Air America Patch

[KurtA]

Found this at the flea market this morning (in with a box of 70's era Boy Scout items I bought). For those who don't know, "Air America" was a CIA operation in SE Asia.

Asian-made (Thailand I believe). The fakes I see on Ebay are pretty close, but have khaki twill edging and computer-generated embroidery.

 

 

 

 

[gwb123]

I had some doubts, but you may have a winner.

 

Compare this one that comes from John Cook's collection.

 

http://museum.vhpa.org/special/airamerica/airamerica.shtml

 

There used to be a really good website out there of Air America memorabilia, but of course I cannot find it, nor the thread we used to have on here about it.

[KurtA]

Thanks for the link, Gil. The construction and thread types of my patch and the one pictured in the thread appear the same. There are some minor differences in the shape of the shield, but I don't think that's a major factor.

[Der Finn]

For what it's worth: Several years ago, I purchased a copy of "Air America In Laos: The Memoirs Of Air America Flight Mechanics" by Stephen Nichols. Purchased it directly from Mr. Nichols in the parking lot of a local auction house; he worked on and flew missions with Air America. Of course, I asked if he had any patches for sale from his service with Air America. He said, "We didn't have any patches while over there. I do have some recently made repro/fantasy patches for sale though." Kind of makes sense that they wouldn't have any patches as a clandestine outfit?

[doyler]

Now thats cool

[Patchcollector]

There were patches,but they were rarely worn.The only authentic one's I've ever seen were round with the AA logo over a black background.

[gwb123]

For what it's worth: Several years ago, I purchased a copy of "Air America In Laos: The Memoirs Of Air America Flight Mechanics" by Stephen Nichols. Purchased it directly from Mr. Nichols in the parking lot of a local auction house; he worked on and flew missions with Air America. Of course, I asked if he had any patches for sale from his service with Air America. He said, "We didn't have any patches while over there. I do have some recently made repro/fantasy patches for sale though." Kind of makes sense that they wouldn't have any patches as a clandestine outfit?

 

They operated as a civilian airline. They had uniforms, pilots wings, cap badges, boarding passes, terminal signs, flight bags, maintenance coveralls, etc. While some of their missions were covert, they were very visible to the public in the countries that they served. Even better, they operated at a profit!