CNAC wing

[Owen]

Did anyone on here buy the CNAC wing that just closed on eBay ??

 

[rustywings]

I didn't buy it...  But I was sure surprised to see how much that two-inch shirt-size CNAC Pilot variation sold for! 

[Owen]

My thoughts exactly.  I'm kinda hoping to learn something.

 

[JDK]

CNAC wings seem to be getting spendy indeed.....I saw a 3 inch wing sell for $2,500 not long ago and a matching set of a 1inch, 2 inch, and 3 inch sell for $5,500. I remember when these were $900.....should have bought more back then I guess!!

 

JD

[pfrost]

Uploading pictures for posterity.

I would argue this particular 2 inch version of the CNAC wings are the most common (as if anything CNAC related is "common".  There is a larger 3 inch version which is much rarer.  There are also vary rare 2 and 3 inch flight engineer wing that have a slightly different set of 2 Chinese characters on the shield.  All four of these variations are made using the same style base Chinese-made wing (or they could be Indian made as well).  The CNAC was flying during WWII up to the 50's.  There were Chinese, British, Indian and American pilots (and perhaps other countries were also involved).  In the 50's CNAC leadership went over to the communists rather than continue with the Nationalists Chinese.  Because of the length of time CNAC was flying and the size of China, it wasn't a small organization.  People sometimes equate CNAC with the AVG.  Two different organizations that served different purposes. 

 

As the Chinese National Airlines, I believe they were involved in both civilian and military operations during the 40's and 50's.  Photos from the time show a range of wing variations, but this particular pattern seemed to have been the most common.  There is a lot of information on the net.  A good place to start is CNAC.org.