dc9 Posted May 27, 2011 Share #1 Posted May 27, 2011 Hello All, I really liked the patina and the nice heavy feel (22.8g) of these 3" AMICO wings; so I couldn't resist getting them. They are my first senior pilot wings. Any comments are appreciated. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-17Guy Posted May 27, 2011 Share #2 Posted May 27, 2011 Nice Senior Pilot Wing! That is an early Amico hallmark, by the way. Probably about 1940-1942. Best, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc9 Posted May 27, 2011 Author Share #3 Posted May 27, 2011 John, Thank you for the comments and help me put time period on this one! Regards, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cooper Posted May 27, 2011 Share #4 Posted May 27, 2011 Outstanding photos very clear and detailed! Is it possible to have you add some that show the detail of how the star has been attached? It appears to have been added and not part of the die. (not that this is a problem) Thanks John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dc9 Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share #5 Posted May 28, 2011 Outstanding photos very clear and detailed! Is it possible to have you add some that show the detail of how the star has been attached? It appears to have been added and not part of the die. (not that this is a problem) Thanks John John, Thank you for the kind words - I don't consider photography as one of my skills! . I would agree that the star appears soldered; after the fact. I don't know if this was a common practice, but I would assume it would have saved Amico some capital expenditure in the short run, not having to create a separate, more intricate die for the entire senior pilot wing. A simple star die would certainly cost much less...or, maybe...they just used a version of a General's star already in production and soldered that to a Pilot wing...? Here are the additional photos. Regards, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Cooper Posted May 28, 2011 Share #6 Posted May 28, 2011 Thanks for the additional photos! You may be right that there was a cost savings to it but also it just may have been typical pratice. If you think about the various rates that each had a different center device you would can see how the pratice of adding to an existing design was normal. Cheers John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-17Guy Posted May 31, 2011 Share #7 Posted May 31, 2011 Thought I would add my Amico S/P wings for comparison. Best, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-17Guy Posted May 31, 2011 Share #8 Posted May 31, 2011 Back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kropotkin Posted August 25, 2021 Share #9 Posted August 25, 2021 I’ve just received a 2” Amico senior pilot wing with the early hallmark. Noticeable is the relatively large size of the star affixed to the wing. It’s the same size as that on the 3” version I have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
5thwingmarty Posted August 25, 2021 Share #10 Posted August 25, 2021 Congratulations, that is a very nice wing. Per the drawings the star for the 3" wings was supposed to be 1/2" in diameter and be mounted on a solid base 1/8" above the top of the shield for the Senior Pilot wings. For the shirt sized wings, only the span of 2" was specified. Some of the manufacturers fully complied with what was specified for the 3" wings but many did not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kropotkin Posted August 25, 2021 Share #11 Posted August 25, 2021 Thanks, Marty. That’s interesting. Perhaps as an early war example thought wasn’t given to providing specified 2” sized stars at the time of manufacture so they affixed what they had to hand to satisfy the accelerated demand. Other later 2” examples I’ve seen seem to have stars more in proportion. I’ve noticed that Amico tended to solder on separate stars rather than incorporating them into a specific, single die which seems strange to me given the relative high quality design and manufacture of Amico wings in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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