working mans jacket.

 

[El Marro]

I had never noticed the absence of a general A-2 thread and I’m surprised there isn’t one to be honest. When I started hanging around the lounge in 2015 there was a lot more discussion of A-2’s in general, seems that everybody either had one (or more) or wanted to get one.
I have never thought of it as a western style jacket. I wonder if it is the patch pockets leading people to see that connection. There is certainly nothing very western about zippers and wool knits.

 

[WolfofStateSt]

I had never noticed the absence of a general A-2 thread and I’m surprised there isn’t one to be honest. When I started hanging around the lounge in 2015 there was a lot more discussion of A-2’s in general, seems that everybody either had one (or more) or wanted to get one.
I have never thought of it as a western style jacket. I wonder if it is the patch pockets leading people to see that connection. There is certainly nothing very western about zippers and wool knits.

I agree. Though Real McCoys is renowned for its faithful recreations, the A-2 Model 220 feels slightly stylized and civilian. I like this because I am a civilian, after all. When I ask what’s “country western” about my A-2, people usually point to the pockets on my jacket.

It could be the prevailing climate in America’s heartland right now. I grew up watching movies where the hero was a fighter pilot, like The Great Escape or Hogan’s Heroes. But I think the current Zeitgeist is that Americans are obsessed with cowboys. Or maybe cowboys is not the correct term; it’s “country.”

I don't think aviation carries the same mystique for young Americans anymore… until another Top Gun sequel comes out, and everyone is obsessed with it for a year or two until they forget about it again.