Austin_Militaria Posted October 27, 2020 Share #1 Posted October 27, 2020 Picked up this pair recently. The Pan Am Ferries Inc wing was worn by civilian Pilots flying cargo and troops throughout North Africa to British forces before and after the US entered the war. Pan Am was often described as FDR's Secret Air Force. The wing was only worn from early 1941 to mid 1942. There may have only been several dozen of these wings produced. The other wing is a Bronze coloured ATC, Air Transport Command pilot wing. Unfortunately there is no ID to who they belonged to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ram957 Posted October 27, 2020 Share #2 Posted October 27, 2020 Nice set !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LuftStalg1 Posted October 27, 2020 Share #3 Posted October 27, 2020 What does the star on the blue field at the bottom signify, rank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ram957 Posted October 27, 2020 Share #4 Posted October 27, 2020 Probably represents time is Service...Probably 5 years Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustywings Posted October 27, 2020 Share #5 Posted October 27, 2020 Pan American Airways stars denote rank... One star indicates First Officer; two stars identifies the rank of Captain or Senior Pilot; and three stars represents Master Pilot or Chief Pilot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ram957 Posted October 27, 2020 Share #6 Posted October 27, 2020 I stand corrected...Thank You..now I know ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfrost Posted October 27, 2020 Share #7 Posted October 27, 2020 Pan Am Airlines (PAA) was one of the first and largest American Civilian Airlines, starting in delivering mail in the 1920's and eventually going out of business in the 90's. PAA and their various airline subsidiaries flew routs into South America, the Caribbean, Africa, and Asia and they had a variety of insignia to represent this diversity. PAA was important for establishing air routs across the Pacific and Atlantic using their fleet of flying boats (the Clippers). Pilots and aircrew were especially well trained, and as Russ said, the stars on the pilot badge represents the various levels of seniority that the pilots had attained. PAA wings and insignia are HIGHLY collectible. During WWII, much of the Pan Am fleet and crews were contracted out to the US Military and served an important role in ferrying planes and material from the US to Europe, Asia (they supported CNAC for example) and South America. While by no means common, the various PAA insignia are also not terribly rare (but certainly more than a few dozen were made). I have seen more than a few nice groupings in which a PAA pilot was contracted out to the ATC ferry command. Somewhere in my collection I have a nice photo of a PAA pilot wearing the ATC bronze wings. It is a shame that you don't have a name to go with this wonderful group! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin_Militaria Posted October 28, 2020 Author Share #8 Posted October 28, 2020 The PAA Ferries Inc wing was only made for less then a year. Yes this wing is extremely rare as there were only a handful of pilots that flew for that subsidiary of Pan Am in North Africa. In mid 1942 Pan Am relinquished PAA Ferries Inc over to the ATC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scarecrow Posted October 28, 2020 Share #9 Posted October 28, 2020 Extremely nice pair of wings there! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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