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Service Air Corp contractor wing


bobatl
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Serv Air Corporation was the contractor operating the Air Force primary training school at Stallings Air Base in Kinston, NC during the 1950's. I wonder how many people have found these wings and thought they were Strategic Air Command. During the T-6 era, they had 100 T-6G's at the base and put 90 in the air every day.

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Serv Air Corporation was the contractor operating the Air Force primary training school at Stallings Air Base in Kinston, NC during the 1950's. I wonder how many people have found these wings and thought they were Strategic Air Command. During the T-6 era, they had 100 T-6G's at the base and put 90 in the air every day.

Another photo.

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Thanks for posting - I am one of those you like to see the details of construction as they can tell a good part of the story.

 

Cheers

John

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The USAF Contract Pilot School at Stallings AB, NC, was one of nine (9) schools that operated between January1951 and February 1961. The complete name for the operator at Stallings was Serv-Air Aviation Corporation (SAC). The military units involved at Stallings were the 3308th Pilot Training Squadron (Contractor Primary), 17 October 1951 - 25 April 1955, which was redesignated 3308th Pilot Training Group (Contract Primary) on 25 April 1955, and was inactivated on 1 October 1957.

 

I am fortunate to ahve in my collection a full size wing, a cap badge and two flight patches. My wing is maker marked on the reverse - "DELTA - N.Y. - UNIFORMS"

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STALLING AB - FLIGHT PATCHES

 

** 210 "BLUE JAY" FLIGHT

 

** 240 "ALLEY CAT" FLIGHT

 

Two othr flgiht patches are know to exist, ahve not seen them in patch form:

 

** 110 "REBEL" FLIGHT (Winged Mint Julip Design)

 

** 210 "THUNDERBIRD" FLIGHT (Green Cartoon thunderbird Design)

 

Would be interested in seeing other patches / logos from any of the nine schools.

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Superb! I never cease to be amazed at the variety of "off-beat" wings which keep popping up on the forum.! :thumbsup:

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John - thanks for adding the additional high quality items from your collection! Your depth of research and knowledge is outstanding sir!

 

Now someone must have some period photos of the wing badges in wear :)

 

Regards,

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hey Bobatl and Cookieman, thanks for posting those terrific early USAF Contract Flight Instructor wings. Even though the initials and logos were different for each of the nine Primary schools, it appears they used the identical detailed wing for several of those schools. Check out the similarities between Bobatl's "SAC" Instructor wing and these "Darr Aero Tech" and "Southern Airways" Instructor wings.

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A former instructor maintains a display of memorabilia in the terminal at Kinston, Stallings Field. I haven't asked him about wings & badges but I would expect him to have some. He worked there until the school closed.

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  • 2 months later...

As someone asked for, photo of the wings as worn. The usual attire was blue flightsuits, flight jackets and baseball caps. The gentleman in the upper left corner, Larry Young, started as a CPT program instructor then moved to Hawthorne's primary contract school at Orangeburg, SC. He had been raised in upstate NY by his grandmother who only spoke French which proved handy when US pilot training was being cut back near the end of WWII and Orangeburg got some Free French cadets to train. Larry was living in NY when Roosevelt Field closed and he loaned Cole Palen his trailer to pick up the WWI airplanes that Palen bought from the mechanics school there. He stayed at Kinston until it closed, then spent about 20 years with FAA. The lady, Nellie Williams, was a dispatcher but they also had female Link instuctors.

post-54142-1326328433.jpg

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  • 9 months later...

STALLING AB - FLIGHT PATCHES

 

** 210 "BLUE JAY" FLIGHT

 

** 240 "ALLEY CAT" FLIGHT

 

Two othr flgiht patches are know to exist, ahve not seen them in patch form:

 

** 110 "REBEL" FLIGHT (Winged Mint Julip Design)

 

** 210 "THUNDERBIRD" FLIGHT (Green Cartoon thunderbird Design)

 

Would be interested in seeing other patches / logos from any of the nine schools.

 

Here is the 110 Rebel Flight Patch, My Father in law was in it....

post-104722-0-22456700-1350973477.jpg

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