Issue Pilot's Wing?

[Kimo]

This is a pilot's wing from my collection that is in its original box and that I assume if WW 2 in vintage. It is a pin back and the back is marked STERLING in raised letters with no makers markings of any kind. There are no markings of any kind on the box other than a sticker under the wing that says STERLING. The box still has its cellophane window in the lid to show off the wing inside

 

Would this have likely been a wing that would have been issued to a pilot when they graduated from flight school and earned their wings or is it more likely just an ordinary WW 2 that a pilot would have purchased at some point to have an extra wing?

 

Can anyone say who the maker would likely have been given the design?

 

Thanks for any thoughts or opinions - I am eager to learn.

 

Kimo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[cwnorma]

Kimo,

 

I wish I had some knowledge for you... Unfortunately, I don't. Maybe some of the others will. I just wanted to say; great wing in the original box!

 

Chris

[gomorgan]

I've got a pair of Air Crew in similar box but it clearly marked NS Meyer on bottom of box.

[Kimo]

Thanks, Chris and gomorgan! Anyone have any additional thoughts? These are really very nice wings - while they are basic in design they have a good heft and decent detailing.

[mds308]

Are these 3 inch wings or smaller?

[Kropotkin]

It's a 3" wing. I have a set of the same pattern, which I believe are WW2 vintage, though I cannot tell you the maker, sadly. Mine seems to have been finished with a golden hue, suggesting a flight instructor's wing.

 

[Cololab]

I spoke with my B-17 pilot friend about this matter today. He graduated in Class 44-E at Pecos, TX and recalls that the commanding officer of the base pinned the wings on each graduate and that some other officer was standing behind the CO with a tray of wings. He doesn't recall seeing any wings in boxes present during the graduation ceremony, nor was he given a wing box after the ceremony. This is only one person at one base at one point in time, so who knows what happened elsewhere or in what type of box the issued wings were received by the training base.

 

Interestingly, he said he left his graduation wings with his Dad right after graduation and bought a couple sustitute pair of lesser quality wings for daily wear. His reason was that he didn't want to ever risk the loss of his first pair of wings.

[Kimo]

Yes these are the full sized, 3 inch pilot wings. They have the pin back with the catch with the little rotating wheel inside to open and close the catch. The opening slot in the catch is at the 4 clock position. These are definitely WW 2 in vintage, are die struck with firm and clear detailing, and have a nice heft to them. Most 3 inch wings of this era weigh around 6 tenths to 7 tenths of an ounce. These are 7 tenths of an ounce.

 

Thanks Cololab for the story about your friend's father receiving his wings. I might think that his wings were likely delivered by the manufacturer to the Army Air Force in a box and the commanding officer's adjutant would have taken them all out of whatever they came in before the ceremony so the commanding officer could quickly take one and pin it on each graduating officer's tunic and not have to fiddle with taking it out of the box or whatever they came in slowing down the ceremony. Also, I might think that if the manufacturer had just put a lot of effort into making very fine sterling silver wings under their contract that they wanted to keep getting renewed I it is unlikely to my thinking that they would have just dumped bunches of wings into one box where they would be scratching each other up as they were shipping and carried around before they were awarded.

[Kimo]

Hi Kropotkin. Thanks for sharing the photo of the one you have in your collection. Yes, this is exactly like mine, except for the yellow coloring. Perhaps it had a gold plated finish but I think that if it did it would have been likely to have some marking on the back that it was gold plated or gold filled like you see on Navy wings. That would have been a big selling point to have gold on it. Perhaps the yellow coloring on yours is some kind of tarnish - not all tarnish is black. Or perhaps even more likely it might also be lacquer that has partially flaked off and aged. Lacquer does turn yellow over many decades. Painting sterling with a very thin layer of lacquer was a common practice on sterling silver tableware and other things back then since it meant that you did not have to keep polishing silver. In this case perhaps the pilot polished these to perfection and then painted a very thin layer of lacquer on them to keep them looking perfect without ever having to polish them again? I do not know for sure - these are just some thoughts.

[Cololab]

I concur that the manufacturer would have somehow boxed or wrapped the wings to keep them from being damaged. Hard to say how plain or fancy the packaging was or to what degree the manufacturer's name, etc. was printed on such packaging.

 

I had some glider infantry wings that were wrapped in a white tissue paper with a little paper glue tab to seal the wrapping. I have no idea what larger box these were shipped in, but it had to be something more durable. It may be that wings came into the supply chain in a variety of packages, but all of these packaging methods certainly had some nomenclature to allow for inventory purposes.

 

This is yet another of those questions that we wish we had asked when more of the people involved were still with us.