Pilot Wings - Opinions Sought

[316th FS 324th FG]

Ok, so, picked these up off Goodwill (man I forgot that shipping is a killer with them!) Looking for some opinions.

 

What I think I have is a fairly standard WWII wing or just post war. It may have always been a pin back, but, clearly the pin and catch assemblies have been replaced. See to how the wings were ground down at the ends? The pin only opens 45 degrees and there are no marks anywhere on it.

 

Welcome comments.

[316th FS 324th FG]

And another view of the pin

[Gary Cain]

They look OK. I think the catch was replaced fairly recently (the last 10 years or so) but I think they are legit.

 

Cheers

Gary

[Cobrahistorian]

They look very similar to the WWII clutchback pilot wings I have. Could be that the pinback was added after the posts broke?

[pfrost]

I would have very little doubt that these are the typical "graduation" or "issue" wings that were given out to the pilots after graduating from flight school. Not very rare and usually found in clutch back. From the back, these wings look like they are likely from late-post WWII maybe into the KW time frame (but that is just a broad guess). Clearly they were repaired at some time with the addition of a pinback set up. I don't think that these wings are especially rare or valuable but still a nice solid example that may have been worn with pride by a pilot.

 

Patrick

[316th FS 324th FG]

thanks for the comments guys. I thought maybe they had been clutchback posts too, except they would not have been in the same place on each side of the wing. Anyway, appreciate the input.

 

Doug