LGB Wings Scan Experiment

[5thwingmarty]

I had never tried to scan a wing before so I did this little experiment with 5 LGB wings.  The top wing is a demoted Command Pilot wing, which I hadn't even noticed was such until just now.  It doesn't show in the scan but in hand the nubs of where the wreath had been attached are clearly visible.

 

The top two Service Pilot wings are the original unlined shield pattern, and also have another subtle difference.  On the top wing the space between the top of the shield and the shoulders is open while on the lower one this space was left filled.  I believe I have seen Pilot wings with this same subtle difference.  The gaps or lack there of are most easily seen in the photo of the backs (taken with my phone, not my scanner).

 

The bottom Service Pilot wing might be a post war rendering as it has LGB & Sterling marks seen on some post war wings, but it does have the same fittings as the other wings so for now I am going to hang on to it.  I had not even noticed that there was a difference on the LGB Sterling mark on this wing until a friend pointed it out, so another subtle tell to look for when examining these LGB wings.

 

 

[dmar836]

That's a pretty neat way to do it. The second photo isn't a scan though, correct?

I have only one pair of LGB wings. Is the tight spacing of the rows of markings what you are referring to as being possibly later?

Dave

 

[5thwingmarty]

You are correct on both counts.  The photo of the backs was taken with my phone, but it does have a nice crosshair feature for close photos where if you get the two crosses to match, you don't get the foreshortened image that makes the wings look smaller.

 

I was told the tight spacing of the rows and the proportions of the LGB letters indicate a later strike.  The letters on the older strikes are taller and thinner overall, while thse on the reported later strikes are wider.