More Wings...

[Scott C.]

Got off work early and had some good light on the deck, so I thought I'd snap a few more wing pics...

First up is a set of early USAF (1950s-60s?) NS Meyer 9M. These have a distinct, flat-chiseled design, and came in both pin and clutch back, sterling and non-sterling. Here are the fronts:

[Scott C.]

And the backs:

[Scott C.]

Close-ups of the markings. Interesting how two of the die-marks are well worn while the basic pilot is quite crisp. Here's the command pilot:

[Scott C.]

Senior pilot:

[Scott C.]

Basic pilot:

[Scott C.]

This is one of my favorites: a WWII NS Meyer senior pilot with the star on "stilts"

[Scott C.]

Reverse. Notice the "ghost" sterling mark on the left side and the raised sterling mark in the center

[Scott C.]

Another one of my favorites: a mid-USAF (1960s-70s?) 12-C senior pilot. This wing is very heavy in hand - easily twice the weight of the Meyer pictured above. I like the ribbed detail between the wing and star

[Scott C.]

Reverse; it's got the dark grey finish that started to become the standard on most mid-late USAF wings, until the current rhodium plated wings were mandated in the mid-90s

[pfrost]

Reverse. Notice the "ghost" sterling mark on the left side and the raised sterling mark in the center

Hello Herc,

These wings nicely illustrate the "rule" that command and senior pilot wings from WWII generally have smaller stars compared to command and senior pilot wings from post-WWII.

Here is a more or less matched set of Amcraft wings the ones on the left are war time wings (although not all are marked AMCRAFT--the service pilot wing is a Polar Flight hallmark). The wings on the right are all most likely pre-war. Most of these have the starburst pattern (or waffleback if you prefer).

Patrick Frost

[Marc Garlasco]

That Meyer senior pilot is just AWESOME!
Marc

[Scott C.]

Here's a nice basic pilot that some might think is of WWII vintage (strong resemblance to an AMICO design). However this Vanguard wing has the post-war, alpha-numeric code 1V added, making this a likely early USAF wing

[Scott C.]

Pat - a very nice selection of wings! I'd love to see the back sides of them! I have an early snowflake Amcraft, but it's on a AAF uniform from the 1930s (picture of it in the collector display forum).

Here's the back of the (clutchback) Vanguard

[Scott C.]

Here's a nice, current design, USAF basic pilot - triple marked NS Meyer 22M Sterling

[Scott C.]

Reverse