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Silver wings of gold?

Flash

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
statesman said:
So I ran across this picture while preparing for a speech I have to give for my speech class...

http://www.piersystem.com/posted/425/050624_C_9767K_072.77742.jpg

Is it just me or do those wings look silver? Is there a warfare device or qual that I dont know about that is silver but the same design as the WOG?
Click to expand...

In the early days of Naval Aviation, Naval Aviation Observers (NAO's) wore the same wings as Naval Aviators, except they were silver. That went away in 1929 though, so I would guess those wings are either older ones that have been shined or gold ones.

http://www.navalaviationmuseum.org/getdoc/3a26de59-6559-4615-9117-0d0717de6084/September-(9).aspx
 
DanMa1156

DanMa1156

Is it baseball season yet?
pilot
Contributor
They do look silver. I was going to say it's just the lighting, but you can see some other sort of warfare device (SWO Pin?) that's gold underneath it.

Interesting. Maybe he brassoed an them and they were anondized by accident! :eek:
 
Uncle Fester

Uncle Fester

Robot Pimp
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Super Moderator
Contributor
It's just the lighting. Or he polished them at some point. No such thing as silver "naval aviator" wings. Least not, as Flash pointed out, for quite a long time.
 
haubby

haubby

Well-Known Member
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Contributor
The NAO wings are still around. Not sure how they are earned but a prior CO of mine (LDO) wore them. Granted he's the only person I've ever seen wear em.
 
N

navy09

Registered User
None
What's that deal with the guy on the far right (mostly cut out)? Looks like he's wearing ribbons on the right (no one else in the pic is wearing medals) with some crazy parachutist device.
 
K

k_smittay

Active Member
I have never had gold wings, mine are silver BUT... could it be possible that they are a really old pair of wings handed down from his father or grandfather who was an old aviator? Do they fade with time at all? Especially if they are just gold plated.
 
K

k_smittay

Active Member
midn09 said:
What's that deal with the guy on the far right (mostly cut out)? Looks like he's wearing ribbons on the right (no one else in the pic is wearing medals) with some crazy parachutist device.
Click to expand...

Looks like he is foreign military of some type. His shoulder boards are rounded unlike ours.
 
Flash

Flash

SEVAL/ECMO
None
Super Moderator
Contributor
haubby said:
The NAO wings are still around. Not sure how they are earned but a prior CO of mine (LDO) wore them. Granted he's the only person I've ever seen wear em.
Click to expand...

There are NAO wings still around, they are identical to Aircrew wings but lacking the AC in the circle:

aviation%20observe%20meteorologist.jpg


Some officers in VQ regularly earn them and Intel officers in VP sometimes do too.

midn09 said:
What's that deal with the guy on the far right (mostly cut out)? Looks like he's wearing ribbons on the right (no one else in the pic is wearing medals) with some crazy parachutist device.
Click to expand...

They are Italian Para Wings, the first link has a good explanation of them:

http://www.europeanparatroopers.org/pdf/ParatrooperNews_n8-August 2006.pdf (PDF)

http://www.army-surplus.co.uk/militarygear/product/par75.html

http://www.pathfindergroupuk.com/wings.htm
 
E

exo

Member
Awhile back, enlisted personnel used to be able to become aviators. They would receive silver wings instead of gold. This was a long time ago though...
 
Gatordev

Gatordev

Well-Known Member
pilot
Site Admin
Contributor
You guys are way over-thinking this. He probably has real gold wings instead of the regular exchange kind. They do look different, coupled w/ the flash and lighting. I don't ever polish my gold wings (rarely am I ever in them), but they still look different from the standard exchange fare.

The guy to his left looks very familiar...I'm pretty sure I've seen him somewhere around Whiting at some point.
 
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