As I understand it, likely their were 5 or 6 makers of these type of wings:
Meyer, Blackinton, BB&B, Link (not so sure about that, but that is what Ron Burke and a couple of others calls the snowflake pattern wing), Pasaquale (??), Kenney, and likely a few others that I have forgotten. Then, someone had told me that they thought JR Gaunt or another British firm made a few badges as well.
Patrick,
I can't speak for the snowflake patterns; however, there were definately 8 makers of sterling silver Airship Pilot wing badges:
1. AECo
2. BB&B
3. From Official Die
4. Kinney
5. NS Meyer NYC
6. V.H. Blackinton
7. Wm. Link.
8. Also, the unknown wing badge manufacturer who made the die in post #1 of this thread. There is a little history behind this unknown die. It was found among several military dies at a company called Karat Gold in New York, NY. When found an older employee said it came from a company KG had bought out ... but the trail ran cold from there.
J. R. Gaunt never made an Airship Pilot wing badge, and understandable why they did not. The most logical reason is because no U.S. Army airships ever left the shores of these United States. Also, the Airship Pilot rating was abolished in February 1940. On the other hand, Senior Balloon Pilot with star, Balloon Pilot, and Balloon Observer wing badges were made in England all during World War Two. During the war a number of veteran light-than-air pilots and observers did go overseas and brought these badges back. I have two and one is a biographical Senior Balloon Pilot badge made by Firmin London brought back by Lt. Colonel Roland H. Short.
Pasquale, SF did not make wing badges of any type. What wing badges they did offer for sale were made by Blackinton and they came with a "Pasquale, SF" backmark. Frankly, I don't think the Pasquale Uniform Company ever sold one Airship Pilot wing badge. Why? There were no U.S. Army Airship facilities or pilots based anywhere near San Francisco between the wars so why would firm go to the extra expense of caring any Airship Pilot wing badges in their inventory when chances were so high that they would never sell any? It all seems so very logical when you think about it because not one collector has ever seen an Airship Pilot wing badge with a "Pasquale, SF" backmark on it; therefore, The idea is a myth. What really happened was when the first batch of fake "Pasquale" backmarked wing badges hit the marketplace a lot of collectors were duped into believing they were real ... and now everybody believes Pasquale really did offer Airship Pilot badges.
Room for thought: Have you ever see a "Pasquale" backmarked Balloon Pilot or Balloon Observer wing badge? The answer is no, yet they were not declared obsolute in February 1940 like the Airship Pilot badge was.
http://www.usmilitar...tyle_emoticons/default/think.gif