I came in late to this. At one time I owned an Aero Bronco A-2, and mine fit snugly like an A-2 is supposed to fit. The pictures illustrate an optimal fit although you are the only one who can really make that determination. It should loosen up even more over time and become like a second skin.
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New Aero Bronco A-2
- Thread starter AIRCRAFTMECH
- Start date
Steve27752
One of the Regulars
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It looks to tight and you only have a shirt underneath. The next size up would in my opinion be a better fit.
Benny Holiday
My Mail is Forwarded Here
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Looks spot on fitwise to me. A keeper for sure.
Edward
Bartender
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- London, UK
Notionally it was flight gear to be worn in flight, yeah. You'd want to be warm up there, but cockpits could be cramped, especially in single seat fighters. To the best of my knowledge, the A2 was better suited to warmer climates in that sense. A lot of USAAF pilots wore all sorts - some might have worn the B3 over their A2 (it did happen), though the B3 had a reputation for being clumsy in a tight cockpit, so many adapted other gear they could scrounge. I've read of pilots acquiring a tanker jacket to wear instead of the A2 prior to being issued with a B10. Another common trick was to swap a B3 for a groundcrew mechanic's D1; the D1 was neater in a cramped cabin, and the groundcrew appreciate the extra warmth of the B3 in Winter. The popularity of the D1 in this respect is what inspired the B6, though those didn't see wide issue before leather and shearling were replace by, initially, the B10 and then B15.
jonbuilder
My Mail is Forwarded Here
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I think the fit is spot on I personally like the Bronco pattern
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rockandrollrabbit
One of the Regulars
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- Chicago, IL
Excellent information! Clearly you've read up on this. Yeah, I've often wondered, despite what you see in movies, if the flyboys over Europe wore something else up there. Over the Pacific, obviously they didn't even have the A-2 (despite movies consistently getting that wrong).
Yes, they wore them in cockpits as a summertime jacket.
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Well movies didn't get it wrong. Some A-2 jackets (famously, those from the "China Burma India Theater" , and of the Flying Tigers) had a "Blood chit" sewn on the lining or outer back, printed on cloth, which promised certain rewards to civilians who aided a downed airman. .
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daw
Familiar Face
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Looks like I'd want an A2 to fit. Fits perfectly.
rockandrollrabbit
One of the Regulars
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Well I stand humbly corrected. I knew about blood chits, but it was my understanding that the A-2 was limited to the Air Force, i.e. the European theater. I had come to believe that Navy fliers in the Pacific were either in an ANJ-3 or a G1. Shows what I know?
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The First American Volunteer Group of the Chinese Air Force, nicknamed “The Flying Tigers,” flew combat missions in the Chinese-Burma-India theater of World War II against the invading military forces of Imperial Japan from December 20, 1941 until July 4, 1942. The Flying Tigers were composed of American pilots and technicians volunteering from the United States Army Air Corps, Navy, and Marine Corps and received financial support from the Republic of China and flew mainly out of Chinese bases.
TooManyHatsOnlyOneHead
Call Me a Cab
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read a book years back, think it was called The Burma Road. Went into great detail about The Flying Tigers. The planes would almost scrape their bottoms on the Himalayas. There was a funny story about the pilots dropping fried chicken out of the planes to some trapped workers/troops to keep them from starving, but also for morale. Always stuck with me until one day I saw this Schott M1A style flight jacket and swooped it up real quick.
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Original WW2 Aero.....
MichaelRhB
One of the Regulars
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- 169
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- Southern Illinois
It looks great and the fit looks perfect. Not crazy about the contrast stitching. I'd prefer something closer to the leather color or at least dark brown, but that's just me.
I think flight officers might have been better fitted for these jackets than enlisted aircrew that were handed something 'close enough'. If not, they could always be tailored same as their dress uniforms.
I think flight officers might have been better fitted for these jackets than enlisted aircrew that were handed something 'close enough'. If not, they could always be tailored same as their dress uniforms.
dudewuttheheck
I'll Lock Up
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- 4,422
I think it fits well. You don't want it to be too loose. Nobody wants to look like a president in their A2.
Edward
Bartender
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As memory serves, officially they had 'resigned' from the US forces and were there as mercenaries, but as we now know, it was sanctioned at the Presidential level, the hope being that by supporting the Republic of China against Japan, they could hasten the end of that conflict, with the intent that the RoC could then concentrate on the threat posed by the Maoists. (Of course, that panned out differently).
As HD and many others on here know well, there was a bulk order of M442as purchased from the USN for the Tigers, but many of them wore all sorts of jacket they got hold of. While they did not travel to China in uniform - officially, remember, they were no longer Forces, and they were kitted out once there as members of the Chinese air force - some took their own A2s with them. Others wore all sorts; I've even seen a tanker jacket with FT markings (I can't swear as to how legit that was, or whether it was worn at the time or a later-created souvenir jacket for an ex-Tiger). Once the US officially entered the war, the FT designation was adopted by its successor USAAF 23rd Fighter Group, though according to what I've read on this, only five of the original Tigers stayed with that particular group.
Replicas of bloodchits were commonly made from textiles, leather or simply paint. The latter two, attached to the back of the jacket, were common to begin with - in the really early versions, the airmen were identified as "foreign" rather than specifically "American" (after the US entered the war). These were later replaced with the practice of sewing a fabric bloodchit inside the jacket for the simple reason that the blood chits bore the nationalist flag of the Republic of China, which was at best awkward for anyone who crash landed in an area held by the Maoists. I've long wanted to put together an AVG themed jacket myself; I find the concept of the bloodchit especially fascinating. Wouldn't wear one to China now(!), but there is a Flying Tigers museum in China that I hope to visit one day, and they are still widely regarded as heroes who fought the Japanese invader alongside the Chinese people now.
Good afternoon, I think your fit is good at a first sight, but only you know if your jacket fits comfortable or not. I'm 172 cm, and when I bought my Aero Bronco 38, I was 75 kg, and I felt my jacket a little tight. Now I'm 68 kg and I feel it well.
