The Classic A-2

Ray-Bans, big watches, bigger egos and leather jackets; a romantic ideal of aviators belonging to a more gentlemanly age.  The quintessential pilot uniform?  The venerable horsehide A-2, the more worn-in the better.   First introduced by the U.S. Army Air Core in 1931 as the "Jacket, Flying, Type A-2", it was designed to protect pilots from the wind with a functional cut for a cramped cockpit.  Having spent countless hours of my youth perusing old photographs and movies of World War II aviation (my favourite: Catch 22), I dreamed of a more adventurous world beyond the farms of Southern Ontario.  I had formed an idea in my young mind of just what a pilot is supposed to look like.  Of course when I landed my first job flying Bell 47s in Northern Ontario in 1985, I went out and purchased a horsehide A-2.

That jacket went with me everywhere, I wore it flying year round unless I needed a down parka, working out of tent camps up in the high North of Ontario and Quebec.  I slept in it I don't know how many times, used it as a groundsheet when I worked on my car, and still had it with me when I progressed from piston engine Bell 47s to Jetrangers, Longrangers, 205s and was still wearing it on my first EMS job flying 222s.  I had it relined twice.  It had gotten soft and very well worn, but still held up.  I then moved out to Canada's East Coast and their damp weather, flying S61s offshore, and that old beat-up jacket was relegated to a closet in the basement.  Digging it out a few years later, I found it had been totally destroyed by mold, and sadly, into the trash it went.

Then began a long journey to find a replacement.  I tried some standard leather pilot jackets, but none had the same charm as an A-2.  I tried a goat hide military issue version but returned it after a few days.  I tried a horsehide version from Flightsuits.com (now Gibson & Barnes) and the leather was gorgeous, but I found the jacket far too blousey.  Figuring that I had ordered the wrong size I called and found out that their jackets are sized for the average American body (apologies to my many American friends but that's what they told me).  I returned it as well.  Finally I found the guys with the ad on the right side of my page for a more authentic cut, and ordered one of their classic russet horsehide A-2s.  Perfect classic fit.  Soft and supple but tough as nails.  That old jacket has flown S61s, Super Pumas and AW139s the world over.   I eventually got myself a second one from them in Seal Brown just for some variety (and custom ordered cuffs), seen here in Romania.

Jackets, watches and photography, I do apologize for writing about "stuff" so much recently, but I haven't been flying nor travelling since early March of this year.  I'm happy to say I've found work once again, filling a Search & Rescue Captain and Training/Check pilot role overseas.   I'm off to Italy for the AW139 sim for a recurrent this weekend.   Spending most of my free time with my nose back in the books, I am very anxious to get back to work!