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CAA/WTS/CPT/Flight Schools - Reference Thread


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A set of flight instructor wings, cap piece and matching lapel insignia.

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Back of the wing. This example is not marked.

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C.A.A. War Training Service wings, cap badge and lapel insignia.

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Back of the CAA/WTS badges.

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I believe this CAA/WTS Flight Instructor's wing, with Wright Flyer profile, predates the wings with the Indian head profile. Any input you might have would be appreciated

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Comparing the two CAA/WTS patterns. They are identical in size and wing pattern.

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Close-up of the center design. (I think they are both uniquely beautiful).

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Here's a jeweler-made variant of the CAA/WTS Indian head design.

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Back of the wing with "P.J. Friedel, Phila., Sterling" hallmark.

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"P.J. Friedel, Phila. Sterling" hallmark.

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Comparing the two CAA/WTS Indian profile wings.

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An Amcraft pattern CAA/WTS Flight Instructor's wing. I believe this wing was coated with lacquer many years ago to prevent tarnish. The lacquer has since petrified and turned the wing almost gold in color.

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Back of the Amcraft style CAA/WTS wing. Marked sterling, but no hallmark.

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Comparing the two Wright Flyer style CAA/WTS wings.

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US Army Air Corps Contract Flight School "Cimarron" located in Oklahoma. One source states the wing badges were worn on both the shirt and the crusher.

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The Cimarron Flight Instructor's wing.

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Back of the Cimarron wing. Heavy early pin and catch. Marked "Sterling".

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Contract Flight School - "Hanger Six", Uvalde, Texas. I believe the initials "A.C.T.D." on the patch stand for "Air Corps Training Detachment." This Hanger VI wing is a variation to the one my friend Patrick Frost has illustrated in post #33 of this thread.

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Hanger VI Contract Flight Instructor wings.

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Back of Hanger VI wing. Marked "Sterling"...but no hallmark.

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I think that maybe only one or two people have better collections of civilian pilot instructor wings than Russ. And even then, he is not behind by much. Basically, we are super lucky to have what really amount to one of the WORLD experts on civilian pilot training schools. Russ' collection is both extensive and inclusive of this interesting sup-field.

 

I had the chance to get to know a gentleman who was a civilian instructor during the early part of the war. He had some very interesting stories about being an instructor, both how we came to be training pilots in the first place and his efforts to "get into the war" as he said. I will try to get some transcripts of his correspondence later. Sadly, his wife tossed out most of his "stuff" in the 70's and the only things he had left were some xerox copies of old photographs.

 

On another note, those of you who are interested, should be aware of some of the literature and may find it interesting to look into this field even closer. The two main references are these two books.

 

To Fill the Skies with Pilots: The Civilian Pilot Training Program, 1939-1946. By Dominick Pisano,

 

The putt-putt air force the story of the Civilian Pilot Training Program and the War Training Service (1939-1944)

by Catherine Patricia O'Malley Strickland

 

I have heard rumors that John Cook (perhaps the leading expert on civilian instructor wings and patches) is writing or preparing an book on this field as well. However, I have been hearing about this book for many years and still don't know if it is actually going to be published or not.

 

And if you are still interested, I recommend this really great webpage (which also contains additional references):

 

http://www.airforcebase.net/aaf/schools.html

 

To me, the interesting thing about the civilian flight schools is that they cover so much history. I'll add just a few items to this thread to keep it going.

 

First, another family of the "generic" civilian flight instructor wings. The cloth one is rather rare, because they do not seem to have been very popular compared to the metal wings and cap badges.

 

Also, is a photo of these wings being worn by a flight instructor.

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Here is another photo of an instructor wearing an unidentified wing cloth wing (but I think it may be similar to other cloth CPT wings I have seen) on his chest and hat. You can see the "military-like" uniform that many flight schools adopted.

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This is one of my first Ebay buys ever. A Stamford Flight School cap badge.

 

The other wing is likely a civilian instructor wing for someone who was at Robin's field. It is made out of a converted AAF cadet cap badge. I have had some argue that they think this is a sweetheart item, but I doubt it myself.

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Very nice contributions guys!

 

DMD, I think your Chickasha Chick embroidered patch is spot-on and would have been worn on the left shoulder of the uniform shirt. I've not seen a shirt-size Chickasha patch with the name of the flight school embroidered at the bottom. The larger leather patch (post #59) would have been worn on A-2 style leather jacket.

 

Patrick, thank you for your kind words, but in reality my modest collection is "small potatoes" compared to many, many other dedicated collectors. I'm shadowed by the terrific collections and stockpiles of knowledge from people like John Cook, Ed Anderson, Walter Dudgeon, Bob Chatt, Ron Burkey, Stanley Baumwald, Russ Huff, Gregg Parlin and many others.

 

This new thread is off to a good start. I hope we can soon lure others into posting their CAA-WTS insignia as well.

 

Russ

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Here's a Flying Cadet Training System "Test Administrator" badge. I've not run across any illustrations of this badge being worn. I assume it was displayed on the breast pocket of the uniform shirt? It's plated brass with enamel inlay and two inches in width. Any additional info you might have on this badge is most welcome.

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Back of the Test Administrator badge.

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Here's a set of CAA War Training Service title patches. They're embroidered on felt and just under three inches in width. I don't know if this is a complete set or not? If you have other titles, please let me know.

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Close up.

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The other four...

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This is one of my favorite WTS (War Training Service) wings. It's bullion on gabardine and heavily padded.

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Back of the bullion WTS wing.

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Here are a couple more.

 

First, a gilt wing that is no where near as nice as Russ' stuff, but still one that I think was likely used as an instructor wing.

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Also, this one. I think this is an instructor wing for Hawthorne School of Aviation. I has been discussed on another thread.

 

It is clutch back without any hallmark.

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This is a grouping to I. H. Lobel, who was a TWO-flight school instructor. First, I have him at Pacific Air School. Then after that, he went to Hancock Field and was an instructor there.

 

First, his name tag, wings and a Hancock Field collar device.

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Final, Mr. Lobel's Paciic Air School patches. On his original leather jacket, you can see where he was wearing the large patch. The patch itself is almost a kind of canvas material. I have an original PAS year book with Lobel's photo and you can see him wearing this patch. the small shoulder patch (I have 2 or 3 from the grouping) are actually more ore less common. But the large jacket patch is rather rare, I believe.

 

Patrick

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Also, this one. I think this is an instructor wing for Hawthorne School of Aviation. I has been discussed on another thread.

 

It is clutch back without any hallmark.

 

Vintage WWII Contract Flight Instructor wings and insignia! Patrick, thank you for sharing some of your terrific collection with us.

 

Here's the shoulder patch to go along with your Hawthorne Flight Instructor's wing...

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