Hard to Find AMICO Liaison Wing

[pfrost]

There has not been a great deal of activity on this forum, so I thought I would add a new find to the site, an AMICO liaison pilot wing.

 

Of the alphabet wings, the Service wings are the most common (relatively speaking) then followed by the glider and liaison wing.  The glider pilot wings are probably the most sought after, because were arguably worn by pilots with the most guts.

 

Service pilots tended to be older pilots who were deemed past optimal age for combat missions.  That didn't mean that they were less brave, as they were often flying long and arduous missions delivering supplies and ferrying aircraft.  I met a fellow once who flew converted B24's full of aviation fuel across the hump.  

 

As for glider pilots, the were actually seeing combat in the air and on the land.  Whereas a "regular" C47 pilot may have worn standard pilot wings when the hauled gliders into combat, the GLIDER pilot went that extra mile, shared the same risks as the C47 pilot on the way to the invasion site, then used gravity to take him to the target, then used the ground (and/or trees, hedgerows, cows, tiger tanks, and barns) to stop his forward progress, and then disembarked and fought along with the rest of his troops.  Eventually making it back to the base some days/weeks/months later. Thus, I think it is fair to say that the "G" did stand for guts.  I think for that reason, glider pilot wings are highly collected.

 

The liaison pilots were a little less flamboyant although not less brave.  Liaison pilots were flying small planes and doing medical evacuation from forward areas, delivering munitions, blood plasma, mail, and other supplies to front lines, ferrying personnel, flying photographic or intelligence missions; serving as air observers for fighters or bombers... etc.  Often from small forward airbases close to the front lines.  These pilots tended to be a bit older and were often enlisted men.

 

I have always like liaison wings but have found them extraordinarily difficult to locate.  In my collection, I only have a small handful of these "L" wings.  Recently I added this beauty, a hallmarked AMICO wing to the nest.

 

A number of my pals have remarked "AND they have the early AMICO hallmark!".  I have never really paid much attention to that, so if anyone has information about early vs late hallmarks, I'm all ears. Although the liaison rating was established in 1942 and all but obsolete by 1945, its never been clear that we (as collectors) can really divide WWII wings into "early" and "late" versions.  its not like there was a line between March of 1943 and July of 1944 here manufactures all got together and said... well, time to switch hallmarks..." Also, I have always felt that the "pelican beak" pattern was already a mid-war pattern.

 

In any case, the liaison wing is a hard to find with any hallmark. I was lucky to get this one.

Enjoy

P

[Tesla]

Congrats Patrick!  Beautiful wing.

[warguy]

That’s a very nice wing Patrick, thanks for sharing. I am about 90% toward having an example of all rates but have not acquired a liaison yet. I too have found the “right” one elusive. 

[bschwartz]

That's a great find with the early AMICO hallmark.  Always loved that mark on wings.  Congrats on the find.  And like many vets have said, the "G" on the glider wing stood for Guts.  Can't argue with them.  When my wife and I visited Normandy and I stood on Pegasus Bridge and saw how close those British Glider pilots were able to bring their gliders to the bridge in the dark the amount of respect I had for glider pilots went up about 1,000%.  And it was already high to begin with.  All airmen and women from the war showed courage but Liaison pilots were in the "low and slow" camp and an easy target even for ground fire.  Liaison and Glider pilots must have had a special kind of fear suppression.  I think they call it youth.

[Kropotkin]

Very nice wing. I have a clutch-back version with the ‘later’ hallmark.

 

With regard to the pelican beak design being considered a later war design, I’d contest this as I’ve come across the below illustration dated February 1942, which does suggest these were likely around at the time of USA’s entry into WW2:

 

 

[Kropotkin]

Here’s the clutch-back version:

 

 

 

 

[Kropotkin]

I also have an Amico Service pilot wing but some chump felt the need to grind the S off it:

 

 

[donaldnol]

meyer stamp on mine 

[pfrost]

Love those L wings.

 

Talk about a he-man liaison pilot must mention "Bazooka Charlie" Carpenter and his bazooka armed L-4 Grasshopper (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Carpenter_(lieutenant_colonel))

 

Another rare AMICO alphabet wing, the even more elusive Senior Service pilot wing. 

The USAAF established a "senior" and "command" rating for pilot wings right around the start of the war.  The ratings required 5 or 10 years (I may be off a bit on the EXACT time, but you get the idea) as a pilot and certain amount of flight hours to achieve these ratings respectively.  That meant that most pilots who got their wings during WWII were not eligible for the senior rating until AFTER the war-- and most were not eligible for command ratings until around the KW time period.  That is why finding a WWII example of a worn command or senior pilot wing is so hard to achieve.

 

In many cases service pilots already had some flying experience prior to the start of WWII and so a few service pilots were able to reach senior service pilot ratings before the end of WWII (similar to senior observer ratings).  They are rare and highly sought after, and this is mine... with the OLD AMICO hallmark... LOL

 

I have to check, but I think I am still lacking the AMICO glider pilot badge.

[pfrost]

There seemed to have been some variations in the estucheon (shield) of these wings.  Some have very fine lines, some have thicker.  This is my service pilot wing, with the thick lines and AMICO hallmark. I suspect that the were just manufacturing variations rather than early or late construction, as I have heard some arguments of a Type 1 (early, thin lines) and Type 2 (late, thick lines).  But I think that is just wishful thinking.

 

Still need to find that elusive AMICO glider pilot

[jeff41st]

Nice wings Patrick. I have yet to get my hands on an Amico made alphabet wing, at least not for a price that I was willing to pay😁

[Tesla]

Here are my Amico 3" and 2" Gliders for reference Patrick.  After reading your information about the Liaison wings, I realized I only have two examples: NS Meyer and Amcraft.

[5thwingmarty]

Since Patrick's post has evolved into a (mostly) Amico letter wing compendium, here are a couple more I can add.  An early Service Pilot without any lines behind the S and the "earlier" Amico hallmark, and a Senior Service Pilot made from the version with the more widely spaced lines behind the S.  It would appear there might be a total of 8 different Amico letter wing variants, if there was a no-lines behind the S wing that was made into a Senior Service Pilot.  

 

[donaldnol]

3 minutes ago, 5thwingmarty said:

Since Patrick's post has evolved into a (mostly) Amico letter wing compendium, here are a couple more I can add.  An early Service Pilot without any lines behind the S and the "earlier" Amico hallmark, and a Senior Service Pilot made from the version with the more widely spaced lines behind the S.

 

i like those large ball catches

 

[5thwingmarty]

I have an Amico Service Pilot wing (not a Senior one) with the wider lines that also has the large ball catch.

[5thwingmarty]

Based upon when the Service, Liaison and Glider Pilot rating and badges were formally established, I believe the order Amico began producing their various patterns of wings was:

1. None-lined Service Pilot
2. Widely-spaced lined Service and Liaison Pilot (and Glider Pilot if they exist)
3. Finely-spaced lined Service, Liaison and Glider Pilot
4. Senior Service Pilot (modified from existing stocks of Service Pilot wings)

This is based on:

1. The first official drawing for any of the letter wings being for the Service Pilot, issued April 10, 1942 and having no lines on the shield.
2. The official drawings for all three letter wings were issued June 13, 1942.  The style and size of letter S used on the non-lined wings was the same as used on the widely-spaced lined wings with the flat edges being vertical.
3. The finely-lined wings used taller letters that also appear to have thicker vertical sections than used on the original letter S.  The flat edges of the letter S are also set at angles, not vertical.
4. 2" versions of all the wings were authorized July 29, 1944.  All of the 2" Amico letter wings appear to have the fine lines and same styles of letters as used on the finely-lined 3" wings.
5. I am only aware of Amico Senior Service Pilot wings being made by adding stars to regular Service Pilot wings.  

If anyone has a widely-spaced line version of the Amico Glider Pilot, or a Senior Service Pilot where the star was die struck as part of the wing please add photos.