IS THIS WING GOOD? Post your requests here!

[Old geezer]

If you ignore what he says and shows from his collection, the copies of the military documents are useful. I don't know if they are $75 useful though.

 

Unfortunately all I want from the book is those military documents related to the clutch backs so I will have to keep looking. It is nice to know that if I wait I should be able to find a cheaper copy though.

 

[pfrost]

Those documents are posted on line. They may even be shown on this forum or one of the other collecting forums. It is public domain, so you can probably find them all over the place. The trick is narrowing your search.

[Old geezer]

Those documents are posted on line. They may even be shown on this forum or one of the other collecting forums. It is public domain, so you can probably find them all over the place. The trick is narrowing your search.

 

As you say the trick is in the search criteria and so far I have not found them using various permutations of P.Q.D. No. 118/PQD No 118/PQD118/PQD #118 etc using Bing, DuckDuckGo, Google and Yahoo advanced search.

 

Also looking on multiple sites covering government and military acronyms for what P.Q.D. indicates I have found only one description linked to the military and that is Power Quality Display. I would expect a P.Q.D. relating to these badges to be something more like Purchasing/Procurement Quality Document and those guesses do not work either.

 

If I had the document name I would be able to search on that but unfortunately to date I have not even found that.

 

Any hints would naturally be appreciated.

[jd65]

Hello, new guy here. What do you all think about this wing? I don't have an Observer wing in my collection and this one is cheap, $65.

 

[jd65]

What do you think of this one? I know there are faked alot.

[pfrost]

The observer wing is fine. Probably made by AMCRAFT. $65 isn't a bad price, though with some patience you may be able to get one this isn't damaged. The TO wing is likely post war, and MAY be a reproduction made for collectors. There was a thread about these on the forum and I cannot recall the outcome of the discussion.

 

You can do a search and see what comes up.

[pfrost]

I found one of the old threads. There may be a newer thread out there about these TO wings. Frankly, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't include these in my collection.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/37481-general-industries-mystery-to-wing/?hl=%2Bgeneral+%2Bindustries

 

Also, reading this thread I notice a comment from "He Who Shall Not Be Named". He said he had a large number of them for sale....

[Kropotkin]

Hello all,

 

I require some expert advice on this Flight Surgeon wing I’ve been mulling over for a while. Though unmarked it looks like a Balfour pattern wing but was wondering if it is WW2 period, the caduceus is typical of Balfour and if it is the earlier spec (looks like it could be gilt, but this could be tarnish/lighting). Sadly these are as good quality pictures as I can get:

 

[pconrad02]

I would buy this Flight Surgeon without hesitation, looks like a nice WWII era wing from these pics.

 

The T/O is modern, I have a bunch of unfinished brass strikes of this one I bought a few years ago as an example - I'll see if I can dig them up.

[Kropotkin]

Thanks Paul. Getting a second opinion is appreciated. I’ll probably go for it.

[pfrost]

To echo what Paul said, I think these are fine. They did use these well after the war (at least the silver ones), but this looks like a good gilt war-time FS wing to me.

 

The rivits are always a good sign.

[Kropotkin]

Thanks Patrick. A third opinion to the affirmative is even better.

[jd65]

Hello again, I picked these up at a flea market but I know almost nothing about WW1 wings. I decided to take a chance since I was from out of town and knew I'd never see these again. Looks like it might be plated because there's some brass showing through the shield but there's a strange shallow spot in the middle of the back where it looks like something was scratched or dug out and it doesn't look like plating there. No markings either. Also no "US" on the front, obviously.

[Centurion1982]

What do you think of these 2?

Are these from the WWII period?

[Centurion1982]

.

[pfrost]

Could be WWII or KW period. It's hard to know for sure

[Kropotkin]

Hello all,

 

Just bought this British-made jump wing and am looking for a second opinion or two on it. On the face of it this wing looks good - the ‘topography’ of the reverse, the pin and findings - but a couple of things gave me pause; it is very mint in terms of the silver wash on the obverse; the seller seems to have had several for sale in recent months (could be a small cache of NOS he’s selling off- not that the seller has mentioned this, tbf).

 

Any thoughts?

[pfrost]

It depends on the price, for me. I wouldn't mind these if I got them cheap at a flea market. They do look ok in most respects. But the fakes in English-made wings are kind of ruining the hobby. I think some of the other AB collectors would know more and have examples to share.

 

Generally, I like them.

[Tonomachi]

I see your concerns about how mint the front of this British made US paratrooper wing looks You want to see some wear of this frosted finish like these two British made US paratrooper wings:

 

 

[Tonomachi]

Here is another pair with what appears to be honest wear of the frosted finish.

 

 

[Tonomachi]

Just because your piece doesn't have this wear it doesn't necessarily make it a copy as it does look good but to be honest I can't tell anymore. The fact that he had a number for sale is a red flag for me. Over the years someone or group out of the UK have been copying these wings and they seem to get better at it over time as they are probably collectors themselves and read our comments on the subject which they then use to help them make a better copy. Here is a copy currently being made out of the UK by Andrew Butler. In this mint state it doesn't look right but if you were to distress the front a little and bend the rear horizontal pin a little so it isn't so straight it could fool people. So for myself if it is cheap enough I would take a chance on a wing like your piece but if was being sold for a great deal of money I would pass and look for one with a little more wear on it for something that was supposed to have been made 70 years ago.

 

 

[Kropotkin]

Thanks for your responses both.

 

I’m a little more confident now given the pictures you’ve shared, Tonomachi. The reverse looks exactly the same as both examples, as does the pattern of the shroud lines on the front.

 

If it is a modern repop, it’s evidently been struck from the original die and with the same pin and findings used as per the originals, which would seem quite an effort for something not purporting to be Gaunt of Firmin and offered rather cheaply - it was about $25.

 

I can live with that either way.

 

Thanks again!

[BEAST]

Hi folks, this wings are offered at a nearby mall and Im interested in adding them to the collection. Ive looked at every thread on the forum that I can find that discussed WWII Flight Surgeon wings and my takeaway was that I liked these wings enough to post them here for peer review. So what does the group think?

 

 

[BEAST]

Hopefully a better look at the markings.

 

 

[B-17Guy]

Big pics of the front and back would be better, very small photos, but from what can be seen, I personally see no red flags.

Would like better pics if possible to give solid thumbs up.

John