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Named AE Co Wings. Wondering what you think about them?


awmartin
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I recently picked up this wing as I noticed that it had some inscription on the back. On both sides of the back it is inscribed "CAPT Harry D Gaines".

 

I'm not the best researcher, although what I did find was that a TWA pilot by the same name unfortunately died in a Boeing 707 crash in 1969. That Harry Gaines was employed by TWA in 1940 and became a TWA captain in 1946.

 

Is it possible that this wing is from the same person?

post-8778-0-24631900-1575829641_thumb.jpg

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In my humble opinion. It looks like someone took a nail and scrathed it in to try and up the price. I say that because the scratching looks fresh. If it was done 75 years ago, you would see tarnish in the grooves. And tarnishing can be easily faked and His name is out there on the internet.

Just an opinion and Im still in the beginer level collecting wings. Just my opinion. It looks too fresh. Nice AE co wing though.. Thats a heavy wing! older style early ww2 I think?

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Greetings, there are some collectors who focus on biographical wings, finding their own way of preserving the name of the individual with the actual wings they utilized during wartime. I, for one, am a collector who collects for this purpose of assuring that the individual whose name is associated with the wing that I collect, will never be lost from the wing. I inscribe the name and unit or officer number into the rear of the wing of those wings purchased from family members or estates where I do not have a grouping surrounding the wing for identity. I do as much research as possible into each individual I can link to a wing because that is the primary purpose of my collecting, is historical preservation of the history behind each one of these tiny monuments to our men and the women in the support squadrons such as WASP, who all carried the mantle of protecting our US military aviation standard by protecting our nation and its people and its institutions. Whether you choose this route, is a decision each person has made. People know this of me from The Forum and I am preparing to make a posting of all the wings I have done this with so that those in the future who will be stewards of my collection when I pass, will know the wings I have marked for biographical preservation of historical ownership of the wing. There have been some very special men whose names would have likely been separated from the insignia which they wore through great feats of military contribution to the winning of the war if I did not mark them. That would have been in complete antithesis to the whole purpose for which I collect, but that is just me, each person has to make that decision for themselves. The reason I say this is because this Wing looks to have been marked with the individuals name with an engraver pen and possibly could have been for a person making note of their collection but we don't know, which is why I will be making a thread on the Forum with my marked wings so that it will be known for future collectors because there are some great names and lives included with these wings.

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Looks like a solid set, Ive seen some similarly done. But its tough to say they belonged to the TWA pilot. I dont think anyone or faker would be smart enough to research TWA pilots to fake WW2 wings

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It doesnt look like it was done with an engraver pen. To me, in my opinion, it was done with a nail or tip of a knife etc.

You can see where they went back and forth in some areas and there are no swirls like you would see with an

engraver pen???? Looks like it was scratched in to my eyes... and I see fresh looking metal in areas.

If it was done 70 years ago it would be tarnished in the grooves. Just my opinion.

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They are fine, not every pilot or GI had access to an engraving pen. I think people overthink stuff like this way too much. Yes its crude but I dont think that discredits it. Not really sure how it would be tarnished on the backside

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Yes, I have several wings with initials scratched into them in a similarly crude manner. I doubt these would have been added post-era as they are unattributable in terms of identifying the original owner.

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