Thank God I have an interest in something that keeps me very busy, I love every second of it.    

Not sure what it is, but the Latin on the patch roughly translates to “You give us your TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) and we’ll drop your peace pigeons for you.”

I think the Schiffer book is very nice, but I have found some errors here and there, including what I call "dealer lore" as opposed to actual scholarly research (such as copies of the pertinent regulations). Since the USN provided everything that an aviation cadet was going to wear, AND the Navy regulations very clearly proscribed what could be worn, I doubt that the cadet could wear V5 wings while in primary flight training (to steal a line from Animal House.... "Is that a PLEDGE PIN on your UNIFORM!') if it wasnt specifically allowed.  Again, graduation from V5 program did NOT make you a Naval aviator,   If the cadets WERE allowed to wear such a pin, there would be a statement in the cadet regulations that said:  "If you graduated from the V5 program, you can wear V5 wings 1 inch above the center seam of the right breast pocket of your uniform...".  That would be the type of scholarly proof I would want to see...   Or maybe even a picture of new aviation cadets walking about with V5 wings on their uniform.   The V5 program was basically the Navy contingent of the CPT-WTS civilian training program.  The USAAF aviation cadets weren't wearing their CPT wings whilst being trained and I suspect the V5 guys were in the same boat with the USN.   Still, never say never.... There is almost always an exception.    

Duncan Campbell once opined about WW1 era wings, "One to two new patterns heretofore unseen by collectors seem to crop up every year."  While this has remained consistently true to the present, mostly attributable to the one-of-a-kind bespoke wings made by individual jewelers, it does seem especially strange that a wing made by a major manufacturer could evade collector knowledge.  That seems to be the case with one such badge almost surely made by Bailey Banks and Biddle (BB&B) of Philadelphia, PA.   Because this is a thread about "Dallas" wings, for ease of characterization and to avoid confusion with other types of multi-piece wings, we'll focus on Dr. Frost's @pfrost excellent collector's definition for Dallas wings:   This simple but apt definition neatly expands the "Dallas" category to encompass all versions and all ratings of these popular badges, avoids the pitfall of tying the type to one specific manufacturer, and helps collectors understand how this popular design fits in with other WW1 era wing badges.   Within the last decade, a few collectors became aware of another pattern of "Dallas" wings.  In design and construction detail, these badges were categorically similar to other Dallas wings, but especially so to those known to have been made by BB&B.  Side-by-side examination with a strong magnifying glass reveals the leather and cloth components to be identical.   Certain mechanical construction techniques (i.e. a smooth, thin, flat, gold US affixed to a supporting "table" incorporated into the shield's die work, shape of the leather piece) are also fully consistent.  Finally, the hinge and catch are identical--varying only by length of pin.  While it is true multiple jewelers purchased findings from commercial manufacturers, and there is overlap, the physical consistency across the badges is noteworthy.  The badges also share a common design "language."   Until actually having a chance to examine a few examples of these badges "in the flesh," I too thought they were best described as yet another example of the popular Dallas wing.  However, a side by side comparison with other BB&B wings revealed a key difference:  These new badges are overall about 15% smaller:     Despite being comparatively smaller than the larger badge, the 2nd type nonetheless remains over-sized; measuring in at just under three and a half inches.   By the closing months of WW1, the Army had increasingly grown frustrated with the general state of non-uniformity across its various insignia.  With respect to wing badges the ultimate (and for some, unhappy) result was establishment of the Adams design badges in 1919.  Before these Adams badges supplanted all the others, various manufacturers seem to have responded to this pressure from "the brass" by marketing versions of their popular Dallas badges that hewed somewhat closer to the prescribed three-inch size specified by regulations.  Another possibility worth considering is these smaller badges might represent a BB&B submission to the Government for evaluation when the Army was looking to crack-down on the wild WW1 era badges.  This latter theory is not unreasonable; BB&B was responsible for many official designs of government medals and insignia.   To date, no BB&B manufacturing records or advertising materials seem to have surfaced that reference these smaller badges.  Coming late in the war, retailers may not have known they were an option for order--partially explaining their scarcity.  Perhaps as well, they came late enough in the era that they were replaced almost immediately by the "FROM OFFICIAL DIE" Adams patterns--before many could find their way into the hands of many Aviators.  We do know at least Brigadier General Billy Mitchell owned a pair.  At any rate, these smaller badges are quite scarce and seldom encountered.  If you are fortunate enough to spot one out in the wild, the aspect that stands out above all others is how much smaller they appear compared to other BB&B Dallas wings.  The photo above captures this size difference well and should help if encountering one of these scarce wings.

Those are neat wings. While they may seem like "just" sweetheart wings, they hit three or four collecting interests. There is a LOT of interest in Mexican jewelry, and this is a classic of that type of workmanship.  Hector Aguilar was an important artist and his work is highly sought after in its own right.   Second, if you look at the hinge and catch, these are the same type of findings found on many of the Walter Lampl (AKA Juarez) and Bell wings.  Probably made in the same general geographic area (Southwest US/Northwest Mexico), it underlies the relationship to the region, craftsmanship, and art.  Rumor has it that Lampl used Mexican silver and craftsmen to make their iconic wings.  However, there is a lack of clarity regarding this exact fact, which probably requires further research.   I suspect if you were driving down the old Route 66 in 1946 or 47, you could find these types of items being offered for sale at every gas station/trading post along the way.   The ones I found (discussed in the link above) are cast examples made using the lost wax method. I suspect that they were made as copies rather than by Hector Aguilar's workshop. 

I had to dig it out but here's the accepted 205th/206th Infantry Shoulder Insignia (circular patch with silk screened beaver).  Big distinction from long tailed weasel looking animal (we call them mongoose overhere on the islands) within the red diamond that is attributed to the 4th AAMGB.  Ummm, yeah, details count!!!

Lieutenant Rollin "bud" bauschpies 1957- 1958 flight suit. And his aph 5 helmet VF 22 and VF11 squadron. F2 banshee 1930 - 2017 . Retired captain

I'm not addicted, I only have 165 uniforms and a few hundred medals!

Here is a picture of the back of the patch and some other patches that came with it. Besides the F-8 blazer patch they are early 1060's.

This is now SOLD.