Dondereo, A. H. Dondero of Washington D.C.: Examples and patterns

[Mark]

Dondero mark

[John Cooper]

Thanks for posting these wings Mark as they are a basic match to the wings I posted in post #5

 

 

John

[John Cooper]

Here is a recent find I was happy to pickup. Thhis is the same pattern as Russ posted... I really like this bold pattern and shield design.

 

 

John

 

[Mark]

Here is a recent find I was happy to pickup. Thhis is the same pattern as Russ posted... I really like this bold pattern and shield design.

John

 

 

That is a beautiful wing John, I really like this design. I saw one of these come up on ebay a couple months ago, but didn't get it. Someday....

[Scott C.]

I really like the design on the front of this unmarked wing, but the reverse gives me pause... the die "stress" lines are something I've not seen before. These are the only photos I have of the wing.

 

Any opinions on the authenticity of this wing?

 

Thanks!

[pfrost]

Thats a good one. And a handsome pattern--and one I have been looking for for some time.

 

Patrick

[B-17Guy]

Very nice WWII wing badge, nothing wrong with it.

That pattern is attributed to A.H. Dondero.

 

John

[bschwartz]

I've been fortunate enough to find that one in pilot and senior pilot but haven't found the command pilot.................yet.

[Scott C.]

Thanks everyone...much appreciated.

[John Cooper]

Sweet wing... I remember when I found an example which took a bit of time.

 

Congratz.

[Sabrejet]

Gentlemen...I have an almost identical wing...even down to the stress marks on the reverse side! It's a very handsome wing. The only "problem" with it is that it's missing moveable part of the roller lock.

[B-17Guy]

Here is an already existing thread that has a lot of information about Dondero wing badges.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/102255-rare-or-scarce-makeror-may-be-not/

 

John

[Scott C.]

Thanks Sabrejet for posting your wing, and thanks John for the link -- very helpful!

[Old geezer]

Somewhere in my huge pile of misc. USAAF related paperwork, I have a order form for a newly minted pilot that has all his equipment and insignia listed on it, with a check box next to what he wanted to order.

 

Patrick

 

If you ever come across it again while looking for some other item I would love to see a scanned or even phone-photo of that. It would be interesting to see what was on offer at the time the form was created. I nearly said what was required but that ignores the fact that single seat pilots and multi-crew pilots may well have had different equipment and do doubt the equipment varied according to the theater/climate the pilot was being assigned to.

 

The Old geezer

[The Rooster]

Greetings all.

Just picked this up. Im guessing 1950's? I dont see many of these hallmarked Dondero's.

[The Rooster]

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[The Rooster]

1 more

[Scarecrow]

Nice wing Rooster! here is the only Dondero wing that I have in my collection. A. H. Dondero had a contract to provide wings to the Chinese cadets in flight training at Luke Field in AZ.

 

[The Rooster]

Hey Scarecrow. I saw those when I was researching Dondero. Nice wing!

Its the real deal too!

[Kropotkin]

Hi all,

 

I have an interesting one, I think. I picked up the following Dondero Senior Pilot wing which is intriguing as it seems to be brass. From reading the various threads on here there seems to be some consensus that these wings are post-war in manufacture. I’m not as experienced as some on here but I’ve not yet come across US-made post-war brass wings before, I’ve only seen sterling or pot metal construction. Was brass used post-war?

 

Could these be late-war vintage? They also have the non-nail head short pins affixed in a pool of solder that tends to suggest 1940s construction. Apologies for the relatively poor photos.

 

 

 

[pfrost]

I have a couple or 3 "bucket-list" wings that I am always looking to add to the collection.

 

This is one of the ones I have been looking to add.  I'd like to say that it is a "pre-war" wing, but I doubt it.  I've seen this pattern in pilot, senior pilot and command pilot versions, so they probably fall right in the WWII/KW time period.  I really love the workmanship and think that this is one of the nicest patterns I have ever seen.  Not a very common wing, and I suspect it falls into the scarce/rare range. 

 

Stylistically, it does share some similarities with the LGB/Amcraft snowflake pattern wing with its high shoulder and 2 layers of small feathers and the "squared" top feather that is slightly shorter on top than the bottom. Also the shield sometimes have distinctive "ears" (although it isn't clear in this comparison picture).  The area between the shoulder and the shield is very finely made, and almost looks like it was cut out with a saw.  I've never seen this badge hallmarked or in any other pattern, but that doesn't mean they don't exist.

 

Altogether, this handsome wing seems like it is related to the LGB, AMCRAFT family of wings.  To my count, I think that there are actually about 4 or 5 very similar variations of this "high shoulder" pattern, including the Marshall Fields (MFCO) variation, Gemsco, and the Walter Lampl/Juarez wings.

[B-17Guy]

I’ve always thought that was a Dondero made wing.

 

John

[5thwingmarty]

I concur that is a Donduro wing as there are Donduro hallmarked examples out there.  Post war Donduro had hallmarked wings (with the D-1 code) made with the Amcraft dies.  Ron Burkey has sold a couple of these, which although not hallmarked he did identify as being Donduro in his listings.

 

These are some of the nicest pilot wings I have seen, finished with bright cuts on the edges of the feathers that give them an extra sparkle.  I'm still looking for the Command Pilot version myself.

[pfrost]

Interesting...

 

Come to think about it, I do believe I recall hearing that these were made by Dondero.  I don't recall ever seeing a hallmarked example, though.

Thanks

[rustywings]

Yes, that pattern Dondero comes in both hallmarked and unmarked...  pin-back and clutch-back... as well as sterling, or silver wash...