Air crew wing that began as something else.

[The Rooster]

Greetings all.

 

I have seen these and read about these types of wings. But this is the first pair I've ever seen available for purchase, so I picked them up.

It looks like an Amcraft pattern Observer wing that has had an aircrew emblem attached over the shutters.

I paid $55.00 for this. A bit high for an aircrew wing in my opinion..... but-

I feel ike its well worth the cost as Ive only ever seen this one in a almost a year of steady wng collecting.

 

 

[The Rooster]

Close up

[MattS]

Thanks for posting.

 

That brings up a question. Were there any WW2 companies that produced a single wing with a plain round center that could be turned in to bombardier, navigator, or aircrew with the addition of a center panel? I see repros made that way today.

[Kropotkin]

Not a plain, round centre but Ludlow used pilot wings as a base for other ratings, cutting the shield down to incorporate other devices.

[MattS]

Interesting, thanks for posting.

[5thwingmarty]

Vangaurd made wings with a circular center that had concentric wings like a target. This base wing was used to make aerial gunner and bombardier wings by attaching either the winged bullet or bomb to the base wing. These same base wings were also used to make navigator, aircrew and flight engineer wings by attaching those devices. Many and possibly all of those wings were made post WWII but there is no way to prove that.

 

There was another wing maker that made wings using a base wing that lacked any center device. Some of these base wings were used to make aviation cadet hat badges and most (if not all) of the other wing types by attaching the appropriate center devices, including pilot and the lettered pilot wings.

[The Rooster]

My wing was not harmed in making this image! lol

I did not tear up my wing posted above.........

This was on ebay (ipay) the other day. Someone couldnt resist seeing

what was underneath. lol!!!! The seller wanted 65 for this torn up thing!!!

I passed but the pic is great!!!!

 

[MattS]

That's just horrible!

[V42]

Amcraft is just one U.S. maker that did this with their wings and also the British. They used the Observer wing then added what they needed at the time of production.

[5thwingmarty]

Here is another Amcraft Observer that was converted to an Aircrew, but it is the older snowflake back style.  This also appears to have been rhodium plated like many of the Amcraft wings.  I had never seen an Amcraft Aircrew made from this pattern before.  Also, rather than a full Aircrew center device, this one has the original Observer face exposed through voids in the attached device.

 

[5thwingmarty]

Here is a photo of the other group of wings where a shield-less base wing was used to make most of the ratings.  The 3" and 2" wings are all two-piece, while the 1.5" wings are one-piece but have the same feather details, so I have grouped them together.  The reverse side photo shows that some of these devices were riveted on, while others were just soldered.  Also, some of the 3" base wings had the hole in the center and others did not.