New Aviation Item!

[Jeff V]

A real beauty( at least to me)! i hope you like it. A little history of the piece. It was part of a collection of items that were sold after the passing of an R.F.C. widow, out of Wales, England. Advertised in a Shotgun News ad in 1973 it sold for the princely sum of $55.00 by a company named Military Marine out of Sidcup Kent England. Some other of their offerings in that ad included a Zeppelin bomb release mechanism for $30.00. Royal Flying Corps bomb for $50.00, and a door section with cross from shot down Nazi bomber WW2 $75.00. Believed due to the rib markings on the back this fabric cross is thought to have come from an Albatross DIII.
best wishes,
jeff

[gregM]

That is just about the ulitmate in ironcross collectables.
I know that there is one more of these on the forum. I will see if I can find a picture of it.

[Jeff V]

Thanks for the nice words Greg! I have seen the other one on the forum and it spoke to me LOUDLY. Thats why i just had to get this one when I saw it. Well here it is after the frame job. Acid free backing. UV resistant museum quality glass, with special coatings to reduce glare. Also, it is kept away from touching the glass. A big job for me tonight! But, quite rewarding when I look at the finished product.
best wishes,
jeff

[torstenbel]

Jeff, beautiful/.. nice framing job How do you manage to keep it away from touching the glass??

Would maybe enhance the display, if you were to insert a period postcard or photograph of an Albatros under the cross...? But, of course upto you if you do that or not...beautiful and so scarce...and I am down to Sidcup this weekend to see if that firm is still sitting on some of those aviation pieces that they did not manage to sell at their outrages prices in 1973... Cheers, Torsten.

[Jeff V]

Thanks Torsten! I keep it off the glass by little spacers between the glass and backing which keeps the cross away from the glass. As far as a postcard or picture I thought about that quite a bit. I decided not to because I did not want any implication that the cross came off that particular plane. So, I have decided to go another way and will be building one of Arizona Models 1/12 scale kits of an Albatross D3 or the Fokker Dr.1. I will hang the plane from the ceiling near the cross. It should look great! The model will have a wingspan of 28 inches for those wondering how big 1/12th is.
best wishes,
jeff

[Chris_Werner]

Nice find and nice framing job. Congratulations.

[Daniel Murphy]

I know that there is one more of these on the forum. I will see if I can find a picture of it

Jeff,
Great find! I do not know if it is off a Albatross, but I do know it is a early one.

Greg,
Is this the one you were thinking of? The old pic was done with a scanner and I could not get all of it. Here is a new pic. I guess two doughboys argued over who got to keep it and tore it in half.
Dan Murphy

[gregM]

That's the one. I didnot realize it was torn in half. Too bad.
BUT still how many people can claim they have an actual fabric insignia off a ww1 airplane.

VERY nice pieces, guys

[Jeff V]

Hi Dan, yours is the one that I loved so much when I first saw it with your flight badges. Thanks for showing the whole picture of it. Beautiful!
best wishes,
jeff

[Daniel Murphy]

Gentlemen I have just been advised by the original owner of this that this item is not real. He sold it to someone who resold it with a fake story to me. My sincere apologies.
Daniel Murphy

[Daniel Murphy]

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[Jeff V]

Wow Daniel, that is gigantic . Must have been off a large plane. How do you roll it up and keep the paint from flaking off?
best wishes,
jeff

[Daniel Murphy]

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[Daniel Murphy]

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[Jeff V]

Well Dan, to frame something that size will be quite a job. Good luck!
best wishes,
jeff