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William Link WW1 Style Pilot Wing


irish
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Picked this wing up today. It was mixed in with jewelry at a small antique shop. Looked OK to me but I have very little knowledge in this area. Measures right at 2 1/2" tip to tip on the wings. Interested in opinions and information. Thanks in advance. Will post reverse on next post below.

 

post-758-0-07939100-1408576067.jpg

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A beautiful Wm. Link Company example. (See how the manufacturer included a chain Link in their hallmark).

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Picked this wing up today. It was mixed in with jewelry at a small antique shop. Looked OK to me but I have very little knowledge in this area. Measures right at 2 1/2" tip to tip on the wings. Interested in opinions and information. Thanks in advance. Will post reverse on next post below.

 

 

I feel that these are a lost wax cast copy of the WC Link wings. I say that for a couple reasons. First if you look close at the US it has a gold overlay over a US that was part of the shield. On original WW1 wings the shield was not struck with a US but rather the gold US was applied separately. Second if you look close at the front you can see several small beads of silver in the feathering on the wings. This is a dead give away for a cast copy. And third if you look at the back you can see pitting. The WC Link wings were die struck and would not have these flaws in the silver.

It is a nice filler until an original comes along.

 

Terry

 

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Thanks for everyone's opinions on this wing so far. I got a loop out and looked at the US letters and they sure look to me to be applied. There are areas around where I can see under them. It has a locking type roller catch that is not wanting to move at the moment.

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I think they are right as rain. :)

The Tiffany style catch and hallmark are spot on for originals. I think you just have some wear and tear on the wing.

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Thanks for everyone's opinions on this wing so far. I got a loop out and looked at the US letters and they sure look to me to be applied. There are areas around where I can see under them. It has a locking type roller catch that is not wanting to move at the moment.

Give the inside of that catch a drop of WD 40 being sure not to let it run on other parts of the wing.

I got one like that moving with WD. After it moves, it should, give it one more. Just don't let it run on

the wing, it will make patina irregular.

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those are dings on the back from die-striking and the US certainly looks applied to me.

 

WD-40 is not for freeing stuck parts.. it's a water displacer, and that's really all it's good at.

 

-Brian

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Here's a WWI era William Link Co. hallmarked Pilot badge from Duncan Campbell's old collection for comparison. I believe this identical wing is also illustrated in Major Terry Morris' excellent book "United States Army Air Service Wing Badges, Uniforms and Insignia 1913 - 1918", page 25, listing WB-43.

IMG_5696.JPG

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those are dings on the back from die-striking and the US certainly looks applied to me.

 

WD-40 is not for freeing stuck parts.. it's a water displacer, and that's really all it's good at.

 

-Brian

Brian,

My can of WD-40 reads: it "lubricates, protects, and penetrates to free stuck, corroded parts like nuts, bolts, valves, locks"

 

I have always used it for lubrication and to free up corroded parts, and have had good results.

 

Chris

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RW- thanks for the photos.

 

Irish,

If you look at the US on your wing you can see another US in silver under the gold US, The gold US that was applied is crude and has flaws. This gold US was placed over the silver US that was on the shield when copied. Compare with the pictures of the US on the wing from Duncan's collection.

 

Terry

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Brian,

My can of WD-40 reads: it "lubricates, protects, and penetrates to free stuck, corroded parts like nuts, bolts, valves, locks"

 

I have always used it for lubrication and to free up corroded parts, and have had good results.

 

Chris

Chris,

not to pick on you in particular, but they do market it as such... however it's not really the best product for anything besides displacing water (IMO).

 

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/how-to/products/wd-40-vs-the-world-of-lubricants

 

I have had very good luck with Kano Kroil to free stuck parts, and it won't damage patina since there's no silicone.

 

WD-40 is an excellent product when used with a plastic dish scrubbie to remove brake dust particles from alloy wheels!

 

but this isn't the thread for a lube debate! :)

 

 

-Brian

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Irish,

If you look at the US on your wing you can see another US in silver under the gold US, The gold US that was applied is crude and has flaws. This gold US was placed over the silver US that was on the shield when copied. Compare with the pictures of the US on the wing from Duncan's collection.

 

Terry

 

I need to take a better photo of the letters. The flaws do not appear when looking at the wing in person, not sure if it is my photo skills with a phone. Let me see when I get home.

 

Thanks

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I had one other photo taken yesterday in my phone with me. I did not use this one in my post but it does show a different reflection on the letters as the first one posted. I apologize for my poor photo abilities. will try to get something better posted to further the discussion. My gut feeling is the dealer gave these letters a quick surface cleaning for show and a glare is causing problems.

 

thanks

Jack

post-758-0-11616700-1408637088.jpg

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Because I had a few minutes, I wanted to illustrate what Terry is saying.

 

In this cartoon if you look at an original badge from the side, you will see that the gold "US" is frequently (BUT NOT ALL WAYS), attached directly to the underlying shield of the wing. When a mold is made of this wing, the US is then incorporated into the pattern, and the US shows up in the cast badge as being integral to the shield. Then, another gold "US" is attached to the shield, overlaying the cast US pattern from the original. Frequently, the new gold "US" is not an exact fit and you can see signs of the old cast in silver US and the new overlay gold US. The best way to see this is either from directly above or at an oblique angle from the side.

 

Two things to look for are marked by "*".

 

* Usually, when a second gold US is added to the wing, the gold is much thinner than in an original.

** Usually, you can see the signs of the old cast in US from the side or top.

 

However, some wings actually had shallow outlines of where the US was to be placed actually struck into the wing. Not all of them, but any means, but a few. However, in this case, the Ling wings should have had the original gold US directly attached to the wing.

I would look at your wing from the side and see if it is attached directly, or if it overlays a cast in US.

 

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