Dressed for success

In praise of the A2 flight jacket

I love my A2, flight jacket that is, not milk by the same name. My A2 is the universal pilot’s flight jacket. It is what they call an intermediate weather jacket but it is a great wear on the windy tarmac and it has pockets for things. It also spells out pilot in a quiet sort of way.

In years gone by I had a sage green MA-1 jacket. It was very warm and comfortable and being made of Mil-spec nylon was able to shed rain and stay warm at the same time. Now I like pockets in my jackets for stowing ‘stuff’. The MA-1 had four pockets. Jumpers have never been in my aviator’s kit. The fact that the MA-1 was made of nylon did not gel well with me in case of being involved in a fire. Maybe the dry cleaner did me a favour when he destroyed the cuffs during a dry clean. I retired it and with my saved pennies lashed out and bought a Flight Jacket, A2, Leather; pilots for the use of.