Help authenticating 4 wings

[warguy]

I have collected for about thirty years, and have moved from one interest to another through that time. Every few years, I seem to come back to AAC AAF collectibles. I have amassed a decent collection of wings over that time, but have never considered myself an expert. I have decided to once again move back to collecting AAC AAF material, and would like to start adding to my wing collection. To start that move, I have taken inventory of what I have and feel very comfortable with all but these four. Just not to sure on these either because of something I have seen or read in the past, or because they are a little more difficult to acquire. So help would be much appreciate.

 

Wing 1 is a PB Service pilot wing. The back appears frosted and marked clearly Sterling EXC PT Fitting.

[warguy]

Wing 2 is a Technical Observer marked sterling with the raised Meyer shield

[warguy]

Wing 3 is an English made Air Crew marked Firmin London on the back. This is the one I have the most serious doubts about, mainly because the makers mark is not very clear and a few other details. However, there is an identical one currently listed on a very trusted dealers site, so I wanted to ask. If this one is bad, his is too, but we all make mistakes I suppose.

[warguy]

One more shot of the back of the Firmin marked wing

[warguy]

Wing 4 is a Glider pilot CB that feels good to me, but would like others to weigh in. Marked only Sterling on the back. Thanks in advance for all help. Kevin

 

 

[pconrad02]

From the pictures, all but the Meyer T/O look pretty good,. The T/O is a restrike.

Paul

[Allan H.]

I agree whole-heartedly with Paul C. The TO wing is a clunker. I like the rest of them.

 

Allan

[Patchcollector]

IIRC the Meyer restrikes have the large "STERLING" hallmark.How far does the pin open?The restrike pins usually open all the way.

[warguy]

Thanks guys, not what I would have guessed, sure love the forum and the expertise that resides here! The T/O pin does in fact open all the way. Are the repro's cast? I am not seeing obvious casting marks, but I know they have been getting pretty good. That one came from a private collection that had some good and some bad stuff, so it actually makes sense. The rest from dealers if I recall.

[Patchcollector]

Just wanted to add that I concur with Paul and Allan regarding the other three.That Service Pilot piece is my favorite.
I do not think that Meyer restrikes were cast,other members may know for sure and chime in.Looking at the clutch posts solder job I'm wondering if the Glider Wing was repaired at some point?

[pfrost]

The Meyer restrikes (they aren't castings) were made from the original dies, which is why it is so difficult to tell them from the originals (although there are ways). The story I was told was that some point in the 80's (maybe even in the 1970's) a number of collectors/dealers went to Meyers and commissioned them to make new wings from the original patterns. IIRC the ones that were made initially were the TO wings, the airship wing and some (if not all) of the balloon series (balloon pilot, observer, senior balloon pilot).

 

There are some castings of these wings out there as well. So the water can be pretty muddy when talking about the balloon/TO wings marked by Meyers.

 

Many of those wings have been around for almost 40 years, so they can have some age to them. The main points of the originals vs the restrikes have been covered in many different threads, but the two main characteristics are the hinge/pin assembly and the size of the font of the "STERLING" mark.

 

Later in the 80's/90's you start to see a whole new batch of NS Meyer restrikes showing up, primarily in the "alphabet wings" (liaison, service, and glider wings). Those wings had the same problem with the hardware (and sometimes the fonts) but had a shinny blackish lacquer.

 

I think some of the other wings were also restruck at that time (I seem to recall the senior observer wing, but I could be wrong. Now you see restrikes without out the NS Meyer hallmark, but with other, fake hallmarks (such as AECo). Again, if you do a search on the forum you will find tons of interesting threads on Meyer wings.

 

The service pilot wing is likely made by Smilo. http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/index.php?/topic/276404-daniel-smilo-sons-wings-a-simple-question/?hl=smilo

 

The glider wing has been repaired. So to echo the others, 3 good ones and a clunker.

[warguy]

Thank you all once again for your educated contributions. I looked at the post Pfrost on the Smilo wings and I agree, I think these are made by Smilo. I guess even a blind squirrel find a nut now and again. I agree on the solder on the Glider wings, it looked too heavy to be original.

 

In the end, I am pretty excited 3 of the 4 are good. Starting out, I thought I was going to hit a 1000-in a bad way. This encourages me to move forward in the wing collection area. Here is the collection so far. Now to start cataloguing them by maker/style. I know of at least one Jauraez in there I believe (bombardier). Thanks again.

[pconrad02]

It's a good time to collect, seems like the wing market has tanked except for the really high end stuff.

[Patchcollector]

It's a good time to collect, seems like the wing market has tanked except for the really high end stuff.

 

I agree,places like eBay and some Wing sites have some very reasonable prices.

[cwnorma]

It's a good time to collect, seems like the wing market has tanked except for the really high end stuff.

A couple of large dealer lots have recently sold at auction. So many wings flooding the market, in a short period of time, will tend to increase supply and suppress demand.

 

The good news, as Paul noted; "it is a good time to collect."

 

As they say in the stock market: "When you are crying, you should be buying!"