THE AERO-TREK STORY

Like most artists, I have many plein air easels.  Several of them I love.  Some not so much.  Two issues led me to develop and produce the Aero-Trek: First, I am an airline pilot by profession, and I got tired of carrying the weight of regular plein air easels with me on trips around the world. I also paint in the mountains of North Carolina and got tired of carrying heavy easels on long hikes or walking around cities carrying regular easels.

Enter Aero-Trek. I needed a lightweight and compact plein air system. I considered building and selling a carbon fiber easel system but realized, after some research, that it would be impractical in terms of labor and costs. Each easel would have to sell for over $1,000 to make it worthwhile. The 3D-printed Aero-Trek accomplishes everything I set out to do—lightweight and compact.  Aero-Trek weights just over 2 pounds (excluding tripod). The tripod we suggest weighs just under 2 pounds so your entire system will weight in at about 4 pounds total.

Aero-Trek comes in standard Light Grey. Other colors are available at checkout. If you have a special request, please contact us.

Proudly manufactured in the U.S.A

Coming Soon!

$15 Each

Aero-Trek Clip-on Brush Holder

for Guerrilla Painter Mighty Mite and Mighty Mite Junior

Clip-on Solvent Cradle

Can the Aero-Trek Easel be used as a desktop easel on the road or at home?

You bet it can . . . Just take it off the tripod.

Check out our recently added accessories included at no extra charge!

Slip on 6” side table

Solvent can hanger clip

Slip-on medium cup holder (shown with optional medium cups.)

Standard Features

5663036l.jpg
5663010l.jpg
5663009l.jpg
DSC_1855 copy.jpg
DSC_1849 copy.jpg
DSC_1856 copy.jpg

HOW LONG WILL IT TAKE TO RECEIVE MY AERO-TREK?

Crafted from space-age materials, Aero-Trek is the lightest full-size plein air easel and is designed to be affordable, ultra-lightweight, and compact but not limiting. In order to do this, we 3D print each easel as it is ordered. Your easel will take approximately 20 hours to print and another hour or so for assembly. As such, we will process orders, print, and ship the easels on a first-come, first-serve basis.  We do not pre-print the components at this time, so please allow a few weeks for delivery. Your order will be added to the queue when we receive it.

WHAT IS INCLUDED WITH MY ORDER?

  • A folding pochade box with latching mechanism.

  • Box with hinges and latching mechanism is 9 x 9 7/8”.

  • Two mixing areas 7 3/8 x 9 3/38 for a combined palette mixing area of 9 3/8 x 14 3/4”.

  • Two lightweight aluminum vertical (joining) masts (22” and 18”) with connector. We chose 22” as the longer mast so that it will fit into a standard airline carry-on bag.  You can join the two masts for a total vertical height of 40.”

  • Two canvas holders which will accommodate either a 1/8 or 1/8” panel or a 1” stretched canvas. We can also provide you with custom canvas holders which can accommodate a gallery wrap (1 1/2” stretched canvas) upon request.  Contact us for more information.

  • Mast to Tripod Connector with standard 1/4” camera tripod female threading.

  • Pochade box to Mast Connector with built-in brush channels to hold brushes. Each connector is also pre-set to accommodate one or two outstanding Mini Clip-on Brush Holders by Smart Art Products.  Order one or two with this link and get a 10% discount.

    ACCESSORIES (included at no additional charge)

  • Solvent can hanger clip.

  • Slip-on medium cup holder (medium cups are $8 extra if you want them and are available at check-out).

  • Slip on 6” side table.

WHAT DOES THE AERO-TREK WEIGH?

Aero-Trek Weight:  The Aero-Trek Easel system weighs just over two (2) pounds. (excluding tripod, and addtional accessories)

DO YOU SELL A TRIPOD?  

Yes. We recommend and offer the Oben CQL-13.  This carbon fiber tripod is compact and light. It weighs only 1.5 pounds and is available here or in our package deal. Together, the Aero-Trek easel with basic components combined with the Oben CQL-13 weigh under four (4) pounds.

SMART ART PRODUCTS Mini-clip Brush Holder

(They also sell larger clip models for home easels. These are great.)

Aero-Trek recommends Smart Art Products Mini-Clip Brush Holder. Aero-Trek has been designed to accommodate the clip with left and right side attach points. You can use on on the left or on the right, or you can buy two and attach them on both sides.

ORDER A BRUSH HOLDER

For a 10% discount, USE CODE “AEROTREK” (add in the promo box at checkout):