Luftwaffe Droop Tail Review

[Kamil Mubarak]

Hello, I was told this was a Assman droop tail but am curious why it has a FLL hinge? Any opinions are appreciated. Thanks Kamil

[R Blum]

Looks like possibly a 1st pattern eagle by F.W Assmann & Söhne - Lüdenscheid

[Jean-Claude]

Hello, I was told this was a Assman droop tail but am curious why it has a FLL hinge? Any opinions are appreciated. Thanks Kamil

Most summer birds (Luft as well as the Heer/Km ones) are not marked so its not so easy to link them to a maker unless there is clear pictorial evidence like in a maker's catalogue or some similar reference documentation...

The 3 droop tail eagles at top left are from different makers. The top one is identical to yours (unmarked possible Assmann) with same design and hardware. The second one down is also unmarked but from a different die with a similar hardware but the block hinge is standing up rather than resting on its side. The last one with pictures at right is again a different bird marked for S&L but with the same identical hardware as the first one (possible Assmann)

Below are also some Heere/KM summer eagles with the same hardware (hinge/pin/ catch) with the top set using a different hinge set up on the gold version (barrel hinge) than on the silver version (block hinge) but both are from the same makers' early period die (same identical detail, no lower clasp)

All this to say that different makers used the same hardware often produced by specialized third party "hardware makers" rather than produce their own and that trying to link an item to a specific maker (like FLL who used sideways block hinges on thie flight badges) just because of the hardware may not be such a good idea...

Regards

JC