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WW2 U.S. Army Air Force wings, Pins, Badges, and Enameled Insignia |
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| Army Air Force 3-Inch Navigator Wing, Sterling Silver. A Unique Variation | |
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1AFMI-1. The front depicts the standard AAF Navigator wing design of a winged circle bearing a raised orbit design. This example has a heavy, “clunky,” feel and appearance as the central Navigator design has been professionally and skillfully, separately, affixed to the center of an observer wing; this procedure was sometimes done, during the WW2 period, to use up existing over stock of observer wings. The front of the wing exhibits light signs of age, insignificant wear and heavy tarnish, minor remnants of the original silver finish remain. The backside is very deeply sculptured and is stamped, “sterling.” The backside has a long horizontal attaching pin with a, roller latch, pin catch, when fully open the pin falls completely flat. The pin hinge is missing its original securing pin, which has been replaced with a bent over, “common-pin.” An interesting and unique variation. Vg. $59.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 3-Inch Observer Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1a. The front depicts the standard AAF Observer wing design of a winged circle with a horizontal lined center. The wing exhibits moderate age, moderate to heavy wear and appears to have been frequently polished over the years, (nothing overly detracting), and has light overall tarnish; no original silver finish remains on the front side; very light fletching detail can be seen on the wings. The deeply sculptured backside is impressed, “sterling.” The backside exhibits s dull, tarnished silver, finish and has a long horizontal attaching pin with a, roller latch, pin catch. The pin falls nearly, but not completely, flat when opened fully. Vg. $55.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 3-Inch Pilot Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1b. The front depicts the standard AAF Pilot, “wing shield,” design. The front of the wing exhibits heavy age, light wear, as well as heavy overall tarnish; only remnants of its original silver finish remains. The backside is mostly flat and has deep sculpting behind the shield; the backside of the shield is marked, “sterling,” in raised letters. The backside has a dull silver finish with moderate overall speckled tarnish; the long horizontal attaching pin, which is slightly bent from use has a, roller latch, pin catch. The pin falls completely flat when opened fully. Vg. $49.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 3-Inch Aerial Gunner Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1c. The front depicts the standard AAF Aerial Gunner wing design of a winged cartridge, pointing downward, superimposed on a circular background. The front of the wing is lightly worn and is moderately tarnished, no signs of the original silver finish remains. The backside is heavily tarnished and is deeply sculptured on some parts of the wings and on the backside of the design. The backside is marked, “sterling,” in raised letters and has double, clutch back, attaching pins with WW2 flat face, “sterling,” marked clutch fasteners. Vg. $49.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 3-Inch Bombardier Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1d. The front depicts the standard AAF Bombardier wing design of a finned bomb, pointing downward, superimposed on a circular background. The fins of the bomb are lightly worn and the front of the wing is heavily tarnished, only remnants of the original silver finish remain. The backside is marked, “sterling,” in raised letters and has double, clutch back, attaching pins with WW2 flat face, “sterling,” marked clutch fasteners. Vg. $49.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 3-Inch Air Crew Member Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1e. The front depicts the standard AAF Air Crew Member wing design of an eagle carrying arrows and olive branches in its talons, within a circle. The center of the Air Crew Member design is nicely detailed, it has light to near moderate wear, on the highlights, from actual use; the wings have deeply detailed feathers and the have a dull gray, pewter like, patina. The backside has light to moderately tarnished finish, it is deeply sculptured on some parts of the wings and deeply sculptured behind the central design and is marked, “sterling,” in raised letters. The backside exhibits a long horizontal attaching pin, which is very slightly bent from use and has a, roller latch, pin catch, (the latch piece is missing from this example). The pin falls flat when opened fully. Vg. $38.00 |
| Army Air Force 3-Inch Air Crew Member Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1ee. The front depicts the standard AAF Air Crew Member wing design of an eagle carrying arrows and olive branches in its talons, within a circle. The center of the Air Crew Member design is nicely detailed and it has light wear on some of the highlights from handling. The front of the wings have a dull gray, pewter like, patina. The backside has an overall dark tarnished finish and it is deeply sculptured on some parts of the wings and behind the central design. The backside is marked, “sterling,” in raised letters and has double, clutch back, attaching pins with WW2 flat face, “sterling,” marked clutch fasteners. Vg. $38.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 3-Inch Air Crew Member Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1f. The front depicts the standard AAF Air Crew Member wing design of an eagle carrying arrows and olive branches in its talons, within a circle. The center of the Air Crew Member design is heavily worn from actual use and frequent polishing over the years; the wings are somewhat bright and retain much of their original silver finish with light, (to near moderate in some spots), tarnish. The backside has a dark, overall, tarnished finish, it is lightly sculptured on some parts of the wings and deeply sculptured behind the central design and is marked, “sterling,” in raised letters. The backside exhibits a long horizontal, brass, attaching pin, which is very slightly bent from use and has a, roller latch, pin catch; The pin falls flat when opened fully. About Vg. $32.00 |
| Army Air Force 2-Inch Navigator Wing, Sterling Silver. Nicely Vaulted | |
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1AFMI-1g. The front depicts the standard AAF Navigator wing design of a winged circle bearing a raised orbit design. The wing is nicely, “vaulted,” which gives the central design a three dimensional appearance. The front exhibits light signs of age and wear, as well as a pleasing, lightly tarnished, patina. The feathers have lightly detailed fletching, which enhances the feathered look of the wings. The flat backside has an overall dark tarnish; the area behind the Navigator insignia is deeply sculptured and is marked, “sterling,” in raised letters. The backside has a long horizontal attaching pin with a, roller latch, pin catch; when fully open the pin does not fall completely flat. Nice vaulted variation. Vg+. $42.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 2-Inch Pilot Wing, Sterling Silver. A Nice Heavy Wing | |
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1AFMI-1h. The front depicts the standard AAF Pilot, “wing shield,” design. The front of the wing exhibits light age, light wear, as well as very minor and insignificant tarnish; most of its original silver finish remains. The flat backside is stamped, “sterling,” and exhibits a matte silver finish, which is very lightly tarnished, in some spots; the area behind the shield is deeply sculptured. The backside has a long horizontal attaching pin with a, roller latch, pin catch; when fully open the pin reaches slightly over a 45-degree angle. The wings looks dramatically better in person than in the image. A very nice, heavy wing. Vg+. $42.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 2-Inch Bombardier Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1i. The front depicts the standard AAF Bombardier wing design of a finned bomb, pointing downward, superimposed on a circular background; the wing is flat and has slight relief. Light signs of age, moderate wear, as well as moderate overall tarnish. The backside is heavily tarnished and is sculptured behind the bomb. The backside is marked, “sterling,” in raised letters and has a long, horizontal, attaching pin with a, roller latch, pin catch; the pin falls flat when opened fully. Vg. $35.00 SOLD |
| Army Air Force 2-Inch Air Crew Member Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1j. The front depicts the standard AAF Air Crew Member wing design of an eagle carrying arrows and olive branches in its talons, within a circle. The center Air Crew Member design and the edges of the wings are heavily worn from actual use and frequent polishing over the years. The front of the wing is moderately tarnished and has a semi-bright silver appearance; there are remnants of soil, or yellowed lacquer finish, on the front, (nothing of a serious nature; could easily be cleaned). The backside has a dark, overall, tarnished finish; the wing is very lightly sculptured behind the central design and is stamped, “sterling,” near the pin hinge, (some of the sterling letters are actually under the pin hinge). The backside exhibits a long, horizontal, brass, attaching pin, with a, roller latch, pin catch; the pin falls flat when opened fully. Vg-. $28.00 SOLD |
| Mini, Army Air Force 1-1/8-Inch Pilot Wing By RMCo, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1k. 1-1/8-inch wide, “mini,” pilot wing, nice quality and detail; the front depicts the standard AAF Pilot, “wing shield,” design; the front of the wing has a semi-bright appearance with light signs of tarnish and a little wear to some of the highlights. The flat backside is moderately tarnished and is inscribed, “sterling;” the back bears a maker logo design , which depicts a stylized eagle above a shield; the shield bears the letters, “RM CO,” and there is a furled banner below the shield. The backside has a horizontal attaching pin with a roller lock pin catch; the pin does not fall flat when fully opened. Very nice maker marked, example. Vg+. $25.00 SOLD |
| Mini, Army Air Force 1-3/8-Inch Glider Pilot Wing, Sterling Silver | |
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1AFMI-1m. 1-3/8-inch wide, “mini,” Glider pilot wing. The front depicts the standard AAF Glider pilot winged, “G,” design. The front of the wing has an overall light gray tarnish patina and is moderately worn on the highlights from use and polishing. The flat backside is darkly tarnished and is stamped, “sterling,” it has a horizontal attaching pin with a flat, open, metal pin catch; the pin does not fall flat when fully opened. Glider wings, in any size, command a premium price; they are avidly sought after by collectors and do not often turn up. SCARCE. A nice example. Vg. $45.00 SOLD |
| Early, Instructor ACTS - Air Corps Tactical School Badge | |
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1AFMI-2. Approximately 1-3/4-inch wide x 1-1/4-inch high, heavy, solid brass badge depicting a, separately applied, Army Air Force winged prop insignia, which is super imposed, on a dark blue enameled background, which is marked, “Instructor ACTS.” The winged prop has white enamel on the propeller blades. The Army Air Corps Tactical School, (ACTS), was developed in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s; it was based at Henderson Field. The ACTS contributed practical tactical information, which aided the formulation of Army Air Corps strategic daylight precision bombing tactics. In October of 1942, the newly formed AAF School of Applied Tactics took over from the ACTS; the new Army Air Force School focused on evaluating and analyzing combat experiences for the purpose of designing tactics and training pilots for future operations. This heavily enameled example exhibits moderate overall tarnish to the brass border and lettering; the gilt on the wing is mostly worn off. the white enamel on the prop is moderately chipped and scratched, (not too bad looking); the blue enamel has a few small chips and scratches, as well. The backside is stamped, “Gemsco, N.Y.,” and it has a horizontal attaching pin with a flat, open, metal pin catch. Nice. SCARCE. Vg. $40.00 SOLD |
| Glenn L. Martin Aircraft Company, Vendor’s Representative Identification Badge, Named & Dated 1941 | |
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1AFMI-3. 2-1/2-inch diameter identification badge, White celluloid construction bearing the logo design of the Glenn Martin Aircraft Company; the badge is printed “The Glenn L. Martin Company, Vendors Representative, Baltimore;” Glenn Martin Co. manufactured military aircraft during WW2. The center of the badge has a window, which bears the representatives ID, “Sarg. P.D. Devland, JTH/dh 11-6-41.” The backside of the badge has a safety pin type attaching pin and is maker marked, “W. & H. Co. Newark, N.J., Pat. Oct. 1, 1929.” The front of the badge is lightly aged and is very lightly and very insignificantly scratched from actual use. A scarce aviation collectible. About excellent. $25.00 SOLD |
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