Jump to content

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


militarymodels
 Share

Recommended Posts

lurking on ebay.  There was an auction for a lot of 12 wings, and a "make an offer" option.  Not to give away my evil strategy of wing domination, but sometimes just typing in "pilot wings" yields some good results.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is another bucket list wing that I recently added to the collection.  No idea who make this pattern, but is shares some similarities with the early Gemsco pilot wing. 

Typically, this wing is viewed as being from the 20's-30's era (leaning more towards the 20's).  I would like to believe that is the case (a fact which I used to subscribe to fully) but then someone found this same pattern of wing in the aircrew rating.  That would mean that who ever was making this pattern was probably making them into WWII.

 

Other than the pilot and the aircrew, I don't recall seeing this pattern show up in any other rating.  Maybe this wing exists as the observer rating?  That would be nice to see.  Still, I love the balance of this wing and its overall shape.  Especially with the nice detail in the feathers of the shoulders.

 

I would also rate this particular wing pattern as very uncommon/rare.  I first saw this wing in Russ' collection, but he is very savvy and watches me like a hawk when ever I get near to his wonderful (first class, and one of the best) collection of wings-- so I was stymied in getting it that time!  Just kidding, but I really did like this pattern a lot (like the one that started this thread). 

 

I would love to see a photo of a pilot wearing it and maybe get a nice idea of who made it and when it was made.  My best guess is late 30's-WWII period.  I am not so convinced anymore that it is earlier than that.  Note that the WWII A/C wing has one of those massive pins/drop in catches.  That just makes the point that even looking at the hardware of a wing can sometimes be misleading.

 

Link to the aircrew: http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/usaaf/aircrew/presleyaafaircrew2.shtml

link to the "1919 pattern pilot wing":  http://www.ww2wings.com/wings/btw/us/presley19192.shtml

IMG_2446.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Pilot and aircrew are the only two ratings I have seen in this pattern.  Bob has examples of the aircrew and two different pilot wings on his website.  The pilot wings tend to be really desired and bid up into the hundreds of dollars when they pop up on ebay, but the aircrew wings tend to slip by kind of un-noticed for less than $100.  The aircrew wings tend to show up less often though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Marty,  that has been my experience with this pattern as well.  There is a reference in one of my books about this badge being worn by LtCol Harold Evans Hartney after WWI.

 

Hartney was a WWI ace who may (or may not) have been shot down by the Red Baron.  This is the best photo of Hartney I could find on line, and I guess he could be wearing this pattern of wing (or not--its hard to know for sure)?  But if that is the case, then it would provide solid evidence of a 1919-1920ish date of manufacture.

Hartney.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 year later...
5thwingmarty

I thought I would add family photos of what I believe are all examples of Donduro wings I have.  The one-piece gunners can be found with a wide variety rear patterns, and both pierced and non-pierced by the shoulders but I just included one example. 

 

 

I wish Donduro had used the same shoulder feather pattern as on the Pilot wings for all of their wings, and not morphed or switched to the Amcraft pattern.

 

 

 

RIMG2423.JPG

RIMG2424.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5thwingmarty

The maker of these odd Balloon wings has been a mystery, but I believe they are likely also Donduro products, based on their close similarities to the Amcraft wings and also their odd, almost Beverlycraft-like reverse patterns.  In comparing this one side by side with an Amcraft snowflake-back patterned wing, there are some subtle but distinct differences in the feather details for the feathers along the side of the balloon, and with the base of the balloon itself.  On the Amcraft wing, the line that marks the top of the basket touches the bottom edges of the feathers.  On the Donduro, the balloon extends below the bottom edge of the feathers and the basket ring is narrower.  Hopefully this will be clear in these photos (Donduro on op).

RIMG2425.JPG

RIMG2426.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

rathbonemuseum.com

Great addition to your collection Marty! I will take a closer look at my air gunner wings in this style because i did not catch they might be by that maker.

One correction, it is "Dondero", made by the A. H. Dondero Co. of Washington DC and founded by Colonel A. H. Dondero in 1922.

 

https://www.dondero.com/history.html

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Impressive grouping of wings. I dont have a single Dondero wing in my collection! I need to get to work. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...