New "inexpensive" A2 aero/billkelso or other sugestions ?

[aswatland]

The Aero Real Deal on the hand looks far more accurate. The colour is spot on for Aero's 1941, W535ac21996 contract. The Crown zip puller on the Talon style track is a nice touch and I presume this was added by Blethook?
It is certainly a better bet than the Spearhead jackt IMO.

 

[atkins]

Cockpit A-2

Julian, how bout this :

Very little information though.But sure looks nice at the price.

 

[aswatland]

Julian, how bout this :

Very little information though.But sure looks nice at the price.

It's a Cockpit/Avirex A2, based on a RW design I think. The lack of detailed shots make an evaluation impossible.

 

[Edward]

The Aero Real Deal on the hand looks far more accurate. The colour is spot on for Aero's 1941, W535ac21996 contract. The Crown zip puller on the Talon style track is a nice touch and I presume this was added by Blethook?
It is certainly a better bet than the Spearhead jackt IMO.

I'm still tempted by one of those - in russet, with the rust cuffs (which, if memory serves, were a signature of the original Aeros, yes?). I know the RD is based on a specific contract (at least, so their website indicates), though they offer all the options... What should it have to be accurate to the originals? Looking at all the options, with the exception of the Bill Kelso that remains an unknown quantity to me, the Aero RD does seem to offer the best balance of price and affordability at present (otherwise, of course, the obvious thing to do would be to jump straight for one of John's jackets). I'd love to see a Kelso compared to an Aero RD directly, as they're very close in price (If memory serves, when I worked it out for one of us ordering within the UK, the Kelso works out about £40 cheaper than the Aero once you pay postage).

 

[aswatland]

I notice Aero claims their Real Deal is based on the 42-15142-P contract, but the previous one was identical apart from the contract number! It's excellent value IMO, Edward. I wish Aero would improve their website, which is very dated now, with close-up pictures. These two contracts both predominantly used the berry knits. Most were dark seal, whilst their last 1942 contract was made in the main from russet hh. Some still had berry knits, but most were mid brown.

 

[blethook]

Nice,
is the reddish undertone really so intensive ?
It don't seam to be on other pictures ,or does aero may varry the undertone in case wich collor of cuffing you chose ?

Julian,

The photos were taken without flash. But sunlight does affect how the colour appears. In low light conditions it will appear darker (more seal brown).

I got the jacket a few years ago. If you're getting one, best to ask for samples first (jerky seal brown) as the current hide may be a bit different.

The knits' colour is mid brown. Again ask for samples of the different A-2 knits they have.

B.

 

[blethook]

The Aero Real Deal on the hand looks far more accurate. The colour is spot on for Aero's 1941, W535ac21996 contract. The Crown zip puller on the Talon style track is a nice touch and I presume this was added by Blethook?
It is certainly a better bet than the Spearhead jackt IMO.

Andrew,
I got my Anniversary A-2 (42-15142-P) a few years back when Aero was able to provide NOS zippers (Talon/Crown). I decided to pay extra & had a NOS Crown zipper installed.

Blethook

 

[aswatland]

Thanks for putting me straight on the zip. The Crown zip is a perfect addition as most from the 1941 contract had Crowns, with some having Talons.

 

[Edward]

I notice Aero claims their Real Deal is based on the 42-15142-P contract, but the previous one was identical apart from the contract number! It's excellent value IMO, Edward. I wish Aero would improve their website, which is very dated now, with close-up pictures.

Yes, it's a shame, really. Eastman's website is streets ahead in terms of being easier to navigate - Aero's just feels a bit clunky, and it's hard to find the specific model you're after sometimes. Both Aero and ELC's sites would, IMO, benefit enormously from having photos of their jackets actually being worn, a la Goodwear. Aero do have their gallery of shots sent in by happy customers, but that's a bit hit and miss as to whether they have the model you're after.... I suppose the difficulty with that is that they'd need to have an example of each in the correct size for someone to model, so it could be an expensive addition... I'd settle for better navigation on the Aero site. And yes, some more close ups of all the jackets.... maybe some pictures too of the various options for lining...

These two contracts both predominantly used the berry knits. Most were dark seal, whilst their last 1942 contract was made in the main from russet hh. Some still had berry knits, but most were mid brown.

So theoretically, the contract number that Aero uses on their Real Deal jacket should be seal with berry? I wish Aero had a section of their website with photos of all the knit colours by name - while it's great they offer so much choice (and at the end of the day if I buy one of these I'll probably just go for the colourscheme I fancy, rather than being overly concerned about whether it was issued that way...), it's not exactly obvious what the individual colour names refer to. One page with a list of those and photos would be so handy!

 

[blethook]

Yes, it's a shame, really. Eastman's website is streets ahead in terms of being easier to navigate - Aero's just feels a bit clunky, and it's hard to find the specific model you're after sometimes. Both Aero and ELC's sites would, IMO, benefit enormously from having photos of their jackets actually being worn, a la Goodwear. Aero do have their gallery of shots sent in by happy customers, but that's a bit hit and miss as to whether they have the model you're after.... I suppose the difficulty with that is that they'd need to have an example of each in the correct size for someone to model, so it could be an expensive addition... I'd settle for better navigation on the Aero site. And yes, some more close ups of all the jackets.... maybe some pictures too of the various options for lining...



So theoretically, the contract number that Aero uses on their Real Deal jacket should be seal with berry? I wish Aero had a section of their website with photos of all the knit colours by name - while it's great they offer so much choice (and at the end of the day if I buy one of these I'll probably just go for the colourscheme I fancy, rather than being overly concerned about whether it was issued that way...), it's not exactly obvious what the individual colour names refer to. One page with a list of those and photos would be so handy!

Edward,

Did you ever look in their website here?

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/listing/user/aeroleatherusa

 

[Smithy]

Has anyone here seen one of these Bill Kelso A-2s in the flesh?

I'd be very interested to hear thoughts about these and some comparisons with the other more established makers.

That Real Deal that was posted is a beautiful jacket. Maybe it's not a GW but for the price and especially for someone in the UK, it's a strong option.

 

[Edward]

Edward,

Did you ever look in their website here?

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/listing/user/aeroleatherusa

Thanks, yes - the Aero US website actually has better photos of most of the jackets than Aero's own site....! Thing is, I still can't find anywhere on it where they show exactly which colour knits is what...

I always thought the ones in the photo below were 'rust', though it seems from some of the reviews I have read that they might be Berry??

 

[blethook]

Julian,
Correction: The knits' colour is actually "Dark Berry."

Julian,

The photos were taken without flash. But sunlight does affect how the colour appears. In low light conditions it will appear darker (more seal brown).

I got the jacket a few years ago. If you're getting one, best to ask for samples first (jerky seal brown) as the current hide may be a bit different.

The knits' colour is mid brown. Again ask for samples of the different A-2 knits they have.

B.

 

[blethook]

Thanks, yes - the Aero US website actually has better photos of most of the jackets than Aero's own site....! Thing is, I still can't find anywhere on it where they show exactly which colour knits is what...

I always thought the ones in the photo below were 'rust', though it seems from some of the reviews I have read that they might be Berry??

I think rust is right for the reddish knits shown above. Mine turns out to be dark berry. Why not ask for samples from Aero?

 

[Edward]

I think rust is right for the reddish knits shown above. Mine turns out to be dark berry. Why not ask for samples from Aero?

Yeah, I'll probably query it with them in a bit, I'm not quite ready to buy just yet, though, so I don't want to bother them too much.

 

[JulianPascal]

Julian,

You question is the exact reason for which we created the Bill Kelso jacket.

Do you know ,when you could offer the seal brown version ?

 

[JulianPascal]

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/6113829 when i look at this pictures ,the aero real deal becomes unatractive to me.
The pockets are to big in my opinion , ist semms to be... unbalanced...


I get the feeling that i would have to spend more and go for an eastman ,but maybe just an different aero A-2 model.

 

[blethook]

Edward,
Apparently I've still got a sample of rust knit from Aero. See how it compares to the dark berry. The weather was a bit cloudy when this was taken, so the pic is not so great:

Yeah, I'll probably query it with them in a bit, I'm not quite ready to buy just yet, though, so I don't want to bother them too much.

 

[blethook]

You're right from the photos the pockets do seem large. But on mine the pocket size is very similar to that of other repros I have...

http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/view/6113829 when i look at this pictures ,the aero real deal becomes unatractive to me.
The pockets are to big in my opinion , ist semms to be... unbalanced...


I get the feeling that i would have to spend more and go for an eastman ,but maybe just an different aero A-2 model.

 

[JulianPascal]

...But on mine the pocket size is very similar to that of other repros I have...

In that case i could be the jacket for me to go for ,the only way to would be to try it.

But i,m not sure ,because on their side there are no returning polices listed.
Does Aero redfund their not-custom-sized jackets ,in a definite period ?