My eyes are getting terrible, but upon further reflection, I am not so convinced that the star and wreath are separate pieces on my wing.  I think that it may all be integral

This is the post war (likely late 1950's early 1960's) Dondero made wing. You know it is post KW because of the alpha/numeric D2 code.  Also these later wings, while in the same general pattern of AMCRAFT from the front, are distinctly different than the back.  They don't have the impressed and pinched pattern in the shoulders.

 

I don't want to be too pendantic, but when I was looking for AMCRAFT command pilot wings, I was looking for those exact two characteristics (hallmark and pinched shoulders) because I believe that only those wings with those characteristics represent WWII versions.  Again, not tossing stones at other collectors, but that backing with the D2, the blackish enamel coating and the lack of a pinch makes me think later post KW versions.  You can easily buff off the black finish.  But that was just my opinion.

Nice presentation Patrick!

Excellent post Patrick, as always.  I've always loved the Amcraft pattern wings, both the first and second.  The second pattern wing was one of the first pilot wings I ever bought and the first pattern wing with the snowflake was the first of that style pilot wing I ever bought.  I've had this wing in my collection for a very long time Amcraft pattern command pilot which I have on my site but I've always kind of thought it was likely more of a Korean era unmarked Dondero pattern.  I could never prove it one way or another so I have left it up on the site.  It doesn't have the pinched shoulders of the Amcraft marked wings that you mention.  Thanks for posting this great background information.

Thank you fellas!  It’s nice to be able to interest you top notch guys in my ramblings! 
 

But since I’m not sure when Dondero actually bought (or even if they did) AMCRAFT dies. And Dondero was active during WWII— so it is possible that the two patters overlapped the war. Bob your wing is very handsome and I like it a great deal

i wasn’t really trying to imply anything bad about the wings. But I think I’ve only ever seen 2 or 3 of the AMCRFT marked wings and many hundreds of the Dondero type. So what my intent was to find an AMCRAFT marked command pilot. And that took many years to accomplish

 

ironically the next two bucket list wings are to find the WWII version of the Dondero senior and command pilot wing. Two other very rare wings!

I will say that my 2nd pattern Amcraft marked senior pilot wing is by far my favorite senior pilot pattern.  Of course I currently don't own a Lux or Blackinton in senior so I will say "for now" it's my favorite.  It's a substantial wing and they way they have the star added to the top is top notch.  The basic pilot wing isn't terribly hard to come by but the Amcraft marked senior pilot is pretty rare and the command pilot very rare.  Nice to see you completed both sets Patrick.  I've always enjoyed being able to put together a complete set that could represent one pilot's career.

This picture shows the kind of similarity that exists between the typically attributed "war time" Dondero wing with the "early" first pattern AMCRAFT wing.  Mainly in the high shoulders and the "ears" along the top part of the wing.  The "later" AMCRAFT pattern keeps the "eared" shield but loses the more ornate shoulder.  And the D2 marked post war Dondero wing is very similar to the WWII AMCRAFT wing, but loses the pinched back. 

I know DOndero was active in WWII (in both Philadelphia and Washington DC), but I really haven't gotten around into doing more research into this company as of yet.

 

But I think that there is enough general information to put together a thumb nail "dating" of AMCRAFT wings.  Again, its not like a solid line was drawn in the sand, and I suspect that there was overlap with the patterns that probably extended a long time.  Also old stock being sold, surplus, etc.  I suspect I have made numerous errors and this should not be seen as anything more than musing and guesswork.  There are some exact dates that probably can be gleaned from more research. But at least this seems a reasonable start to me.

 

Great sleuthing and infographic!  Thanks!

I see the scientist in you is coming out again, Patrick.  With my IT background, if I had drawn that it would have been a flowchart.  Great info.

So I did a bit of research both on this forum and on google. 

 

AMCRAFT (or American Metal Craft). According to Micheal Tucker's book (https://www.target.com/p/united-states-army-cap-insignia-1902-1975-by-michael-f-tucker-hardcover/-/A-83210967)  AMCRAFT was founded in 1918 by an Irishman named Thomas Killiher, but not incorporated until 1923. I did find a reference to a Trademark patent for AMCRAFT in 1930 or so.  This suggests that the dates for AMCRAFT are ~1918-1923 up until abut 1948 (plus or minus a few years).

 

AMCRAFT was active in making insignia, silver wear, and other products up until the late 1940's, where it seems that they started making insignia for H&H.  I still have some research to do on that, but it does seem that at least some of AMCRAFT's production ability was absorbed by H&H.  Thus the relationship with AMCRAFT H&H and/or Dondero during the late 40's still needs some further analysis.  But AMCRAFT seems not to have been issued an Institute of Heraldry alphanumeric code in the 50's or 60's.

 

I did find some interesting information about A H Dondero Inc.  Founded in 1922 by Colonel Albert Hubert Dondero (originally a tailor shop a few blocks from the White House) in Washington DC.  Col Dondero was born in Michigan in 1879, served in WWI as a quartermaster and died in Fairfax Virginia in 1946 (he is interred at the Arlington National Cemetery).  I believe that the family continued to run the company into the mid-70's.  Albert Dondero had some important clients and some of his uniforms are in various museums (such as Hap Arnold's WWII uniform in the Smithsonian Air and Space museum).  Interestingly, while the uniform seemed to have been made by Dondero, the command pilot wings on that display are NOT of the Dondero style.

 

Various Wash. DC/Virginia directories list Dondero as providing badges, uniforms, checks, trophies, and insignia through the 20's up until the 70's. In the late 70's Dondero seemed to switch gears with a new owner and changed their focus from military uniforms and uniform accessories to other products for recognition (i.e trophies). They began selling and distributing more custom awards, service awards, wall seals, gifts and other services.

 

Dondero is still around and has an internet site. https://www.dondero.com/history.html

 

While it isn't 100% clear to me if Dondero was simply a retailer/tailor that distributed uniforms/insignia or actually manufactured some or all of their items, I did find some correspondence between Dondero and a couple of Army units about making and purchasing DUI's in  the mid-1950's.  It seemed that Dondero had dies and manufacturing abilities to make various DUI's.  It is also possible that the abilities and interests in making their own insignia changed over time. For example, I found a "Dondero"-marked dress sword that was unlikely to have actually been made by Dondero, and was probably produced by another company.  

 

But all of the above suggests that they had at least some capability of making their own products. In one of the mid-40's directories, A H Dondero Inc has a number of addresses listed, including 301 Machinists Building in DC.  That may suggest that they had a factory location to go with their retail shops.  But I do not know.

 

But the dates presented in the time line in the earlier posting on this thread are likely wrong.  I have "corrected" the timeline. What is interesting to me is that just after WWI, a number of companies became active in providing uniforms throughout the 20's and 30's.  Again, I am always hesitant to try to draw lines in the sand, especially for such a fluid and poorly documented series of events related to early 20th century military insignia manufacturing.

Stellar stuff!  And, the sort of content that keeps me coming back here.  

 

Thank you Patrick!

Most impressive !

Thank you Patrick .

Another odd thing with these companies is it appears that Vanguard ended up with the Dondero WWII pattern wing dies.  This Senior Pilot wing currently on ebay looks like the Donduro pattern to me.  

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/294431961066?hash=item448d832fea:g:UD0AAOSwqfBhV3Qq

Vanguard is another interesting company that I think was more a retail uniform store than a wholesale manufacturer of insignia.  I suspect that much of Vanguard's post WWII wings sold with their hallmark actually comes from LGB dies.  If you so a search, you will find post war flight surgeon and flight nurse wings that have the Vanguard NY hallmark on clearly LGB patterns as a good example.  Here is a thread on that.

 

 

 

Both AMCRAFT and LGB had very similar "high shoulder patterns" of wings that I called the AMCRAFT 1st pattern wings above.  Careful examination of the AMCRAFT and LGB wings show that they are similar but not exact.  Also the LGB high shoulder wings show up in the alphabet series, unlike the AMCRAFT 1st pattern series.

 

Other than the script hallmark of the USN Aviator wings, its hard for me to recall any Vanguard marked WWII wings, although I do see various had badges and other insignia. 

But if you look at the AMCRAFT and LGB marked wings, you will see that they are similar but not identical.  I hope Bob and Cliff don't mind that I "borrowed" an image to make a point with some higher resolution pictures using command pilot wings.  The blue arrows just highlight areas to compare.  But things like the size, number and location of the acorns in the oak leaf laurels in the wreath, shape and size of the star, the number and distribution of featherettes in the shoulder, the curve in the vein of the large feather on top and the general shape of the wing.  Subtle differences but clearly they used different dies.

I was completely wrong about that wing being a Donduro pattern.  I was looking at the beveled edge around the shield which I thought I saw on the wing on ebay, The feathers are absolutely not the same as those on the Donduro wings.

Hello all, 

I'm in need of your opinions as to what makes these Bombardier wings may be and if there good.? 

Many thanks

I don't know that any of the fake sterling wings have the rhodium (I think it is) plating on them.  And the wear to the plating on the top edge looks honest to me.  So these don't give me any hartburn.

Thank you

They are un-hallmarked Amcraft bombardier wings. Fairly common.

OK, thanks for the information it's much appreciated 🙂

very nice set

Here is a Service Pilot wing I just picked up.  The pics don't  do justice to how pristine it is.  

Good evening everyone. I just bought a pilot wing pin on ebay. I hope I didn't make a wrong purchase. I still have to look for them so I put the photos of the seller. I'm not very experienced, I'm a beginner. How much could they be worth in your opinion, was it a good purchase? I also took other wings from the same seller. I put the photos of both. THANK YOU 

Hi @Giuseppe. Welcome to the forum. Yes, your Amcraft pilot and Gemsco air gunner are good, classic WWII patterns.