1937 Military Aviator wing badge?

[John Cooper]

Well it is said lighting never strikes twice... but never say never. Some time back I posted the following wing which was discussed on the following thread.

 

http://www.usmilitariaforum.com/forums/ind...371&hl=1937

 

 

 

Recently I picked up another just like it although this has a bit more wear (damage) and maybe even the pilots initials (H.H.D.)scratched in. I would like your thoughts on this and if one of you happens to have the names of the 63 pilots that qualified for this wing badge.

 

[John Cooper]

More photos...

 

 

[John Cooper]

bump

[Paul S]

John, I'm not so sure this Meyer can be considered exceedingly rare on the basis of there being so few pilots qualified for the rating in 1937. I think they might have been sold for a period of years, perhaps 1937-1941/2. To get some notion of the rarity of this particular wing, it might be useful to analyze how many pilots might have qualified to the rating during those years, factoring in the fact that the qualification requirements were lowered during the period.

 

I've been going through the accumulation of an ATC pilot who soloed in 1939, qualified as a Sr. Pilot about 1942-3 and was out of the service, injured by 1943-4. So in his accumulation you have a fairly narrow band of years during which his wings could have been worn.

 

His first and only Sr. Pilot wing was an AECo one-piece and a nice bullion wing, but more interesting was a small, separate 1/2" star that had become mixed in with his ribbons and some other pins. I'm relatively certain this is what he used to display his Sr. Pilot status, wearing it over one of his regular pilot wings until he could find a one-piece Sr. Pilot. That might suggest that finding a one-piece Sr. Pilot was somewhat difficult during the early years of the war, or even pre-war. That said, it wouldn't surprise me that the Meyer MAP wing was offered over a period of years, even if not widely distributed.

 

Here is one of his wings with the star over it:

[JLENG]

I am sure this Meyer strike was sold into the early 40's. It may not be an exceedingly rare strike but I think it is rare to find one. I had two or three of the Pilot and Command pilot wings of this style before I was able to round out my set with the Senior Pilot wing of this style. It took several years to complete this set. John

[Paul S]

I am sure this Meyer strike was sold into the early 40's. It may not be an exceedingly rare strike but I think it is rare to find one. I had two or three of the Pilot and Command pilot wings of this style before I was able to round out my set with the Senior Pilot wing of this style. It took several years to complete this set. John

John, I can't recall seeing a Meyer Command Pilot in this pattern, could you post a picture of one? Does it utilize the small angle piece to fix the star and wreath as does the MAP?

 

PS

[bschwartz]

Here's mine with the open loop catch. Note that the wreath is soldered to the wings and not to the shield itself. It hovers slightly over the top of the shield.

 

[Paul S]

John & Bob,

Thanks for your comments and pictures. That early Command Pilot must be a very scarce one also. Do either of you know if the early AMCRAFT snowflake wings were made in Sr. Pilot & Command Pilot ratings? Bob, I think you have one in that pattern marked Vanguard, but I don't recall seeing the early version AMCRAFT patterns beyond the basic Pilot wing.

 

PS

[JLENG]

Here are two more views with different fasteners types.