does it exist? 3'in nurse

[Costa]

question---------- was there ever a 3'in flight nurse wing made in ww2?? I see the 2'in but, just curious.

[pconrad02]

To the best of my knowledge only the 2" was authorized

[pconrad02]

To the best of my knowledge only the 2" was authorized

[Steve D.]

It may exist, but I would not be interested in one for my collection. I have over a half dozen different originals on my Flight Nurse uniforms and they

are all the 2 inch size.

[5thwingmarty]

Only 2" wings for AAF flight nurses were ever authorized.

[Costa]

thank you guys. listed on ebay now. listed as a 3'in.

[Kropotkin]

Strange. That definitely looks like an authentic LGB flight surgeon wing. It could be that the N was applied after the fact or was a period alteration for ‘unauthorized’ wear by a flight nurse miffed at having to sport smaller wings.

[pfrost]

LGB (later versions seem to be marked "Vanguard") used this pattern of wing well after WWII. It is possible that this was a transitional badge between the USAAF to the USAF in the 1950's. It cold also be that some made the addition of an "N" suggested by Kropotikin.

 

IIRC I once saw an attributed grouping from a flight nurse who had a flight nurse wing that was a bit less than 3 inches long. But it may have been a reunion piece as it was gilt and she was a late war service member.

[5thwingmarty]

So if I pose the question "Did Bell Trading Company ever produce flight nurse wings in WWII" will one magically appear for sale on ebay? Just asking for a friend.

[Costa]

that is what made me notice that wing--- the rivets. they are or look to be a factory installed as LGB wings are.

[5thwingmarty]

I think many, if not most of the flight nurse wings were made by attaching N's to flight surgeon wings (the Acid Test flight nurse wings being an exception). The LGB-dazzle pattern examples on Bob's site have smaller N's of different letter styles than this 3" wing. The N on this wing looks a lot bigger than the N's applied to the 2" wings, so I would say it was not just a production error by LGB. The uniform tarnish on the base wing and the N implies the N has been on this wing for at least most of the wing's existance, and it looks like a vintage WWII LGB wing. Without a vintage photo of the wing being worn, it will be impossible to know how genuine this one really is.

[rustywings]

I suspect that authentic appearing three inch wide L.G. Balfour-made Flight Nurse wing with a riveted letter “N” applied to the Caduceus, MAY have indeed been generated in 1947 with the reorganization of the new USAF and the need to accommodate newly approved male Registered Nurse’s; and the need to provide those male Officer’s with an appropriate full-size aerial badge for their uniforms?  

That wing’s very existence presents the interesting possibility that special permission had to be granted to those first groups of USAF male R.N. graduates to wear those larger wings!  
 

Who knows?  Not to artificially inflate their possible historic value, but they are indeed  very scarce!  I bet the nameless-one is out in his garage right now working on rivet prototypes!